CLICK FOR
	Festival Overview Film Winners Book Winners Kropp on Tour Banff Scene Live Reports Film Tour Schedule Photos

The Totem Pole: and a Whole New Adventure by Welsh author and climber Paul Pritchard is the winner of the 1999 Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize, the $2000 Phyllis and Don Munday Award sponsored by the Alberta Sections of the Alpine Club of Canada. The festival awards were presented last night, Nov. 4.

Pritchard's book is a perceptive, humane and inspiring account of his experience in surmounting unbelievable odds following a climbing accident in 1998 that inflicted such terrible injuries that doctors thought he might never walk or speak again. At the time of the accident he was climbing a slender sea stack in Tasmania called The Totem Pole. He had paid for the trip from the prize winnings he received from the 1997 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature for his book Deep Play.

"Without self pity, Pritchard records the rediscovery of his own will to live, and the control required to move about and to motivate himself in a world made alien by his own disabilities," said jury member John Porter.

The international jury chose Pritchard's book from a group of 30 titles which were selected as finalists last month from a record-breaking 102 entries representing nine countries. This year's book festival jury included well-known ice climber Will Gadd, Canmore, Alberta; John Porter, director of the Kendal Film festival and a Boardman Tasker judge, UK; and, Michael Pause, editor of Germany's Berge magazine.

Other Category Winners

John Whyte Award for Mountain Literature
sponsored by The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies $1000

Switchbacks: True Stories of the Canadian Rockies by Sid Marty, (McClelland & Stewart)
These interconnected stories are drawn from the length and breadth of Sid Marty's remarkable life in the mountains. The people, and creatures, that Marty comes to know in the Rocky Mountains are sometimes larger than life. Switching back and forth in time and moon, all but two superb stories in this collection are previously unpublished. They are original, thoughtful and beautifully crafted outpourings of a writer at the height of his powers.

"Sid Marty's stories express in wonderful words his deep passion for the mountains where he is at home," says jury member Michael Pause.

Best Book - Mountain Exposition
sponsored by Mountain Light Bookstore, Lake Louise, Canada $500

Extreme Alpinism by Twight & Martin [In the Bookstore]

Extreme Alpinism by Mark F. Twight and James Martin (The Mountaineers)
A master class on extreme alpine climbing by one of the world's most elite mountaineers. Focusing on how top alpine climbers approach the world's most difficult routes, Twight centers his instruction on the ethos of climbing the hardest routes with the least amount of gear and the most speed.

"You can either read Twight's book or beat yourself up in the mountains learning the same lessons," says jury member Will Gadd.

Best Book - Mountain Image
sponsored by AdventurousTraveler.com, Burlington, Vermont $500

Summit: Vittorio Sella, Mountaineer and Photographer, the Year 1879-1909 by Vittorio Sella (Aperture Foundation)
At the turn of the century, carrying a supply of glass-plate negatives, Italian photographer Vittorio Sella climbed scores of the world's most perilous mountains and photographed them, many for the first time. His strikingly beautiful photographs offered groundbreaking scientific and documentary information and are still used by climbers to map routes. This is the first comprehensive volume of Sella's photographs.

"The book is convincing in its brilliant test and images and it shows Sella's significant contribution to mountain photography," Pause says.

Best Book - Adventure Travel
sponsored by Mountain Travel*Sobek, El Cerrito, California $500

Beyond the Sky and the Earth by Jamie Zeppa (Doubleday Canada Ltd.)
When she was only 23, a young woman from Sault St. Marie went to Bhutan to teach — only to realize that the unfamiliar people and living conditions made her feel alienated and miserable. Out of the hearts and minds of eight-year-olds came the hope and inspiration that would save Jamie Zeppa's life. Over time, she fell in love with a Bhutanese man and had a child by him. Beyond the Sky and Earth is an incredible autobiography of one woman's struggle to survive physically, mentally and spiritually in a foreign land.

"An honest, well composed, unexpected book, written without pretense or any sense of fulfilling an obligation. This should be required pre-reading for all trekkers planning a 'get there' holiday in the Himalaya," says jury member John Porter.

Special Jury Mention - Biography

High Exposure by David Breashears [In the Bookstore]

High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by David Breashears (Simon & Schuster)
In High Exposure, elite mountaineer and acclaimed filmmaker David Breashears gives an intimate and captivating look at his life. Breashears' passion for climbing began on the cliffs of Boulder, Colorado – and nearly ended on the south side of Everest in 1996. An unforgettable story of outdoor adventure, daring filmmaking, and self-discovery.

"Truthful and always competent, Breashears reflects his life and how alpinism and climbing helped him overcome childhood hardship," says Pause.

