Le Piolet d’Or
04 September 2018
It took 3 years to ascend the Nuptse, 3 years of attempts before succeeding in dominating this gigantic wall near Everest and Lhotse. I remember 2015, 2016 and 2017 as truly fantastic, intense years.
On 19 October 2017 at 15:00 hours, Benjamin Guigonnet, Fred Degoulet and I reached the summit of this incredible mountain: it was an overwhelming experience.
The first attempt was made in 2015 with Benjamin Guigonnet and the collaboration of the late Ueli Steck and Colin Haley. That year unfortunately the endeavour was not successful. We got caught in a snowstorm and high winds at a bivouac at 6,900 m. Too risky, there was no point in continuing.
In 2016, there were 4 people in the group: Fred Degoulet, Ben Guigonnet, Robin Revest and me. We really wanted to open this new route, which tops out in the highest part of Nuptse Nup2 at 7,742 m. This time we were forced to turn back at 7,350 m on the very last day of the ascent due to a strategic error. Having concentrated all our efforts on reaching the summit, which involved 700 metres of elevation gains, we had decided to set off with the lightest load possible, however, observing our timing along the way, we realised that we would never have managed to reached the summit at a reasonable hour without any food or bivouac equipment.
We were forced to give up.
During the last attempt, in 2017, with Benjamin Guigonnet and Fred Degoulet, we finally succeeded in climbing the immense 2,200 metre high Nuptse face in 6 days with 5 bivouacs on the way up. The descent required one bivouac and one and a half day’s walking. This huge rock face took up all in all 8 days of our lives. We therefore achieved our dream, which was rewarded with the Piolet D’Or for the ascent of the year 2017.
Our team will attend the Piolet D’Or ceremony in Ladek, Poland held from 20 to 23 September 2018. The Piolet D’Or is the Oscar of mountaineering. It is the acknowledgement of our peers, our mountaineering colleagues and of what we have accomplished over the many years spent climbing mountains, and of the attempts and efforts we have made.
Thank you to everyone.
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