Saturday 31 July 2010 - 03.03
Grolla D’Or for the finest international alpinist achievement by an alpine guide:
VALERY BABANOV
This is for his ascent of the unclimbed Jannu West Pillar (7710m – Himalayas) accomplished with Sergey Kofanov from 14th to 21st October 2007. The achievement crowned Valery’s dream that he’d had for the last seven years and at the same time resolved one of the Himalayas’ aesthetic “problems”, on what is often called the World’s most beautiful mountain. Light weight style, extreme difficulty (VI/WI4+/80° ice/M5), completed in perfect alpine style and the complexity of the route that, along its 3000 metres, combines rock, ice and mixed, all go to create one of the greatest achievements of the last few years.
Valery Babanov
“As time goes by one realises that there are no limits. The only limits are in are own heads. The choice is always ours and it is the ability to choose and nothing else that defines our future.” Valery Babanof
Valery Babanov born in 1964 in Omsk, Russia is known as one of today’s greatest alpinists. From his first mountaineering exploits in 1980 this little big man of the mountains has shown huge creativity and ability in adapting to all vertical terrain. He can count more than 300 ascents, many of which involving extreme difficulties both on the Alp’s granite and in particular on Mont Blanc, as well as on the Earth’s greatest summits. He has climbed eight of Russia’s over 7000m summits as well as in the Himalayas and North America. Babanov has always believed in taking alpinism to its limit and extremely personally, exploring new terrains and new routes, as well as different ways of tackling ascents, on his own or in a group. The list of his solitary climbs underlines his exceptional ability: the American Direct on the Petit Dru (Mont Blanc) in 1995, and Zodiac on El Capitan (Yosemite Valley, USA) in 1996, then in 1999 the new route opened on the Grandes Jorasses North face again on Mont Blanc and in the same year the new route on Mount Barille in Alaska. In 2001 the ascent of Peak Meru (6310m) won him the Piolet D’Or followed by, in 2006, the new route on Chomo Lonzo North face (7200m) in the Himalayas.
His ascents with companions are no less impressive, for example he opened a new route with Yuri Koshelenko on the Nuptse East face in 2003, winning him a second Piolet D’Or and that’s not to forget the new route, in 2005, on Mc Kinley’s South West face (6200m) in Alaska. Babanov ranges from rock to ice and mixed. An example of this is his most recent feat, the ascent of the unclimbed Jannu West Pillar, this time winning the Grolla D’Oro of the first edition of the Saint-Vincent Award, for the finest international alpinist achievement by an alpine guide.
Apart from the exceptional technical quality of his ascents, what is really striking about Babanov’s alpinism is not just his ability to maintain and continually evolve his idea of the “lightness” of pure alpine style but also his ability to be the centre of attention in the world of alpinism with practical examples of mountaineering at its highest possible level. He is a man of few words but his accomplishments are renowned and his passion for the mountains knows no boundaries. This all consuming passion has pushed him to become the only Russian to have ever gained the UIAGM Alpine Guide diploma.
