The 2026 Banff Mountain Book Competition finalists are announced!
The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival celebrates mountain literature, film, and photography, bringing together filmmakers, writers, publishers, editors, photographers, athletes, adventurers, and -of course- readers. Featuring film screenings, guest speakers, readings, seminars and book signings, the Festival offers a wide spectrum of experiences for the mountain film and book-loving audience.
As a key program of Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, the Book Competition is an internationally recognized literary competition that celebrates mountain literature in all its forms. $26,000 in cash is awarded annually with seven awards selected by an international jury of writers, adventurers and editors. The short list of category award winners eligible for the Grand Prize is announced in October every year.
2026 Rules and Regulations
Competition opened | February 12
Competition closed | June 30
Longlist of category finalists announced | September 18
Category winners announced | Mid-October
Awards presented and Grand Prize Announced | November 5
Questions? Call the Banff Mountain Book Competition at: 403.762.6347
or email: banffmountainbooks@banffcentre.ca
2026 Banff Mountain Book Competition Finalists
Adventure Travel
Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller
Miriam Horn, Penguin Press (USA, 2026)
North to the Future: An Offline Adventure through the Changing Wilds of Alaska
Ben Weissenbach, Grand Central Publishing (USA, 2025)
Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell
Adam Shoalts, Penguin Random House (Canada, 2025)
Environmental Literature
Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival
Trina Moyles, Knopf Canada (Canada, 2026)
The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary
Terry Tempest Williams, Grove Atlantic (USA, 2026)
Roam: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World
Hillary Rosner, Patagonia Books (USA, 2025)
Understory: An Ecologist’s Memoir of Loss and Hope
Kevin Van Tighem, Rocky Mountain Books (Canada, 2025)
When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World
Suzanne Simard, Allen Lane Canada (Canada, 2026)
Guidebook
Cabin Wild: Alpine Bivouac Huts
Ben Tibbetts, Alpenglow Editions (France, 2025)
Glacier Climbing & Crevasse Rescue: Essential Skills for Snow Travel
Ian Nicholson, Mountaineers Books (USA, 2025)
The High Pathways
Shelley & Paul Hersey, New Zealand Alpine Club (New Zealand, 2025)
Himalayan Rocks: The Rock-Climbing Guidebook to the World's Highest Mountain Range
Kai Maluck, Tmms-Verlag (Germany, 2025)
Mountain Article
Climbing as Healing
Natalie Berry, Appalachia Journal (USA, 2026)
The Misfits
Chad Heddleston, Summit Journal (USA, 2025)
The Russians: A Decade of Loss and Reflection
Anna Piunova, Alpinist Magazine (USA, 2025)
Seriously Committed to the Sharp End
Kade Krichko, Adventure Journal (USA, 2025)
Silent Reflections: Honoring the Bold Style and Legacy of Keita Kurakami With a New Route on Greenland’s Mirror Wall
Pete Whittaker, Alpinist Magazine (USA, 2025)
Mountain Image
Fjell: A Faithful Witness
Orsolya Haarberg, Tinde Publishing (Norway, 2026)
The Great Mixed Climbs of Scotland
Guy Robertson & Hamish Frost, Scottish Mountaineering Press (UK, 2025)
Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet
Kiliii Yuyan, Braided River (USA, 2026)
Spirit of the Great Bear
Jack Plant, Figure 1 Publishing (Canada, 2026)
Mountain Literature
Among the Pale Spires: The Life and Verse of Antonia Pozzi
David Smart, Rocky Mountain Books (Canada, 2026)
How to Survive a Bear Attack
Claire Cameron, Knopf Canada (Canada, 2026)
Lone Wolf: Walking the Line Between Civilization and Wildness
Adam Weymouth, Knopf Canada (Canada, 2025)
Mapping the Mountains
Andrew Davies, Stichting Moving Mountains (Netherlands, 2026)
Rufous and Calliope
Sarah Louise Butler, Douglas & McIntyre (Canada, 2025)
Turn to Stone
Emily Meg Weinstein, Simon & Schuster (USA, 2025)
Climbing Literature
All titles that are longlisted and have a theme of climbing are eligible for this award.
Grand Prize
Awarded to a book chosen from the winners in the above categories.
