Banff Mountain
Book Competition

2012 Banff Mountain Book Competition Winners

The Banff Mountain Book Festival thanks the writers, the photographers, their editors, and publishers for entering this year's competition.

The 2012 Banff Mountain Book Competition jury – Bruce Kirkby (Canada), Jim Perrin (UK), and Barbara Brownell-Grogan (USA) – chose the award winners.

View 2012 Winners

Past Winners of the
Banff Mountain Book Festival

2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 |

What is the Banff Mountain Book Competition?

The Banff Mountain Book Competition is an internationally recognized literary competition that will celebrate its 20th year in 2013. Winners will be announced during the Book Awards at the 2013 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival in October/November.

2013 Banff Mountain Book Competition Categories

Prizes will be awarded in each of the following categories:

(Please note: books written primarily for children and young adults are not suitable for this competition.)

Adventure Travel — non-fiction books with a theme of travel to, and exploration of, remote and/or rugged landscapes and their cultures. Eligible for the Adventure Travel Award (English editions only)

NEW: Mountain Fiction and Poetry — includes fiction and poetry books with a focus on mountain topics. Creative narratives about climbing and mountaineering, exploration and mountain culture are acceptable. Eligible for Mountain Fiction & Poetry Award (English editions only)

Mountain Guidebooks — non-fiction books dealing with physical activities in mountain environments; including hiking, climbing, mountaineering and "how-to" books. Eligible for the Mountain Guidebook Award (English editions only)

Mountain Image — includes books with a primary focus on mountain images and with text in a subordinate role. Images may include photographs or reproductions of artwork. Eligible for the Mountain Image Award (Publications in all languages are acceptable)

Mountain and Wilderness Literature, Non-Fiction — includes non-fiction books, such as memoirs, biographies and narratives on mountaineering, climbing history, mountain exploration, mountain culture, and human experiences of any kind in the mountain wilderness. Eligible for the Mountain & Wilderness Literature, The Jon Whyte Award (English editions only)

A Grand Prize will be awarded to a book chosen from amongst the winners in the above categories.

Book Competition Entry Deadline Is June 30, 2013

• Read the regulations
• Enter on-line
• Commercial Invoice

2012 Banff Mountain
Book Competition – Finalists

The Banff Centre is pleased to announce the list of finalists in the 2012 Banff Mountain Book Competition. All entries are listed alphabetically by title in each award category.

Awards will be presented Thursday, November 1, 2012 at The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.

Adventure Travel

Canoeing the Congo
Phil Harwood, Troubador Publishing (UK, 2012)

The Carbon Cycle: Crossing the Great Divide
Kate Rawles, Two Ravens Press (UK, 2012)

Crazy River: Exploration and Folly in East Africa
Richard Grant, Free Press/Simon & Schuster (USA, 2011)

Fearless: One Woman, One Kayak, One Continent
Joe Glickman, Falcon Guides/Globe Pequot Press (USA, 2012)

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot
Robert MacFarlane, Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Books (UK, 2012)

Mountain & Wilderness Literature

Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day
Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan, W.W. Norton & Company (USA, 2012)

Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout
Philip Connors, HarperCollins Publishers (USA 2011)

Fiva: An Adventure That Went Wrong
Gordon Stainforth, Golden Arrow Books (UK, 2012)

Himalayan Hospitals: Sir Edmund Hillary's Everest Legacy
Michael Gill, Craig Potton Publishing (New Zealand, 2011)

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest
Wade Davis, Alfred A. Knopf (Canada, 2011)

Guidebooks

Banff Rock
Chris Perry, Cimatech Press (Canada, 2012)

Boulder Britain
Niall Grimes, Ape Index (UK, 2012)

Fred Beckey's 100 Favorite North American Climbs
Fred Beckey, Patagonia Books (USA, 2012)

Squamish Select
Marc Bourdon, Quickdraw Publications (Canada, 2012)

Mountain Image

Mountain Heroes: Portraits of Adventure
Huw Lewis-Jones, Conway/Polarworld (UK, 2011)

Tibet: Culture on the Edge
Phil Borges, Rizzoli (USA, 2012)

To the Arctic
Florian Schulz, The Mountaineers Books (USA, 2011)

World Climbing: Rock Odyssey
Simon Carter, Onsight Photography & Publishing (Australia, 2011)

2012 Book Jury

Bruce Kirkby — Canada

Krikby is a writer, photographer, traveler and adventurer. As a columnist for the Globe and Mail, regular contributor to Explore Magazine and Canadian Geographic, and author of two bestselling books (Sand Dance and Dolphin's Tooth), Kirkby's journeys have taken him across Arabia by camel, down the Blue Nile on raft, and across Iceland by foot.

Jim Perrin – UK

Having completed many first ascents and difficult solo climbs, Jim Perrin was one of the U.K.'s leading rock climbers in his youth. He is also a prolific author having penned fourteen books. He has won the Boardman Tasker prize twice as well as awards at the Banff Mountain Book Festival in 2005 and 2006. He has just completed a new book due to be published next spring on the friendship between mountaineers Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman. Perrin is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy and an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University.

Barbara Brownell – USA

Barbara Brownell Grogan's 35-year publishing career began at Time-Life Books as picture researcher and editor and continued at National Geographic, first at the Kids' magazine as editor; then as director of product development, executive editor, and editor-in-chief for National Geographic Books. She has published NYT bestselling authors Stephen Ambrose, Rick Atkinson, and Dan Buettner. She is currently president of Rivanna Publishing Ventures, which establishes partnerships for conservation, humanitarian, and education-focused publications, balancing paper and growing digital products. She holds a BA from the University of Virginia and an MFA from the American University, in Washington, D.C.