2024 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature Shortlist Announced

The Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain literature continues to attract a substantial degree of interest and level of entries. In this, our forty-first year, there were 32 entries, with authors from
Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Australia, Canada, India, Pakistan, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic.

The Judges for 2024 are Paul Pritchard (Chair), Joanna Croston and Rehan Siddiqui.  

They have selected the following six books for this year’s shortlist:

Bernadette McDonald

Alpine Rising
Sherpas, Baltis, and the Triumph of Local Climbers in the Greater Ranges

Mountaineers Books

A ground-breaking examination of the contemporary mountaineering landscape. McDonald focuses on the pivotal roles played by Nepali and Pakistani climbers in shaping the future of high-altitude endeavours. The Author skilfully highlights the incredible achievements of these mountaineers, who have often gone unrecognised by their Western counterparts, thereby elevating the voices of these mountaineers to their rightful place.

Bernadette McDonald was the founding Vice President of Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre and director of the Banff Mountain Festivals for 20 years, and few people have the relationships that McDonald does with the world’s most accomplished alpinists. The author of more than a dozen books about mountaineering and mountain culture, she regularly lectures on a variety of topics for universities, festivals, and alpine clubs. McDonald lives in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Rheged Centre, 2024
Photo credit: Vanessa Powell. 

Kate Nicholson 

Behind Everest
Ruth Mallory’s Story – First British Expeditions

Pen & Sword Books

A massive undertaking, it places Ruth Mallory in her rightful position as not merely the ‘wife’ of George Mallory. The book skillfully weaves Ruth’s personal struggles and contributions into the often-murky history of women in early 20th-century mountaineering. 

Kate Nicholson is an historian and a writer. Both Kate and Ruth Mallory had three young children when their husbands left to climb Everest from the north. Kate’s husband returned safely. George Mallory died on the mountain on his third attempt in 1924, one hundred years ago this year. Kate researched Ruth's life as a way of making her visible. In order to process her own experiences, Kate wanted to understand Ruth’s. We all live with loved ones who take risks of some kind or another. This is an extreme version of life, it is what happens at the far edge of normal experience. 

Ruth was there at the beginning of a revolution in attitudes to women’s climbing. A natural climber, in 1921 Ruth was invited to be a founder member of the first all female rock climbing club in the UK, the Pinnacle Club. Ruth did not see George’s expeditions from an armchair, but from a mountain. To understand her, Kate has learned to climb. She has felt the exposure of the routes Ruth climbed, the muscle tension of holding positions, the thrill, the danger and the story in those climbs: their beginning, middle and end.

Kate started researching this biography two decades ago when many of those who knew the Mallory’s were still alive. Together with friends and relations, she has been supported in this protracted endeavour by mountain literature giants Robert MacFarlane, Peter Gilliman and Sara Wheeler. Wade Davis says of ‘Behind Everest’ that ’The key to George is his beloved wife Ruth and yet until now, Ruth has remained a great mystery. Kate Ncholson’s biography is both vital and long overdue …'

Clive Oppenheimer

Mountains of Fire
The Secret Lives of Volcanoes

Hodder & Stoughton

A captivating exploration of the intricate relationship between volcanoes and humanity. This in-depth study seamlessly blends scientific insight with some rarely told historical narratives.

Clive Oppenheimer is a volcanologist and filmmaker at the University of Cambridge. His research aims to understand how volcanoes work, the hazards they pose and the impacts of the world’s largest eruptions on climate and society. His favourite volcano is Erebus in Antarctica, where he spent 13 austral summers, and discovered campsites used by members of Captain Scott’s last expedition. He has written two-and-a-half books and made two film documentaries with Werner Herzog (Into the Inferno, Netflix, 2016, and Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds, Apple TV+, 2020).