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. Additionally - Mountain Fiction & Poetry has been combined with Mountain Literature)
Adventure Travel
Non-fiction books with a theme of travel to, and non-motorized exploration of, remote and/or rugged landscapes and their cultures.
Guidebook
Non-fiction books dealing with physical activities in mountain environments; including hiking, climbing, mountaineering and "how-to" books.
Mountain Image
Books with a primary focus on mountain images and with text in a complementary role. Images may include photographs or reproductions of artwork.
Mountain Article
Articles or short form essays under 7,000 words with mountain themes including, but not limited to: climbing, adventure, conservation and mountain literature. Articles may be fiction, historical or non-fiction narratives, and can be submitted by either an editor or author of the article. This category accepts articles that have been published in print or digitally.
Environmental Literature
Books that pertain to the environment, specifically related to flora, wildlife, conservation and climate change. Scholastic research and academic papers/texts will not be accepted.
Mountain Literature
Includes non-fiction books such as memoirs, biographies, and narratives on mountaineering, climbing history, mountain exploration, mountain people and culture, and human experiences of any kind in the mountains and in wilderness areas. Also includes fiction and poetry books with a focus on mountain topics. Creative narratives about climbing and mountaineering, exploration and the experiences and cultures of mountain people are accepted.
Climbing Literature
All titles that are longlisted and have a theme of climbing are eligible for this award.
Grand Prize
Awarded to a book chosen from the winners in the above categories.
2026 Banff Mountain Book Competition Jury
David Chambre
David Chambre, born 1963, has always been passionate about climbing. While studying geography at the Sorbonne University in Paris, he first discovered the boulders of Fontainebleau and later the great alpine peaks of the Mont Blanc massif, including the Central Pillar of Frêney and the First Free Ascent of the Bonatti route on the Grand Capucin. During the 1980s, he was one of the first French professional rock climbers specializing in free climbing, free solos, and numerous French grade 8 routes.
He eventually settled in Provence, where he shares his passion by writing historical reviews for mountaineering and climbing publications worldwide. In recent years he has published and translated a number of books with Éditions du Mont-Blanc, run by Catherine Destivelle, including:
- Il était une fois l'escalade - A graphic novel (2nd edition, 2025)
- Piolets d'or - Les plus beaux exploits de l'alpinisme moderne (2nd edition, 2025)
- Le 9e Degré, Toute l’histoire de l’escalade (4th edition, 2024)
- Alain Robert - Libre et sans attache (2024)
- Escalade - Débuter et progresser en toute sécurité (2023)
- Paul Preuss, Lord of the Abyss by David Smart (translation in French and foreword)
- Paul Preuss, Lord of the Abyss by David Smart (translation in French and foreword, 2020)
- Crack Climbing by Pete Whittaker (translation in French, 2020)
- Haute-montagne - Les plus grands noms de l’alpinisme (2019)
- The 9th Grade, 150 years of free climbing (2015)
- Le 8e Degré (Denoël, 1987)
Lauren DeLaunay Miller
Lauren DeLaunay Miller is a journalist and audio producer for the adventure podcast, the Dirtbag Diaries. She is the author of Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing (Mountaineers Books, 2022), winner of the 2022 Banff Mountain Book Competition Award for Climbing Literature, born out of her experience living and climbing in Yosemite as part of the Yosemite Valley Search & Rescue team. Lauren received a master's degree in journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and lives in Bishop, California, with her husband, son, pup, and flock of hens.
Rob Lovell
Rob Lovell is the publisher and chief executive of Scottish Mountaineering Press, an award winning publisher owned by the charitable Scottish Mountaineering Trust. A latecomer to publishing, Rob has run the Press since 2018, building a list spanning mountain literature, photography, fiction and guidebooks – including three category winners in the Banff Mountain Book Competition: The Great Sea Cliffs of Scotland (Mountain Image, 2021), The Fox of Glencoe (Mountain Literature, 2022) and Northern Horizons (Guidebooks, 2025). Alongside the Press, Rob is part of the team behind the Fort William Mountain Festival, running events, coordinating its marketing and helping to shape the program. A rock climber, hillwalker and mountain biker, he lives in Inverness and divides his time between books, the hills and a young family.