The Banff Mountain Book Competition has released its 2024 award winners, offering readers a curated list of great new adventure and mountain exploration books.
Each year, the competition awards $29,000 in cash prizes across eight categories: Mountain Literature (Non-Fiction), Mountain Fiction and Poetry, Environmental Literature, Adventure Travel, Mountain Image, Guidebook, Mountain Article, and Climbing Literature.
You can see the winners of those categories below, but you’ll have to wait until October 31 to find out the Grand Prize winner, which will be announced at the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Adventure Travel
Move Like Water: My Story of the Sea
Hannah Stowe, Tin House (USA, 2023)
“The visceral power of the sea and its hold on all who immerse themselves in its world are conjured with wonder in this beautifully written memoir. Exploring it through her own remarkable story as a mariner and marine biologist and sharing with us hardships, dangers, and accidents, but above all, her passion for the sea, Hannah Stowe shows us a seascape we might think we know but don’t. Featuring such emblematic sea creatures as the whale, the albatross, and the humble but extraordinary barnacle, this is a siren song in vivid, exacting prose.”
– Tony Whittome, 2024 Book Competition Jury
Mountain Fiction & Poetry
Empty Spaces
Jordan Abel, McClelland & Stewart (Canada, 2023)
“Empty Spaces, by Nisga’aa writer Jordan Abel, is a book of poetry that does not behave like most poetry. It is a flowing river of words that represent the timelessness, power, and movement of the natural world. Reading this book is like entering a deep forest and feeling the wind, hearing birdsong. There is a haunting progression through the ages, followed by the arrival of cities, violence, towers, garbage, and bodies. Until the natural world re-emerges. At once harrowing and consoling, Empty Spaces gives us a profound experience of the land that rewrites our history.”
– Marni Jackson, 2024 Book Competition Jury
Mountain Literature (Non-Fiction), The John Whyte Award
Alpine Rising: Sherpas, Baltis, and the Triumph of Local Climbers in the Greater Ranges
Bernadette McDonald, Mountaineers Books (USA, 2024)
“We are privileged as judges to honor not one but two books that help transform our understanding of Himalayan mountaineering. Bernadette McDonald’s Alpine Rising, arguably the most important book in her long and distinguished career, tells the unsung, heroic, and sometimes tragic story of the Sherpas, the Baltis, and other Indigenous peoples without whom no Himalayan peak could have been climbed. As truths emerge from the shadows of empire and they take their rightful place in their world, she reveals the lives and humanity behind their dramatic stories, culminating in the all-Nepali first winter ascent of K2.”
– Tony Whittome, 2024 Book Competition Jury
Environmental Literature
Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
Ben Goldfarb, W.W. Norton & Company (USA, 2023)
“A million animals a year are killed by cars in the U.S. alone, even though environmentalists are building highways for mountain lions and bridges for toads. The Banff underpass also has a cameo in this stunning work of reportage. Ben Goldfarb somehow makes a book about roadkill and asphalt into a reading experience that will forever change how you view the environment. Crossings is full of humor, memorable characters, and lively writing on a topic that could not be more important to the health of the planet.”
– Marni Jackson, 2024 Book Competition Jury
Mountain Image
Monica Dalmasso: Sauvage!
Monica Dalmasso and Cédric Sapin-Defour, Glenat (France, 2023)
“It is fascinating to see how each person interprets art differently. Are we meant to take in a book from cover to cover, or do individual images resonate more when absorbed gradually over time? Is simplicity or complexity more important? That’s the nature of art; it gets us all talking. Sauvage! was chosen as this year’s Mountain Image winner for its diverse portrayal of mountain life, showcasing everything from the presence of humanity within its landscapes to the absence of it, as well as the macro details that define these elevated terrains. Although the text was not meant to be weighed as heavily as the imagery, I found the words in Sauvage! perfectly complemented the visuals in a way that enhanced and added depth to the imagery, making me continually want to turn pages. In the end, we all agreed: this book inspired us to want to go out, explore the world, and create a few images of our own. And if that’s not the purpose of mountain imagery, then what is?”
– Irene Yee, 2024 Photo Competition Jury
Guidebook
Backpacking on Vancouver Island: The Essential Guide to the Best Multi-Day Trips and Day Hikes
Taryn Eyton, Greystone Books (Canada, 2024)
“Taryn Eaton’s approach to traversing the forested expanses of Vancouver Island is practical, portable, and inspiring. Her helpful and vivid descriptions of some of the region’s best treks leave readers dreaming up their next adventure through the island’s towering cedars and whispering inlets — or reveling in journeys past. With compelling writing and a leave-no-trace ethos, this guide is sure to stand the test of time as the perfect companion on any hike through the island’s rugged mountains or along rain-drenched coasts.”
– Gloria Dickie, 2024 Book Competition Jury
Mountain Article
The Terror of Turning a Corner
Astra Lincoln, Climbing Magazine (USA, 2024)
“If you’ve ever suffered a concussion, you may know that recovery can take a surprisingly long time, and it can shake your confidence too. This is what happened to climber Astra Lincoln after a bike accident left her with lingering post-concussion symptoms. In this buoyant and highly entertaining article, Astra Lincoln describes how coming back to climbing on a modest route in Colombia brought her face to face with her post-injury fears and led her to acceptance.”
– Marni Jackson, 2024 Book Competition Jury
Climbing Literature
Headstrap: Legends and Lore from the Climbing Sherpas of Darjeeling
Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar, Mountaineers Books (USA, 2024)
“A phenomenal feat of oral history that sheds light on the historically overlooked role of Darjeeling Sherpas in developing the mountain exploration and climbing culture that has come to define the Himalayan region. Recognizing their valor and strength of spirit, body, and mind, Headstrap gives these awe-inspiring figures their due. Purandare and Balsavar have made a pivotal contribution to the realm of climbing literature with this painstakingly researched and passionately curated book.”
– Gloria Dickie, 2024 Book Competition Jury
