Shortlisted Author reflections

Some of the 2024 Award Shortlisted Authors reflect on their experience of being shortlisted and the Shortlisted Authors event at Kendal Mountain Festival:

I was unaware that my editor had thoughtfully submitted Mountains of Fire for consideration, so it was a real thrill to be shortlisted for the BT Award. The trustees and jury gave each of us such an enthusiastic and affirming welcome, and the evening felt like true showbiz, especially with Helen's inspired questions for each of us on stage. It was a wonderfully convivial event, and a personal highlight for me was reconnecting with Sir Chris - half a century after a brief encounter when I was a schoolboy attending a talk he gave at the Royal Geographical Society (surely some vertical inspiration there!). It was a privilege to be part of such an uplifting celebration of mountain literature and tribute to the legacies of Peter and Joe. Thankyou!
Sorry, couldn't resist the pun!
Very best wishes,
Clive (Oppenheimer)

There is something about the annual gathering of writers and readers and book collectors at the Boardman Tasker event that is truly unique. Is it the low-ceilinged Malt Room at the Brewery Arts Centre? Perhaps the thrill of competition? The unmistakable critical mass of knowledge and passion for mountain literature that permeates the audience? The pleasure of reconnecting with old friends? I have experienced this event many times, including four times as a short-listed author and twice as a winner.  It was such an honour to be short-listed this year, which I consider to be a banner year for mountain literature. The quality of the writing, the conversations, and the 'back stories' that authors love to share contributed to an evening that I will always remember. Heartfelt thanks to Maria Coffey and the Boardman Tasker committee, the illustrious jury, and all of the fine authors who submitted books this year. The overwhelming take-away for me is that mountain literature is alive and thriving.

Best, Bernadette (McDonald)

It is a great thing to be selected for an award you have, unknowingly, been tacking towards for over a decade. The organisers were fantastic and very tenacious in chasing up an invitation to submit 'Behind Everest – Ruth Mallory’s Story' to the long list. Janet and Stephen could not have been more kind. Helen Mort was a wonderful interviewer and the fellow shortlisters all friendly and fascinating – some lasting friendships made during the course of the two nail biting hours whilst we waited to hear who’d won. Like the award itself, bonds forged in adversity – albeit of the centrally heated kind. Maria Coffrey is a bit of a pin up for me and I had quoted Chris Bonington as the most reliable source of ‘did they [George Mallory and Sandy Irvine of Everest 1924 expedition] reach the top or didn’t they?’ He thought they didn’t. But to paraphrase Nan Shepherd of ‘Into the Mountains’ fame, the Boardman Tasker Award event proves,  that perhaps winning a summit isn’t an exclusive organising principle. 

Kate (Nichols)

2024 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature Chair of Judges Speech

Maria Coffey, Paul Pritchard & Nandini Purandare

Writing a book is brave undertaking. The vulnerability involved for the writer means that this endeavour is not for everyone. This year there were so many worthy books. The judges had to deliberate long and hard and make some difficult choices. We had to read 30-odd books this year, and to speak frankly, there could have been 9 or 10 on the shortlist, such was the quality of the writing. 

Some of the books that the judges really struggled to omit from the shortlist were: 

  • Mountain Guru by Catherine Moorehead, a truly comprehensive account of the life of one of climbing’s greats, Doug Scott. 

  • Beth Rodden’s A Light Through the Cracks was something else, I tell you.

  • Survival Is Not Assured by Geoff Powter, this important book has glittering prose about a genius of mountaineering. 

  • Mick Conefrey’s book, George Mallory -The Man, the Myth and the 1924 Everest Tragedy is a timely and well written book.

  • And Weathering, Ruth Allen’s book surely will go on to win another great writing prize.

Eventually, after months of deliberation, the judges put together a shortlist which I think reflects the diversity of, and in, mountaineering literature today. 

First, we have Alpine Rising by that forceful voice in mountain literature, Bernadette MacDonald. One of the first books to explore the pivotal roles played by Nepali and Pakistani climbers in shaping the future of high-altitude endeavours. Traditionally in the western mountaineering canon, these climbers were unnamed, or only had first names.So, they take their rightful place alongside western climbers.

Next, the groundbreaking Everest book that explores what it is like to stay behind, for a very able partner, in a different age to ours. Kate Nicholson’s Behind Everest tells the story of Ruth Turner, ahem, Mallory, (as in the wife of George) through many previously unseen letters. The judges applaud Nicholson for achieving the virtually impossible featof taking the drowned-out voice of this woman (amidst the bluster of male voices), and making it seem strangely modern.