Nandini and Deepa
© Azra Bhagat

Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar

Headstrap
Legends and Lore from the Climbing Sherpas of Darjeeling

Mountaineers Books 

Beautifully weaves together the rich cultural heritage and climbing traditions of the Sherpa and Bhutia community of Darjeeling. Through engaging stand-alone stories, many of which are recorded for the first time, this book offers readers a captivating glimpse into the lives of the legendary mountaineers that populate the ‘Kathmandu of India’.

Nandina Purandare is editor of the internationally renowned Himalayan Journal. As a writer and editor for the Avehi-Abacus Project, she has developed educational materials for public schools across India. With a background in economics, Purandare has consulted for various organizations and research centers and is an enthusiastic trekker and avid reader of mountain literature. She, along with co-author Deepa Balsavar, founded the Sherpa Project to record oral histories through in-depth interviews of members of the climbing Sherpa community.

 

A well-known illustrator and storyteller, Deepa Balsavar has created more than thirty children’s books. She has won numerous awards, including Tata Trusts’ Big Little Book Award for her contribution to children’s literature, worked as a consultant with UNICEF in South Asia, and served as a core team member of the Avehi-Abacus Project for two decades. Balsavar is an adjunct professor in communication design at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay.

© Peter Hoang

David Smart

Royal Robbins
The American Climber

Mountaineers Books 

Offers a captivating portrait of a pioneering figure in the world of climbing, detailing both Robbins’ ground-breaking ascents and his profound influence on the climbing community. Smart meticulously chronicles Robbins’ journey from a troubled upbringing to a legendary climber and visionary.

David Smart is founding editor of Gripped magazine, editorial director at Gripped Publishing, and author of five guidebooks. His biography of Austrian solo climber Paul Preuss was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize, and his biography of Italian climber Emilio Comici won that prize along with the Banff Award for Climbing Literature. Other honors include the H. Adams Carter Award for Mountain Literature from the American Alpine Club. His work has appeared in Climbing, Rock and Ice, The American Alpine Journal, The Canadian Alpine Journal, and Alpinist. Smart resides in Toronto.

Graham Zimmerman

A Fine Line
Searching for Balance Among Mountains

Mountaineers Books 

A gripping and introspective account of the challenges faced by the modern alpinist.
The book masterfully intertwines a thought-provoking exploration of ambition and courage with the pursuit of meaning in the face of a changing mountain and global landscape.

As a professional climber, Graham Zimmerman is one of the most acclaimed alpinists of his generation. After graduating from Otago University in 2007 with a degree in geography, he focused on alpinism, a pursuit that has taken him on expeditions to Alaska, Patagonia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and all over the lower 48 and Canada. His awards include the 2020 Piolet d’Or, 2016 Cutting Edge Award for Excellence in Alpine Climbing, 2014 Piolet d’Or Top 5 Finalist, and 2010 New Zealand Alpinist of the Year. Dedicated to using his platform for good, he holds leadership roles in a range of nonprofits and outdoor companies, including the American Alpine Club and Protect Our Winters. He lives in Bend, Oregon with his wife, Shannon, and their dogs.

Once again the Award continues to attract a high level of interest and entries on a variety of aspects of the mountain environment.

Steve Dean
Secretary

Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust

Entries are now closed!

Submission for the 2024 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature is now closed. There were 32 entries, with authors from 11 countries. The shortlist will be announced in early September.

Tickets for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature taking place at Kendal Mountain Festival on Friday 22 Nov are on sale now.

Kangchenjunga: April – May 1979

© Geoff Beatty

Catherine Moorhead, Doug Scott’s Biographer, writes about Pete, Joe and Doug on Kangchenjunga May 1979.

‘It was the best walk-in ever,’ opined Doug Scott. After Everest in 1975, Doug and Pete Boardman had settled on an Alpine-style ascent of Kangchenjunga (8586m), the ‘Five Treasuries of the Snows’. They invited Joe Tasker – none better after Pete and Joe’s ground-breaking ascent of Changabang’s West Wall in 1976; all three then invited the boisterous, volatile Georges Bettembourg. Ang Phurba bought theirsupplies in Kathmandu. Forty-eight porters were engaged and after a long jeep ride to Dharan, the long walk-in began.

