2024 Banff Centre Mountain Book Competition Announces Book Winners

BANFF CENTRE, ALBERTA – The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is excited to announce the winners of the esteemed 2024 book competition. These award winners will compete for the Grand Prize which will be announced on Thursday, October 31, during this year’s festival.

This prestigious international event honours mountain literature in its many diverse forms. Each year, the competition distributes a total of $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.

The eight category award winners are chosen by our international jury from a longlist of 31 finalists. The 2024 Book Competition jury members are Gloria Dickie (Canada, author of bestseller Eight Bears), Anthony Whittome (UK, freelance editor for Penguin Random House, and former Editorial Director of Random House UK), Marni Jackson (Canada, author and former award winning journalist for Outside Magazine), and Irene Yee (USA, internationally published photographer).

Category Award Winners:

Mountain Literature (non-fiction) - The Jon Whyte Award
$3000 - Sponsored by The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies

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 honour not one but two books which 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 own 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
 

Mountain Fiction & Poetry
$3000 - Sponsored by the Town of Banff

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, 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
 

Environmental Literature 
$3000 – Sponsored by Lolë
 

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 US 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 humour, 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

Adventure Travel
$3000 – Sponsored by Rocky Mountain Books

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 sea-scape 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 Image
$3000 – Sponsored by Mountain Life

Monica Dalmasso: Sauvage! 
Monica Dalmasso and Cédric Sapin-Defour, Glénat (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 personally 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

The Art of Climbing  
Simon Carter, Thames and Hudson (USA, 2024)

The Art of Climbing, quite simply, is a love letter to the sport of technical rock climbing. The 250+ page book denotes the visual history of Simon Carter as he takes his photography to bold frontiers and truly awe-inspiring scenes. Whisked away to lines all over the globe, The Art of Climbing serves both populations of climbers and non-climbers alike. Regardless of your affinity to the sport, as you put down the book after each session, you feel a little lighter, a little more excited for new-to-you places. As a reader, you are left with the conclusion that this book does one task quite well - it pushes you to get outside.

– Jojo Das, Jury Member

Guidebook
$3000 – Sponsored by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides

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 above all, inspiring. Her helpful and vivid descriptions of some of the region’s best treks leaves 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
$3000 – Sponsored by Lodge at the Bow

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
$3000 – Sponsored by World Expeditions

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 valour 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
 

Grand Prize 
$5000 – Sponsored by the Alpine Club of Canada

All the category winners listed above are eligible for the Grand Prize. 

Book Awards will be presented, and the Grand Prize will be announced Thursday October 31st as part of the 49th annual Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival.

Special Jury Mention 

Blood Sweat Tears
Christine Reed, Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing (USA, 2024)

A visceral account by more than two dozen women on the ways that wilderness can make us or break us. This beautifully curated anthology covers a wide swathe of the female experience, from evocative writings of love and loss, to the awkward and uncomfortable — and relatable — rites of womanhood on the trail, often in male-dominated spaces. Each voice is unique and a talent in her own right, and Reed has done a commendable job of weaving them together into a brilliant structure that is worthy of great praise.

– Gloria Dickie, 2024 Book Competition Jury

Special Jury Mention 

Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future 
Daniel Lewis, Avid Reader Press (USA, 2024)

A modest title for an extraordinary book, Twelve Trees reexamines the arboreal world from roots to canopy and makes you see trees as you’ve never seen them before. Taking twelve species (in reality many more), Daniel Lewis exults in their sheer individuality and majesty and tells their tenacious stories with passion, humour and deep understanding. Despite real ecological threats, there’s optimism in his account - all trees are good and with care and conservation, they're bound to succeed!

– Tony Whittome, 2024 Book Competition Jury
 

To learn more about this year’s finalists and the competition, visit https://www.banffcentre.ca/banff-mountain-book-competition. 

Located in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival is a globally recognized event and tour celebrating the beauty, adventure, and culture of mountains globally. The nine-day festival will be held from October 26 through to November 3 this year and features over 70 events, bringing films and stories of adventure and exploration from around the world to Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta. The festival showcases live events with adventurers, authors, photographers, and filmmakers sharing their inspiring stories.

Online films are available in Canada and the United States from November 6 to 13.
 

Please visit banffcentre.ca/film-fest for more information.

Media Contact

Interested in reporting on this or any other Banff Centre story? Members of the media can reach out to communications@banffcentre.ca for more information.