Piolet d'Or took place in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (France) and Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley (Italy) on the 24th and 25 April 2009. The 2009 awardees were: For 2008, the Piolet D'Or was canceled. The co-founders of the award decided to initiate a new process for selecting the nominees and winner, and the process could not be completed on a timely basis for 2008. The 2007 Piolet d'Or was awarded on January 26, 2007 in Grenoble, France. The winners were: Other finalist were: Piolet d'Or The Piolet d'Or (, French for "Golden Ice Axe") is an annual mountaineering award given by the French magazine
Du battant des lames au sommet des montagnes Du battant des lames au sommet des montagnes Du battant des lames au sommet des montagnes (French for "From the beating of the waves to the summit of the mountains" (lit.) or "From the seashore to the mountaintops" (fig.)) is a French expression that formerly served to define the geographic concessions accorded by the French East India Company to the colonists of the island of Réunion when it was still called "île Bourbon". Since then, the expression has become a common phrase, indeed a "fixed formula". In its strictest meaning, it acts grammatically as an answer to the question "how?"