The Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust

The trust was established to promote literature by providing an annual award to authors of literary works, the central theme of which is concerned with mountains.

The prize, which has been increased to £3,000 in 2008, commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker and is given to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.

On 17 May 1982 Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker were last seen on Mount Everest attempting to traverse The Pinnacles on the unclimbed North East Ridge at around 8250 metres. Their deaths marked the end of a remarkable era in British mountaineering.

Peter and Joe left two legacies. One was their great endeavour, their climbs on high peaks with bold, lightweight innovative methods which included Dunagiri, Changabang, Kongur, Everest and Kangchenjunga. The second and more lasting achievement were the books they wrote and left behind.

This literary legacy lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for mountain literature set up by family and friends in 1983.

The rules and entry form are available from this website.

 

 

 

 

Judges for 2008

Tim Noble, Chair of the judges, has spent the last forty years climbing and mountaineeering. A teacher of English in schools and universities, he is a published poet and has written numerous plays.

Alison Fell, author of seven novels; currently Royal Literary Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Her novel Mer de Glace co-won the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1991.

Phil Bartlett has climbed extensively and is a former assistant editor of The Alpine Journal. His book The Undiscovered Country was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1993.

 

 

 

Trustees

Paul Tasker(Chairman)   Margaret Body (Secretary)   Martin Henderson (Treasurer)
John Boardman   Sir Chris Bonington CBE   Dr Charles Clarke  Maria Coffey
Stephen Dean  Dennis Gray  Dick Renshaw   Hilary Rhodes  
  Pippa Southward  Martin Wragg

REGISTERED CHARITY No. 1053494