The Boardman Tasker Award continues to enhance its international reputation. This year it attracted 28 entries from ten different countries: England, Scotland, Canada, France, Finland, India, Ireland, New Zealand, USA, and South Korea.
The Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature will be awarded to the winner(s) at the Boardman Tasker Award Shortlisted Authors event at Kendal Mountain Festival on Friday November 21st, 2025.
The Judges for 2025 were Rehan Siddiqui (Chair), Brian Hall and, Nandini Purandare. They have selected the following seven books for the 2025 Shortlist:
Rick Accomazzo
Tobin, The Stonemasters, and Me 1970-1980
Remembering Tobin Sorenson, the Best Climber in the World
Stonemasters Books
The book chronicles the life of the author’s friend and climbing partner, Tobin Sorenson, a member of the legendary 1970s climbing collective known as The Stonemasters. The book details their adventures and the evolution of modern climbing through the lens of Sorenson’s exceptional talent, which some considered the best in the world. It is a powerful tribute to Sorenson, who died tragically at a young age and a vivid portrait of a golden era of climbing.
Rick Accomazzo has been a climber for over 50 years and is credited with first ascents and first free ascents in the US, Canada, Mexico, Britain, France, and Italy. One of the original Southern California Stonemasters, he spent several seasons in Yosemite’s Camp 4 during the 1970s, where he was a member of its search-and-rescue team. Most importantly, it was in Camp 4 that Rick met his future wife, Gerry.
Rick is a co-founder of The Access Fund, the climber advocacy and conservation organization, having served on its original board of directors and as its second president. In 2021, he was a recipient, with Armando Menocal and Randy Vogel, of the American Alpine Club’s highest award, Honorary Membership, for their work with the Access Fund. His writing has been previously published in climbing magazines; in 2015 he was a finalist for the Mountaineering Article prize at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Mark Agnew
There Will be Headwinds
Kayaking the Northwest Passage
Icon Books
The author recounts his journey as part of the first team to kayak the Northwest Passage. The book is an account of physical hardships and mental health struggles he faced after previous expedition failures. It is a story about teamwork, perseverance, and personal growth in an epic adventure.
Mark Agnew is an adventurer, motivational keynote speaker and first time author. He grew up in Scotland, with two explorer parents, who both inspired him to live an interesting, fulfilled life. After university, he moved to Hong Kong, where he founded the Outdoor & Extreme Sports section of the South China Morning Post. During this time, he tried and failed to row the Atlantic twice. With the harsh lessons he learned, he joined three fellow adventurers (calling themselves The Arctic Cowboys) to kayak the Northwest Passage. The 103-day expedition is the subject of his book There Will Be Headwinds, and their success earned him the title European Adventurer of the Year. He now lives in London and travels the world sharing his story and lessons in resilience with his signature keynote talk Find Your Polar Bear.
Paul Besley
The Search
The life of a mountain rescue search dog team
Vertebrate Publishing
The author’s life journey was transformed following a mountain rescue team saving his life from a serious hillwalking accident. Inspired by his rescue he joined a mountain rescue team and trains his Border Collie puppy, Scout, to become a search dog. The book details rigorous training and rescue missions, while exploring Besley’s personal struggles and how his bond with Scout helps him confront his past and find purpose.
Paul Besley is a writer who began exploring the British landscape while at school in the 1970s. His focus of work is the interaction between humans and the land. His work has evolved into the study of how the physical environment imprints itself on humans and how we as a race respond. His belief that walking is a simple activity has led him to support the effort of many just starting out on a lifetime of pleasure. He has a desire to show people that walking does not just have to be in the hills and mountains of national parks or rely on expensive equipment but can be enjoyed from the front door of home through our urban landscape and out in our local countryside. His books, Day Walks in the South Pennines and 1001 Walking Tips for Vertebrate Publishing, and the three Peak District guidebooks for Cicerone Press, are well respected by walkers and explorers of all ages. He lives close to the Peak District in The Outdoor City of Sheffield with his partner, metalsmith Alison Counsell, and their two dogs Olly and Scout.
