The winners of the Nick Estcourt Award 2020 have been announced. The award was established to commemorate the climbing achievements of Nick Estcourt, and to encourage future generations of expedition mountaineers. After 40 years, this will be the final year that the grant will be awarded in its current format.

The winners of the 2020 Nick Estcourt Award are Tom Livingstone and Luka Strazar who, Covid-19 restrictions permitting, will attempt a new line on the spectacular north face of Jannu (7,710m) in Nepal this post-monsoon season. In line with the spirit of the award the climbers will accept the true challenge of their objective by climbing Alpine Style and not carrying bolts.

Their bold, intended climb captured the imagination of the Trustees such that they decided to end their administration of the award with a higher than usual grant of £2,500.

Tom and Luka made the first ascent from the north of Latok I (7,145m) with Aleš Česen in 2018 in a seven-day round-trip from basecamp. This trip was part-funded by a BMC expedition grant and received the highest grade award, the Piolet d'Or.

Nick Estcourt died on K2 in 1978 and since 1980 the Nick Estcourt Award has kept his name alive by awarding an annual grant to mountaineering expeditions tackling objectives of the kind that Nick loved.

The trustees are proud to have kept the award going for 40 years but have decided that this will be the final year in which the grant will be awarded in its current format. The remaining funds will now be made available to the Mount Everest Foundation who will continue to keep Nick’s name alive by attaching his name to a single expedition each year which fulfills the criteria of the Nick Estcourt Award.

For more information please visit the website: http://www.nickestcourtaward.org

WATCH: Climbing Latok I from the north with Tom Livingstone

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