A diverse collection of mountain literature has made it onto the shortlist for this year’s Boardman Tasker award including the latest climbing books from Simon Yates and Andy Kirkpatrick. Chairman of the judging panel, Bernard Newman said, “This year we have had 22 entries for the award and generally this year the overall standard has been particularly high. The range of subject matter was as ever diverse and included biography, autobiography, fiction, historical material (Everest and K2 again well represented), travel and spiritual journeys.”
The other two members of the judging panel are Lindsay Griffin and Shannon O’Donoghue and they have selected the following, 6 book, shortlist which is followed by their summary comments on each book:
Here, there and everywhere… by Jim Curran, “A revealing and at times deeply emotional autobiography that spans much of the history of UK climbing from the 1960s to the present.”
Into the Silence by Wade Davis, “A hugely comprehensive history of the 1921, 1922 and 1924 British expeditions to Everest, culminating in the loss of Mallory & Irvine.”
Cold Wars – Climbing the fine line between risk and reality by Andy Kirkpatrick, “A second autobiographical volume, describing epic winter ascents in the Alps and Patagonia and the conflicts of the lifestyle with family life.”
The Challenge of K2 by Richard Sale, “A highly detailed account of the complex history of climbing on K2 from the mid nineteenth century up until 2011.”
Fiva: An Adventure That Went Wrong by Gordon Stainforth, “A ripping yarn of a climbing epic on Store Trolltind in the Romsdal, in 1969.”
The Wild Within by Simon Yates, “A further autobiographical account of climbing adventures in the world’s remote ranges, including the Cordillera Darwin, Alaska and Greenland.”
The winner will be announced on Friday 16 November during the Kendal Mountain Festival.
The prize of £3,000 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.