The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3,000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for "an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature". The prize was established in 1983 in memory of British climbers

Peter Boardman Peter Boardman (25 December 1950 – 17 May 1982) was an English mountaineer and author. He is best known for a series of bold and lightweight expeditions to the Himalayas, often in partnership with Joe Tasker, and for his contribution to mount ...

and

Joe Tasker Joe Tasker (12 May 1948 – 17 May 1982) was a British Climbing, climber, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He died while climbing Mount Everest. Early life Born into a Roman Catholic family in 1948, Tasker was the second of ten ...

, both of whom wrote books about their mountaineering expeditions, after their deaths on the northeast ridge of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

in 1982. It can be awarded for a piece of fiction or non-fiction, poetry or drama, although the work must have been written in (or translated into) English. The prize is announced at the annual Kendal Mountain Festival.

Winners

*2024 Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar, ''Headstrap: Legends and Lore from the Climbing Sherpas of Darjeeling'' *2023 Katie Brown, ''Unraveled: A Climber’s Journey through Darkness and Back'' *2022 Brian Hall, ''High Risk: Climbing to Extinction'' and Helen Mort, ''A Line Above the Sky: A Story of Mountains and Motherhood'' *2021 David Smart, ''Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites'' *2020 Jessica J. Lee, ''Two Trees Make a Forest: On Memory, Migration and Taiwan'' *2019 Kate Harris, ''Lands of Lost Borders: A Journey on the Silk Road'' *2018 David Roberts, ''Limits of the Known'' *2017 Bernadette McDonald, ''Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka'' *2016 Simon McCartney, ''The Bond: Two Epic Climbs in Alaska and a Lifetime's Connection Between Climbers'' *2015

Barry Blanchard Barry Kenneth Blanchard (born March 29, 1959) is one of North America's top alpine climbers, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing, ice climbing, and mixed climbing in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalay ...

, ''The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains'' *2014 Jules Lines, ''Tears of the Dawn'' *2013 Harriet Tuckey, ''Everest – The First Ascent: The Untold Story of Griffith Pugh, the Man Who Made It Possible'' *2012 Andy Kirkpatrick, ''Cold Wars: Climbing the Fine Line between Risk and Reality'' *2011 Bernadette McDonald, ''Freedom Climbers'' *2010 Ron Fawcett with Ed Douglas, ''Ron Fawcett, Rock Athlete'' *2009 Steve House, ''Beyond the Mountain'' *2008 Andy Kirkpatrick, ''Psychovertical'' *2007 Robert Macfarlane, ''The Wild Places'' *2006

Charles Lind Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, ''An Afterclap of Fate: Mallory on Everest'' *2005

Andy Cave Andy Cave (born 1966) is a British mountaineer, mountain guide, and motivational speaker. He was nominated for the Piolet d'Or for his first ascent of the North Face of Changabang in 1997, and won the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Litera ...

, ''Learning to Breathe'' *2005 Jim Perrin, ''The Villain: The Life of Don Whillans'' *2004 Trevor Braham, ''When the Alps Cast Their Spell'' *2003 Simon Mawer, ''The Fall'' *2002 Robert Roper, ''Fatal Mountaineer'' *2001 Roger Hubank, ''Hazard's Way'' *2000 Peter Gillman and Leni Gillman, ''The Wildest Dream: Mallory – His Life and Conflicting Passions'' *1999

Paul Pritchard Paul Pritchard (born 1967) is a Rock climbing, rock climber and Mountaineering, mountaineer and was one of the foremost British climbers of the 1980s and 1990s. He was born in Bolton, England and started climbing when he was 16 years old. He is ...

, ''The Totem Pole: And a Whole New Adventure'' *1998

Peter Steele Peter Thomas Ratajczyk (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Steele, was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and composer of the gothic metal band Type O Negative. Before forming Type O N ...

, ''Eric Shipton: Everest and Beyond'' *1997

, ''Deep Play: A Climber's Odyssey from Llanberis to the Big Walls'' *1996 Audrey Salkeld, ''A Portrait of Leni Riefenstahl'' *1995 Alan Hankinson, ''Geoffrey Winthrop Young: Poet, Mountaineer, Educator'' *1994 Dermot Somers, ''At the Rising of the Moon'' *1993 Jeff Long, ''The Ascent'' *1992 Will McLewin, ''In Monte Viso's Horizon: Climbing All the Alpine 4000m Peaks'' *1991 Alison Fell, ''Mer de Glace'' *1991 Dave Brown and Ian Mitchell, ''A View from the Ridge'' *1990 Victor Saunders, ''Elusive Summits'' *1989 M. John Harrison, '' Climbers'' *1988 Joe Simpson, '' Touching the Void'' *1987

Roger Mear Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages, Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

and

Robert Swan Robert Charles Swan, OBE, FRGS (born 28 July 1956) is the first person to walk to both poles. He is currently an advocate for the protection of Antarctica and renewable energy. Swan is also the founder of 2041, a company which is dedicated ...

, ''In the Footsteps of Scott'' *1986 Stephen Venables, ''Painted Mountains: Two Expeditions to Kashmir'' *1985 Jim Perrin, ''Menlove: The Life of John Menlove Edwards'' *1984 Linda Gill, ''Living High: A Family Trek in the Himalayas'' *1984

Doug Scott Douglas Keith Scott (29 May 19417 December 2020) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer and climbing author, noted for being on the team that made the 1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition, first ascent of the south-west fac ...

and Alex MacIntyre, ''The Shishapangma Expedition''

Young Writer's Award

In 2012, an award for writers aged between 16 and 25 was introduced for works up to 1,500 words in length that must be "original unpublished literary work, whether fiction, non-fiction, drama or poetry, the central theme of which is concerned with the mountain environment". The prize is £250 and publication in ''Summit'' magazine.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature''The Boardman Tasker Legacy''
by Stephen Venables Awards established in 1984 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom Mountaineering awards British non-fiction literary awards Outdoor literature awards Mountaineering in the United Kingdom

Winners

Young Writer's Award

See also

References

External links