Along the way, three big, highly literate egos needled each other about their choices of reading, particularly Doug’s selection of Carlos Castaneda. They continued to argue up to their highest snow-hole at around 8000m. 

Georges’s big moment came when bouldering. He playfully pushed at Pete on top of a large boulder; Pete heard a crunch of broken ankle bone, his walk-in thereafter consisting mostly of being carted in a wicker basket by locals. Still, no shortage of magic mushrooms for pain relief…

Base Camp at Pangpema – at the junction of five large glaciers - was set up in early April. They were the first Westerners to camp there for fifty years.

With help from Ang Phurba and Nyima, well-stocked camps were set up in the shadow of The Twins (Gimmigela I & II, 7350m). They fixed ropes up the Kangchenjunga Glacier’s headwall, described by Joe as ‘Alpine TD, but somehow more than that’.  Thanks to falling rocks, Pete injured his hand. Screaming winds met them at the North Col. Joe was not acclimatizing well and dropped back to Base Camp. The others forged on up the North Ridge, often unroped – they had had to borrow rope from a Czech expedition - to a snow-hole at about 7470m. Next day, they managed to reach a ledge at 7900m, where they pitched a tent. One of the worst storms in their experience blew up. The tent shifted towards the 2000m drop to the Zemu Glacier. A desperate night ensued. All three realized they had come close to destruction; they retreated to Base Camp.

A recovery enhanced by egg and chips encouraged all four to make a second attempt. The North Ridge route was laboriously retraced up to a couple of snowholes just on the 8000m contour. A high-altitude row then ensued but quickly blew over. 

Thwarted again by violent winds, the party descended to their big snow-hole at around 7470m. Bettembourg believed himself to be played out and descended. The weather turned: on a starlit night, Pete, Joe and Doug reascended to 7900m and with only spare mitts, some fruit sweets, a bottle of water each and their cameras, set out for the summit.

Doug was wearing his old leather boots; high up, he had to take them off and thrust his feet inside Joe’s down suit to avoid frostbite. By late afternoon, they reached the point 100m below the summit where the ridges merged. They laboriously bypassed Joe Brown’s famous climb on the rock band just below the summit. At 5.30pm, they reached the top – although they remained 3m off it, out of respect for local religious sensibilities.

The descent to the upper snowhole was painfully slow: in the gloom, Doug stumbled twice and once tumbled down a small snow-covered outcrop. Pete’s sharper eyesight kept them on track.

The weather held. They lurched down the North Ridge, from brew to brew. Back at Pangpema, much rejoicing and fresh food. All that remained was a speedy return to home and the complications of domestic relationships…

This was one of the finest climbs in mountaineering history. It set new standards for ‘Alpine-style’ ascents. It is described in greater detail, with all of Doug’s other major climbs, in my biography of him, ‘Mountain Guru’, published last October by Birlinn and available from them or Amazon or Waterstones.

Catherine Moorehead

Kangchenjunga 1979

2024 is the forty fifth anniversary of Joe and Pete’s historic ascent of the North West Ridge of Kanchenjunga, climbed together with Doug Scott.  This was one of the finest achievements ever by British climbers, being a new route on the world’s third highest mountain, climbed without the use of oxygen, the climb was a very bold and potentially dangerous one, and Doug regarded it as perhaps his finest achievement.  As regards Joe and Pete, it ranks alongside their famous ascent of Changabang as their major contribution to the development of Himalayan climbing.  

The three of them reached the summit on May 16th.

This article was published in 2019.

Brian Hall remembers Bernard Newman 1950 – 2024

Image © Ian Smith

Image © Ian Smith

In the autumn of 1969, I walked into the 'Salad Bar' within the Leeds Student Union refectory. Still a boy, straight out of school and away from my parent's home for the first time, I stood nervously before a group of men.