Nathalia Holt
The Beast in the Clouds
The Roosevelt Brothers’ Deadly Quest to find the Mythical Giant Panda
One Signal Publishers
In 1928 Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt, the two eldest sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, embark on a dangerous expedition to the Chinese Himalayas. Their objective is to find and capture a live specimen of the giant panda, a creature so rare it was believed to be mythical. The book details their harrowing journey, filled with hardships as they chase their dream to introduce the panda to the western world.
Nathalia Holt, Ph.D. is the New York Times bestselling author of The Beast in the Clouds, Wise Gals, Rise of the Rocket Girls, The Queens of Animation, and Cured. She has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Popular Science, PBS, and Time. She is a former fellow at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard University. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Pacific Grove, CA.
Mollie Hughes
Breathe
Life Lessons from the Edge of the World
Birlinn Ltd
An inspiring account by Mollie Hughes of exploring some of the Earth’s wildest environments. She shares her view on how self-belief and lessons learnt from epic challenges enabled her to become the youngest woman to climb Everest from the south and north sides. Then, aged 29, she describes her battle through freezing storm-force winds to achieve the distinction of being the youngest woman to ski solo to the South Pole.
Mollie Hughes is a world record-breaking adventurer, mountaineer, polar explorer and international motivational speaker. In 2017 she broke the world record for becoming the youngest woman to climb both sides of Mount Everest and in 2020 became the youngest woman to ski solo to the South Pole. In December 2020 she was the first woman to become president of Scouts Scotland.
Dave Macleod
Moving the Needle
How an Average Climber can do the Hardest Route in the World
Rare Breed Productions
This is a memoir focussed on the author’s journey from an average climber to an elite, world-renowned athlete. The author tells his story of using trainable skills and behavioural traits to achieve his goals that can be replicated. Simple really, anyone can do it!
Dave MacLeod is a professional rock climber and coach based in the Highlands of Scotland. He has been climbing for 30 years and is recognised as one of the best all-round climbers in the world, having climbed the world’s first E11 trad route, as well as some of the hardest ice routes and free solos. He is best known for his hardest trad climbs, Rhapsody (E11) on Dumbarton Rock and Echo Wall (E11) on Ben Nevis but has also made hundreds of first ascents across Scotland and the greater ranges of the world, including the Dolomites, Norway and Patagonia. Dave is also a respected climbing coach, writing a popular blog since 2006, hosting a successful YouTube channel and has written three books. Dave has an undergraduate degree in Physiology and Sports Science, a master’s degree in Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, and a master’s degree in Human Nutrition.
Iain Peters
The Corridor
Bed and Bolster
In his memoir, the author recounts his life as a climber and teacher, revealing how his passion for wild places and adventure served as a means of survival and a form of recovery from childhood sexual abuse. He candidly explores the long-term impact of this trauma on his psyche and relationships, finding strength in the mountains in the emotional journey of healing. The book is a powerful story of hope, resilience and the creation of a life fulfilled despite an early, horrific trauma.
Iain was introduced to climbing, aged 4 by his grandfather on the granite tors of Dartmoor and the sea cliffs of Land’s End. He’s been climbing ever since, as an instructor, pioneer of hundreds of new routes in the Southwest over five decades and mountaineering in the Cordillera Darwin of Tierra del Fuego.
His first published work was The Climbers’ Club Guide to North Devon and Cornwall in 1988. Iain then lived with his wife and children in Cumbria, working as the Lake District National Park Authority’s freelance writer where he created and wrote Rocky Rambler’s Wild Walks, in collaboration with the cartoonist and illustrator Colin Shelbourn, the first walking guide to the Lake District for children, which won the Hunter Davies Prize at The Lake District Book of The Year Awards in 1992.
The comments are by courtesy of Rehan Siddiqui, Chair of 2025 Judges.
Tickets for the Boardman Tasker Award Shortlisted Authors event at Kendal Mountain Festival on Friday November 21st, 2025 are available now.
