A Climbing Award That May Be a Winner’s Last

November 29, 2021

Lama, attempting to scale it alone in 2018, could have ended up dead if he became pinned down in a storm with severe frostbite or was injured in a fall. A rescue would be nearly impossible.

Lama’s digits never froze entirely, and he continued to the top of the mountain. The image of him silhouetted on the pulpit-like summit is the kind that climbers dream about. He said after the ascent that he had pushed near his risk-tolerance limit. For his climb, Lama won a Piolet d’Or — the Golden Ice Axe — Alpinism’s biggest prize. NY Times