'Is this where the climbing club meets? I'm Brian'. I stuttered nervously.

'Aye, have a seat', came a reply with a smile. Piercing eyes held my attention. Locks of tawny straight hair brushed his broad bare shoulders, which burst out of a tight-fitting tank top. Ridiculously flared jeans poked from under the table.

It was my first meeting with Bernard. He had already studied Geology at Leeds for a year and was among the climbing club's most active and enthusiastic members. At first, his acerbic wit put me off, but I soon realised it was a front I had to break through before entering what became a unique brotherhood of elite climbers. We developed a close friendship.

Born in Birmingham, he studied geology at Leeds and became a vital part of the University climbing scene in the 1970s, developing into one of the club's top climbers. He also enthusiastically edited the club's journal, which has become a piece of mountaineering literature folklore.

While we climbed, Bernard quietly took photographs, which were never posed or intrusive. His photos were about the character's personality rather than just a spectacular shot. Almscliffe was our favourite venue, and one day, we carried a barrel of beer to the cliff to enjoy while climbing. That day, he took a classic photo, which he called The Barrel, showing the group of us relaxing after climbing. It captured the moment of that anarchistic era of the early 70's. As did his portrait of John Syrett on Early Riser and later the iconic composition of Steve Bancroft on Strapadictomy and the thrill and jeopardy of Andy Pollitt on The Bells.

Mutual friends at Leeds, including Roger Baxter Jones, Alex MacIntyre, John Porter and myself, all enjoyed alpine and later Himalayan climbing. But Bernard's steel fingers, honed on the Leeds climbing wall, preferred rock routes. He was a star boulderer before bouldering became popular and prior to the use of pads. He on-sighted Downhill Racerwhen it was regarded as a Peak District test piece, and he was the first person I saw perform a one-arm pull-up.

On a road trip in '73, we drove like maniacs in beat-up vans, surviving on cheap vin ordinaire and baguettes to the French Alps, Provence and the Calanque. These were gloriously happy days, which I shared with Bernard and the Leeds team, including Syrett, Powell, Stainforth, Porter, and MacIntyre. In the Alps, Bernard and I were partners on his first alpine route. The Grepon's Mer de Glace face should have been straightforward until a ferocious storm hit us. We sheltered in a derelict wooden bivouac hut as hail drilled down all day and lightning lit the night. The next day, we abseiled down the ice-plastered face, thinking our lives were about to end. I am uncertain whether Bernard ever ventured onto an Alpine climb again?

After graduating from university, his strong views on climbing ethics were put to good use as he worked as editor of Mountain magazine. When it stopped publication in 1992, he joined Mountain Review and then became editor of Climber magazine from 1998 to 2007. Meanwhile, he was editor of the Alpine Journal and vice-president of the Climbers' Club. In journalism, his photography skills were matched by his writing and editing skills. His visionary talents were displayed when he collaborated with Ken Wilson to produce the book Extreme Rock. As a commentator on climbing, his views (whether one agreed or not) were always rational and to the point. His opinion was sought-after, exemplified by joining the judging panel on the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature in 2011 and taking the role of Chair of judges in 2012.

To the end, he was active on rock, and it was on a climbing holiday in Spain with his wife Janine that he died of a heart attack.

So sad … one more member of the Leeds team has departed. Bernard, it was a privilege to spend so many happy times together.

Roger Hubank – Climber and Novelist

I was very sad to hear of the death of my friend Roger Hubank.  Roger grew up in Derby, as a boy was a particularly talented footballer.  However, by the time he was studying at Cambridge in the late 1950s, Roger had become a keen and able climber.  He climbed widely both in Britain and the Alps.

For many years Roger was a lecturer at Loughborough University.  In 1978 his first novel ‘North Wall’ was published by Hutchinson and was described by Ken Wilson as ‘a work of genius’.  It is an austere and harsh piece of work, never flinching from the hard reality of its subject.

