Shortlist 2009

This year there were 31 entries for the Boardman Tasker Prize from the UK, Canada and the States, which included five novels, as well as works of climbing history, biography, mountain rescue, Himalayan mapping and a celebration of snow.

The judges for 2009, Phil Bartlett (Chair), Kym Martindale and Ian Smith, have announced the following shortlist :

Cairngorm John by John Allen, published by Sandstone Press

A sensitive and effectively underwritten account of the author's experiences of mountain rescue in the Cairngorms; a worthy testament to a great voluntary tradition.

Hooker & Brown by Jerry Auld, published by Brindle & Glass, Canada

A technically highly accomplished mountaineering novel with a clever plot-line and convincing characters.

The Longest Climb by Dominic Faulkner, published by Virgin Books

A professionally written account of travelling by bicycle to Everest and successfully climbing it, starting at the lowest point on earth - the Dead Sea.

The very impressive climbing autobiography (to date) of one of the world's leading figures in alpine-style climbing in greater ranges.

Revelations by Jerry Moffatt, published by Vertebrate Publishing

A readable and effective account of a seminal period in British rock climbing, marked by a professional attitude to training, by one of the key protaganists.

Deep Powder and Steep Rock by Chic Scott, published by Assiniboine Publishing, Canada

The thorough and well-researched biography of rags to riches Austrian Hans Gmoser who invented the sport of heli-skiing in the Canadian Rockies.