Five writers have been shortlisted for the prestigious mountain literature award, the Boardman Tasker Prize. This year’s shortlist includes a novel from New Zealand, works of philosophy, autobiography and mountain history as well as recent drama.
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 annual £3000 prize 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.
The following summary of the 2010 shortlist includes comments from the judging panel.
No Way Down by Graham Bowley – “A very well researched and well written book which painstakingly pieces together the events of 2008 on K2 through interviews with those who survived and the family and friends of those who did not.”
Ron Fawcett, Rock Athlete by Ron Fawcett with Ed Douglas – “This is a frank and engaging portrait of an unassuming yet remarkable climber; an inspirational subject and a story shot through with honesty and integrity.”
The Hut Builder by Laurence Fearnley – “This novel is set in the mountains of New Zealand and includes an account of an early hut on Mount Cook and climbing with Ed Hillary; an ingenius mix of fact and fiction.”
Climbing Philosophy for Everyone by Stephen E Schmid – “Climbing Philosophy for Everyone poses some of the questions that climbers are not anxious to address and numerous contributors engagingly argue and discuss the various issues.”
Unjustifiable Risk? by Simon Thompson – “A wide ranging book charting the history of British Climbing and climbers at home and abroad.”
The winner will be announced at the Kendal Mountain Festival on 19 November.
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.