25 YEARS OF MOUNTAIN SPORTS HISTORY

12.08.2021 –The active extraordinary Swiss climber and mountaineer Stephan Siegrist receives the «Le Mérite alpin» award for his life's work from the FIFAD Alpine Festival. As an extreme mountaineering sportsperson, he also celebrates a quarter of a century of partnership with the Swiss mountain sports supplier Mammut. He extends his commitment as a Mammut Pro Team athlete by a further three years until 2024.

At the renowned Swiss Alpine Film Festival FIFAD, thirty films compete annually for the festival award. Each year a well-known individual is also honored with the «Le Mérite alpin» for exceptional alpine achievements. In 2021, Mammut Pro Team athlete Stephan Siegrist can look forward to the award for his life's work, which he received on 11 August 2021 in the stronghold of adventure sports amidst the Diablerets massif. ​

The jury awards the prize as follows:

«For us to say that Stephan Siegrist is an outstanding climber isn't enough. Whether in the Alps or the Himalayas, this extraordinary climber's record is impressive. However, what distinguishes the Swiss alpinist ambassador is also his sense of aesthetics and ethics. As a mountain guide, Stephan Siegrist is a man who likes to share his passion for the mountains. This year's 'Le Mérite alpin' award honors a true summiteer.»

Born in 1972 in Switzerland, the former carpenter has earned his living as a professional mountaineer and mountain guide since he was 26 years old. The most outstanding achievements of his mountaineering career to date include first ascents on all seven continents, ascents of the great north faces of the Alps - including the north face of the Eiger over forty times alone – expeditions and projects in northern India and Nepal, North America and Antarctica, South Africa, and Patagonia. His most recent ascent there was the Cerro Cachet over the northern ice sheet in 2019. Since 1995, Mammut has sponsored the professional mountaineer, who now lives near Interlaken, as a Mountaineering Pro Team athlete. During this time, Siegrist has significantly influenced the pioneering Mammut mountain sports clothing series «Eiger Extreme».

«I consider it great luck and a gift that I can dedicate my life to mountaineering. Mountaineering is my profession and my vocation in one. I am even more grateful that for years I have had a reliable, supportive partner at my side in Mammut, whose actions are just as moved by the mountains as mine.»

says Stephan Siegrist. As an athlete, it is a privilege to be able to concentrate 100 percent on one's passion and at the same time to be able to provide valuable input for the further development of mountain sports equipment, which is then effectively taken on board. Commenting on the fascination that mountain sports have held for Siegrist for years, he says:

«The fascination is unbroken to this day. It isn't easy to put this magic into words. After all, nature manages without words; it has its own language: cold and warmth, brightness and darkness, flowering meadows in spring, leaves falling in autumn, the white blanket of winter. It is a wonderful language that appeals to all the senses. You must get involved with it. For me, alpinism means much more than just participating in mountain sports.»

In July 2021, Siegrist signed another three-year contract with Mammut and thus remains an important component of the Mammut Pro Team until 2024.

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