Special Jury Mention - Fiction

Darkness and the Azure by Anne Sauvy (Baton Wicks)
Anne Sauvy is the literary "Grand Mistress" of mystery, magic and metamorphosis in the mountains. In her new short story collection, she takes her themes from the elegant world of French climbing and skiing, the racy competitiveness of Chamonix, and the chic milieu of Parisian business and academe.

"The language Anne Sauvy uses remains close to the action; she succeeds in conveying to the reader the values of alpinism," Pause says.

Special Jury Mention - Design

Fat Tire: A Celebration of the Mountain Bike by Amici Design (Chronicle Books)
Fat Tire is a history and celebration of these agile, adventuresome, all-terrain machines and the people who ride them. Inside are hundreds of amazing photos, interviews with the founders, profiles of the champions, and more. The Author and a long list of contributors cover the components that make up mountain biking. This is a glorious full-color, full-speed, first-hand look at the culture, equipment and key people of the most popular evolution of the bicycle ever.

"Through the creative layout and design of the book the development and history as well as technical aspects of mountain biking are exceptionally presented," says Pause.

The following awards were also presented:

Canadian Rockies Award
sponsored by Eagle Creek Travel Gear for the best book on the Canadian Rockies

Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies by Alan Kane [In the Bookstore]

Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies 3rd edition by Alan Kane (Rocky Mountain Books)
Alan Kane brings together 150 of his favorite scrambles so far, starting in Waterton National Park and working his way up through the Crowsnest area and Kananaskis Country into the contiguous national parks of Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, and Jasper. Each peak can be climbed in one day from a road or backcountry lodge. All scrambles are carefully graded.

Canadian Alpine Journal Award: $250
sponsored by the Canadian Himalayan Foundation for the best article in the 1999 Canadian Alpine Journal
The Ghoul: An Iced Mountain Climb by Jeff Everett

All the Nominated Books
Choose finalists in four categories: Mountain Literature, Mountain Exposition, Mountain Image and Adventure Travel.


MOUNTAIN LITERATURE

Ascent: 
The Climbing Experience in Word and Image
Allen Steck, Steve Roper and David Harris 
(American Alpine Club)

The Darkness and the Azure
Anne Sauvy (Baton Wicks)

Everest: The Ultimate Hump
Tami Knight (Menasha Ridge Press)

Ghosts of Everest: 
The Search for Mallory and Irvine
Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A. Johnson & Eric Simonson 
(The Mountaineers Books)

High Achiever: The Life and Climbs of Chris Bonington
Jim Curran (Constable Publishers)

High Exposure: 
An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places
David Breashears (Simon & Schuster)

The Last Climb: 
The Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory
David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld 
(National Geographic Society)

Lost on Everest
Peter Firstbrook (BBC Books)

The Peak: Past and Present
Gordon Strainforth (Constable Publishers)

Regions of the Heart: 
The Triumph and Tragedy of Alison Hargreaves
Ed Douglas and David Rose (Michael Joseph)

Sherman Exposed: Slightly Censored Climbing Stories
John Sherman (The Mountaineers Books)

Switchbacks: True Stories of the Canadian Rockies
Sid Marty (McClelland & Stewart)

Tibet's Secret Mountain: The Triumph of Sepu Kangri
Chris Bonington and Charles Clarke (McArthur & Co.)

To the Summit: 
Fifty Mountains That Lure, Inspire and Challenge
Editor: Joseph Poindexter (Black Dog & Leventhal)

The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest
Steve Jenkins (Houghton Mifflin Children's Books)

The Totem Pole: and a Whole New Adventure
Paul Pritchard (Constable Publishers)

Advanced Backpacking: A Trailside Guide
Karen Berger (W.W. Norton & Company)

Extreme Alpinism 
Mark F. Twight and James Martin (The Mountaineers Books)

Fat Tire: A Celebration of the Mountain Bike
Amici Design (Chronicle Books)

Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 3rd edition
Alan Kane (Rocky Mountain Books)

Footsteps in the Clouds: Kanchenjunga a Century Later
Pat & Baiba Morrow (Raincoast Books)

Landscapes of the Spirit
William Neill (Photographer) (Bulfinch Press)

Millennium
various (Stackpole Books)

Rock Prints
Greg Epperson (Greg Epperson)

Summit: Vittorio Sella, Mountaineer and Photographer, 
the Years 1879-1909
Vittorio Sella (Aperture Foundation)

Alone Across Antarctica
Borge Ousland (Borge Ousland)

Antarctic Oasis : Under the Spell of South Georgia
Tim and Pauline Carr (W.W. Norton & Company)

Beyond the Sky and the Earth
Jamie Zeppa (Doubleday Canada Ltd.)

Fire Into Ice: Charles Fipke and the Great Diamond Hunt
Vernon Frolick (Raincoast Books)

North to the Night: A Year in the Arctic Ice
Alvah Simon (International Marine)