Piolet d'Or Piolet d'Or The Piolet d'Or (, French for "Golden Ice Axe") is an annual mountaineering award given by the French magazine "Montagnes" and The "Groupe de Haute Montagne" since 1991. Nominations are selected by GHM and "Montagnes", and the award is chosen by a jury consisting of Guy Chaumereuil (the chief editor of "Montagnes" when the award was inaugurated), (until 1998) Jean-Claude Marmier (president of GHM when the award was inaugurated), the current president of GHM, the current editor of "Montagnes", the previous year's winners and three members invited by GHM, one of whom becomes the president of the jury.
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?"