Roger’s second novel ‘Hazard’s Way’, published in 2001 was set in Wasdale in the early part of the last century and deals with tragedy on the crags, and a young man’s struggle to find his place in life.  To quote Jim Perrin:  “Roger Hubank’s new book is simply a masterpiece – the finest piece of fictional writing about the subject of mountaineering ever to have been published in this country”.

‘Hazard’s way’ was an outstanding winner of the The Boardman Tasker Award for Mountaineering Literature in 2001, and also won the Grand Prix at the Banff Mountain Literature Festival (Canada).  The book also received a Royal Society of Literature Special Commendation.

Roger added further novels each dealing with the mountains and wild places.  ‘North’ was published in 2002, followed by ‘Taking Leave’ in 2004, and ‘Evening Light’ in 2009.  His last novel ‘The Way of the Cuillin’ was published in 2021 and is set in 1938 with the shadow of war hanging over the country.  Through the conversations of the characters, we gain insight into the political instability and psychological damage incurred from earlier conflicts, accentuated by anxiety and conjecture over the current crisis.  The book is meticulous in its attention to historical settings: the bustle of Fitzrovia as London prepares for war  and the Isle of Skye in the late 1930s.  To my mind, this complex novel is perhaps Roger’s finest piece of work.

Mountaineering fiction is a difficult area to execute well, and there have been some poor examples in the past.  Roger Hubank was a craftsman and tackles the challenge of this kind of work with great skill and sensitivity.  All of his books are highly recommended.

Steve Dean

Steve Dean, BT Secretary, remembers his friend Roger Hubank

Tony Shaw, Kate Harris, Katie Ives, Roger Hubank

I was very sad last week to learn of the death of Roger Hubank, who was an ardent supporter of the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust for many years.

Roger grew up in Derby and studied English at Cambridge University.  He worked for many years as a Senior Academic at Loughborough University.  In his youth Roger was a keen climber and maintained a keen interest in the mountains throughout his life.

Roger was known as a highly regarded novelist and wrote six books predominantly based in mountain settings.  He first came to prominence in 1977, with the austere and bleak “North Wall”, a book that soon became regarded as a classic.  Roger’s second novel ‘Hazard’s Way’ was the 2001 winner of the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature.  The book also won the Grand Prix at the Banff Mountain Literature Festival and was given a special commendation from the Royal Society of Literature. 

To quote Jim Perrin: “Hazard’s Way is quite simply a masterpiece, the finest piece of fictional writing about the subject of mountaineering ever to have been published in this country.”

Roger wrote a total of six novels, the last one “Way of the Cuillin” was published in 2021. All of Roger’s books are highly recommended.

Roger was a Boardman Tasker Judge in 2018 and was Chair of Judges in 2019. At the 30th Anniversary of the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature Roger gave a stirring speech in support of the notion of mountain literature and received hug applause.

Roger was delightful company and retained a great interest in mountaineering throughout his life.  He was also to me personally, a wonderful friend.

Robin Campbell - 2015 Chair of Judges

Robin Campbell, Barry Blanchard & Martin Wragg

I was very sorry to receive the news from Dennis Gray that Robin Campbell had died. Robin was a Boardman Tasker Award Judge in 2014 and was Chair of Judges in 2015. Robin was a contemporary of Dougal Haston and Robin Smith in Edinburgh and was a major figure in Scottish Mountaineering since the early 1960s.

In 2015 when the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature was presented to Barry Blanchard for his book “The Calling”, Robin gave a wonderfully humorous speech that had the audience at Kendal Mountain Festival in fits of laughter which resulted in loud applause afterwards.

Robin was a strong supporter of the BT Trust over many years and gave me help over matters on a number of occasions.

Steve Dean
Honorary Secretary                                                                                                                                         The Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust

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