Piolets d'Or 2025: Anja Petek & Patricija Verdev receive Special Mention for Female Mountaineering for ascent of Lalung I

For the second year running the small town of San Martino di Castrozza in the Italian Dolomites will host the Piolets d’Or, the prestigious mountaineering award established in 1992. The organisers have now revealed the recipients of the second Special Mention for Female Mountaineering, the commendation intended specifically to promote female alpinism. As the name implies, it recognises a remarkable all-female ascent from the previous year, or a female alpinist for several achievements in the previous year(s), or a female alpinist’s career, and was awarded last year to Nives Meroi of Italy.

The Piolets d'Or 2025 jury, comprised of Ethan Berman, Aymeric Clouet, Young Hoon Oh, Ines Papert, Enrico Rosso, Jack Tackle and Mikel Zabalza, in conjunction with the Piolets technical committee, has assigned the award to Slovenian alpinists Anja Petek and Patricija Verdev for their ascent of Lalung I in the Indian Himalayas. In doing so, the organisers explained, they are "recognizing an exploratory first ascent of a 6,000m peak in a little visited area, a full traverse of the mountain, a pure alpine style ascent over technical ground, and a strong level of commitment, particularly when crossing the summit in poor weather. All these attributes fit wonderfully with the values of the Piolets d'Or, and the ascension of Lalung I will hopefully provide a fine inspiration for female alpinists."

Lalung I (6,243m), Indian Himalaya
First ascent of Lalung I (6,243m), Zanskar Region, via the east ridge - Here Comes the Sun (2,000m of climbing, M6+ AI5+) - September 9-14. Traversed the mountain and descended by the west ridge and north face.

The Lalung Valley rises southwest from the Suru River, a little to the southeast of the more famous peaks of Nun and Kun. At its head lie Chiling I and II, and Lalung I, II and III, which are located at the boundaries of the Zanskar and Kishtwar regions. The climbing history of the area is only roughly documented, and until recently a plethora of confusing names and altitudes have been granted erroneously to many of the peaks, features, and valleys. However, one thing is clear: before 2024 none of the Lalung peaks had received a documented ascent.

In September 2024, having established an advanced base camp in the valley at 4,800m, Slovenians Anja Petek and Patricija Verdev, part of a four-member female expedition, climbed the sharp and difficult east ridge of Lalung I over a period of five days, one and a half of these pinned inside their tent due to bad weather. On their final evening, a little below the summit, they lost tent poles to the wind and spent the night in bivouac sacs. The following morning's mist made it hard to navigate the remaining terrain, but they reached the summit at 9 a.m. on the 14th. The pair then made a long descent on the crest of the west ridge before making five rappels on the north face to reach the Lalung Glacier at 6:30 p.m. Here, they opted to continue down to advanced base, which took a further eight hours.

Descending to what they presumed was a tranquil base camp, Petek and Verdev discovered their time away had been far from a relaxed experience for their resident compatriots. The camp had been forced to deal with almost nightly visits from bears that ripped or demolished tents and stole much of the food.