Then we have Clive Oppenheimer’s, Mountains of Fire which brings science to life, telling stories that are personal, yet global in reach. From Vesuvius to Krakatoa, from Paektu in North Korea to Erebus in Antarctica he considers the relationship between volcanoes and humanity.

Following on from Mountains of Fire is Headstrap: Legends and Lore from the Climbing Sherpas of Darjeeling by Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar. 

It is a beautifully crafted tribute to the rich cultural heritage and climbing traditions of the Sherpa and Bhutia people of Darjeeling. 

Headstrap is a genuinely untold story, and it took the authors more than a decade to conduct in-depth interviews with not only the Sherpas themselves but their family members, descendants – so it is a hard-won achievement.

With its vivid sense of place, community, and culture, Headstrap weaves a rich tapestry of this particular Sherpa society, giving the people of Darjeeling the recognition in mountaineering literature that they deserve.

Royal Robbins: The American Climber by David Smart is yet another meticulously well researched biography of an American legend. Charting Robbins’ journey from young enthusiast to legendary climber, and outdoor visionary. 

Lastly, we have the cutting edge of alpinism well expressed by David Zimmerman in A Fine Line. Through some stunningly climactic tales, Zimmerman delves into the psychological and physical demands of the “sport” - though it soon becomes clear to the reader that mountaineering is much, much more than a simple sport to Zimmerman. 

And the winner of this, the 41st Boardman Tasker Award, is Headstrap: Legends and Lore from the Climbing Sherpas of Darjeeling by Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar.

Maria Coffey's Introduction Speech

Maria Coffey

As the Chair of the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust I’m honored to welcome you to the 41st Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature. 

41 years – it makes me feel a bit dizzy to say that. And to think back to those very first meetings, when family and close friends of Pete and Joe came together to find a way to celebrate them, to keep their memory alive, to create a legacy in their names. Since then, BT has inspired and encouraged mountain writers in all genres. It has helped to develop and raise the profile mountain literature. And it’s allowed us all to stay connected with Pete and Joe, and with each other, a strong thread through time. I know Pete and Joe would be very proud of how far BT has come, and all its potential for the future. 

Before we get started on the important business of the evening, there are a number of people I wish to acknowledge and thank. 

First, huge thanks to Mountain Equipment who sponsor this event through Kendal Mountain Festival and who from next year will also be directly sponsoring the BT prize. 

It’s a huge honour and joy to have our award as part of the incredibly rich and diverse Kendal Mountain Festival. Thanks to Paul Scully, Jenny Rice, the KMF directors and everyone on the team for all you do for BT, and for the mountain and outdoor community. 

My thanks to our patron Sir Chris Bonington and my fellow trustees – Martin Wragg, Paul Tasker, Chris Harle, Charlie Clarke, Kelyvn James, Matt Fry, as of today our newest trustee Helen Mort, and most especially Steve Dean and our administrator Janet Dean. Steve and Janet are the engine of BT, devoting huge amounts of time to it each year, and working closely with KMF to create this event. On that note, thanks to the Brewery Arts Centre technical staff here in the Malt Room with us this evening. 

From personal experience I know how much work and commitment is involved in being a judgefor a book competition. I want to acknowledge and show our gratitude to our judges for this year’s prize. Joanne Croston couldn’t be here; Rehan Siddiqui and our Chair of Judges Paul Pritchard – himself a two times winner of this prize - please stand for a moment to accept our thanks. 

All but two of our short-listed authors are with us tonight. Graham Zimmerman is at home with his five-week-old baby, and Deepa Balsavar couldn’t be here because of visa issues. But they are with us in spirit – and in Graham’s case he will be here on film. Our other authors: Bernadette McDonald, Kate Nicholson, Clive Oppenheimer, Nandini Purandare and David Smart, please stand and accept our congratulations. 

For the past nine years, Stephen Venables, the esteemed author and mountaineer, took on the formidable task of interviewing the short-listed authors during this event. Live on this stage, and online during the pandemic, he conducted the interviews with professionalism, aplomb, and humour. We want to thank Stephen – our long-time friend - for all his work and commitment to the BT Award. 

Stepping into Stephen’s shoes this year is Helen Mort. She’s well known to many of you as an award winning and incomparable writer and poet. Her memoir A Line Above the Sky was co-winner of the BT prize in 2022, and won the Grand Prize at the 2023 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. Helen is a professor of Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, and she has just returned from Banff where she is on the faculty of the Mountain WritersIntensive Program. She downplays this, but she is also a keen fell runner and rock climber. 

And so, without further ado, I’d like to welcome Helen, and hand things over to her. 

Maria Coffey, Kendal Mountain Festival, November 22, 2024.

2024 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature - The Winner

The 2024 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature goes to Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar for Headstrap.

Congratulations Nandini and Deepa!

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.

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.

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