November 4, 2004
Epic South Pacific kayaking chronicle wins 2004 Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize
 Author
and adventurer Chris Duff brings readers into the cockpit of his 18-foot
sea kayak to travel the South Pacific and Tasman Sea, and along the wild
western coast of New Zealand, and his book chronicling the journey has
been named the Grand Prize winner of the 2004 Banff Mountain Book
Competition. Southern Exposure, by Chris Duff, Globe Pequot Press
(USA, 2003), was awarded the Phyllis and Don Munday Award, sponsored by
the Alpine Club of Canada today at The Banff Centre.
Described by competition jury members as “introspective, meditational,
and at times poetic,” Duff’s descriptions of his solo kayak trip in the
oceans around New Zealand have both a gripping sense of the uncertainty
of nature, and a simple joy in self-reliance and accomplishment. Jury
members also appreciated the way that Duff “regularly leavens his acute
observations of the natural world with an equally sharp eye for human
quirkiness and character among the folk he chances upon.”
One hundred and thirty-seven books were entered in the 11th annual
competition, and a committee selected the 32 finalists, which were then
passed to the 2004 Banff Mountain Book Jury to choose the winners. This
year’s jury included U.K.-based mountaineer and author Colin Wells; Lisa
Christensen, a writer and curator with Banff’s Whyte Museum of the
Canadian Rockies; and writer, editor, and adventurer Donovan Webster. |
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The
Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature, sponsored by the Whyte Museum
of the Canadian Rockies, went to Life and Limb: A True Story of
Tragedy and Survival Against the Odds by Jamie Andrew, Piatkus Books
(U.K., 2004), a book that jury members found had a “compelling and
agonisingly suspenseful quality about it.” It tells the story of
Andrew’s rescue after five nights trapped by a storm on Mont Blanc. |
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Ways
to the Sky: A Historical Guidebook to North American Mountaineering by Andy Selters, American Alpine Club (U.S.A., 2004) won the James Monroe Thorington
Award for the Best Work of Mountaineering History, sponsored by the
International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA). It’s a book
that documents the entire scope of climbing history on this continent, with
route information on 47 historically significant climbs. |
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Wade
Davis, one of the most acclaimed scientific and adventure writers in
North America, won the award for Best Book on Adventure Travel,
sponsored by Batstar Adventures in Port Alberni, B.C. His book, The
Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Richard Evans Schultes,
Douglas & McIntyre (Canada, 2004), is a large-scale history of a
scientist who disappeared into the Amazon Basin in the 1940s, to
reappear 12 years later after identifying 2,000 new medicinal plants. |
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John
B. Weller’s Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light and Shadow,
Westcliffe Publishers (U.S.A., 2004) takes the award for Best Book -
Mountain Image, sponsored by Rocky Mountain Books. The author
photographed this Colorado landscape once a month for three and a half
years, accompanying the images with his own essays, poetry, and journal
entries. |
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The
Best Book - Mountain Exposition award, sponsored by Mountain Lights
Bookstore, went to Will Gadd for Ice & Mixed Climbing: Modern
Technique, The Mountaineers Books (U.S.A., 2003). A blend of
step-by-step instruction and real-life stories, the book is described by
jury members as “utterly bang up-to-date, as Gadd’s still at the top of
his game”.
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| Jonathan Rollins won the Canadian Rockies Award
for Caves of the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains, Rocky Mountain
Books (Canada, 2004). This award is sponsored by Deuter Sport and the
winner is selected by a local committee. |
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The 2004 Banff Mountain Book Festival runs from November 3 to 5. The
deadline for entries into the 2005 competition is July 15, 2005. |
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For high-resolution, downloadable images of
the winning book covers click on:
www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/ftp/2004/bookwinners.htm
MEDIA CONTACTS: |
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The 11th Annual Banff Mountain Book Festival
Presented by Canadian Mountain Holidays and CBC
Radio-Canada
Sponsored by National Geographic, Dunham Bootmakers,
Patagonia and
MSR - Mountain Safety Research
With assistance from The Alpine Club of Canada, the
Banff Book & Art Den,
The Mountaineers Books, Naramata Wild Horse Canyon Vineyard, and
the Alberta Foundation for the
Arts
Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre promotes
understanding and appreciation of the world’s mountain places by
creating opportunities for people to share - and find inspiration in -
mountain experiences, ideas, and visions. |
www.banffcentre.ca