BANFF, AB, September 15, 2016 – A diverse group of previewers for the 2016 Banff Mountain Book Competition has chosen a long list of finalists in five categories to compete for awards and ultimately, the Grand Prize, which will be announced on November 3 at this year’s Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Chosen from the best in mountain and adventure literature, mountain fiction, mountain image, mountain guidebooks and mountaineering articles and history, the previewing team whittled down 147 book submissions from authors in nine countries to a long list of category finalists. (Please note: A shortlist of award winners contending for the Grand Prize will be announced in October).
“We are thrilled that the calibre of entries in every category continues to be exemplary with each publication year,” said Joanna Croston, Programming Director for the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. “As a result, narrowing down the finalists was extremely difficult for our prescreening committee and coming up with the long list of finalists was no mean feat.”
Category finalists are listed alphabetically by title in each award category.
Adventure Travel
$2000 - Sponsored by Banff Gondola
Across the Arctic Ocean: Original Photographs from the Last Great Polar Journey
Sir Wally Herbert & Huw Lewis-Jones, Thames & Hudson (USA, 2015)
Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild
James Campbell, Crown Publishers (USA, 2016)
Ice Diaries: An Antarctic Memoir
Jean McNeil, ECW Press (CAN, 2016)
The Shark and the Albatross
John Aitchison, Greystone Books (CAN, 2016)
Walking Man: The Secret Life of Colin Fletcher
Robert Wehrman, Pacific Star Publications (USA, 2016)
Mountain Fiction & Poetry
$2000 – Sponsored by Fjällräven
The Broom of God
John Bragg, Backroad Press (USA, 2015)
Jimmy Bluefeather
Kim Heacox, Alaska Northwest Books (USA, 2015)
Martin Marten: A Novel
Brian Doyle, Thomas Dunne Books & St. Martin’s Press (USA, 2015)
No Map Could Show Them
Helen Mort, Penguin Group (UK, 2016)
Mountain & Wilderness Literature – Non-Fiction
$2000 - Sponsored by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
The 9th Grade: 150 Years of Free Climbing
David Chambre, Les éditions du Mont-Blanc. (FRA, 2015)
The Bold and Cold: A History of 25 Classic Climbs in the Canadian Rockies
Brandon Pullan, Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. (CAN, 2016)
The Bond
Simon McCartney, Vertebrate Publishing (UK, 2016)
Heart Waters: Sources of the Bow River
Kevin van Tighem, Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. (CAN, 2015)
Rock Queen
Catherine Destivelle, Hayloft Publishing Ltd. (UK, 2015)
Sixty Meters to Anywhere
The Grand Prize will be announced at this year’s Banff Mountain
Book Competition awards ceremony at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival
on Thursday, November 3, 2016.
The shortlist of category award winners and the Mountaineering History prize will be announced in October. All shortlisted books are eligible for the Grand Prize (The Phyllis and Don Munday Award) which will be announced Thursday, November 3, 2016 at The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.
For more information on the 2016 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, please visit www.banffmountainfestival.ca
About Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival: Created 41 years ago, the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival has become the premier event of its kind in the world. The nine-day Festival hosted by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Canada, showcases the world’s best films, books and photographs on mountain subjects – climbing, culture, environment and natural history, exploration and adventure, wildlife, and sport – and attracts the biggest names in mountaineering, adventure filmmaking, and extreme sports as presenters and speakers. An international jury will also award over $50,000 in prizes for films and books submitted to this year’s Festival competitions.
Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival Partners: The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival is presented by National Geographic and The North Face, and sponsored by Deuter, Clif Bar, Bergans of Norway, Treksta, and Mountain House, with support from PETZL, World Expeditions, Kicking Horse Coffee, Lake Louise Ski Resort and Summer Gondola, Mammut, Banff and Lake Louise Tourism, MEC, and the International Alliance for Mountain Film.
About Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity: Founded in 1933, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. What started as a single course in drama has grown to become the global organization leading in arts, culture, and creativity across dozens of disciplines. From our home in the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity aims to inspire everyone who attends our campus – artists, leaders, and thinkers – to unleash their creative potential and realize their unique contribution to society through cross-disciplinary learning opportunities, world-class performances, and public outreach. www.banffcentre.ca