It is a very sad news that we just heard from the organizers of the Piolet d'Or in Chamonix. Bjorn-Eivind Aartun, the great Norwegian specialist in giant ice falls - in his country there's a lot and they can reach 600 meters high - died Friday with his climbing partner, Stein-Ivar Gravdal, carried away by a fall of ice, in attempting to open an ice road on the big wall of Kjerag in southwestern Norway. Bjorn-Eivind Aartun was among the contenders for the climbing golden ax 2012. He managed a remarkable ascent of the Torre Egger in Patagonia, in December 25 and 26. The mountaineer was not a stranger in Chamonix, since last year he was nominated for the Piolet d'Or 2011 for the ascent of Mount Foraker (5304m) in Alaska with the mountaineer Colin Haley. He was the leader in high-level mountaineering in Norway and had made many expeditions and conducted the first in Alaska, Patagonia and Antarctica.
