Hazard’s Way by Roger Hubank is the winner of the 2001 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 on Thursday, November 1.

A novel set around the turn of the 19th century, Hazard’s Way tells the story of a young man's struggles to cope with strict Edwardian family values and the contradictory influences of the friends he makes in his life as a climber. At the heart of the novel is an evocative recreation of life at Wastdale Head, in the Lake District of Cumberland.

Jury member Maria Coffey characterizes Hazard’s Way as "a beautifully crafted novel, which captures the voices and sensibilities of Edwardian climbers". Fellow jury member Dawson Fox calls it "a powerful and timeless book." Hazard's Way is published by The Ernest Press (Scotland, 2001, ISBN 0-948153-63-6).

The book festival jury included Maria Coffey, author of Fragile Edge, Margaret Foster, Publications Manager for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations, and Dawson Stelfox, the first Irishman to summit Everest. The Banff Mountain Book Festival is presented by Canadian Mountain Holidays.

Other 2001 Banff Mountain Book Festival Awards included:

Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber, Mark Twight, The Mountaineers Books (USA, 2001, ISBN 0-89886-763-0) wins the Jon Whyte Award for Mountain Literature, sponsored by The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies — $1000. Dawson Stelfox says Kiss or Kill "is an insight into the mind of one of the great climbers of this generation."

 

Best Book — Mountain Exposition, sponsored by Mountain Lights
Bookstore, Lake Louise, Canada — $500 is awarded to
Fifty Favorite Climbs: The Ultimate North American Tick List, Mark Kroese,
The Mountaineers Books (USA, 2001, ISBN 0-89886-763-0). Maria Coffey comments, "I like the way we get to know each climber, and learn about their chosen climb through both their personal experience of it and the comprehensive route description."


Best Book — Adventure Travel — $500, goes to Arctic Crossing: A Journey through the Northwest Passage and Inuit Culture, Jonathan Waterman, Random House of Canada Ltd. (Canada, 2001, ISBN 0375404090). According to Maria Coffey, "Waterman gives an refreshingly honest account of Inuit life, warts and all, which I found both fascinating and highly educational."

 

The High Himalaya, Art Wolfe (photos) and Peter Potterfield (text), The Mountaineers Books (USA, 2001, ISBN 0-89886-841-6), wins the award for Best Book — Mountain Image, sponsored by Spotted Dog Press, Bishop California — $500. "Visually, a superb book," says Maria Coffey. "Wolf brilliantly portrays so many facets of Himalayan culture and landscape. This is the work of an artist with a great passion for the places and people he captures on film."

Special Jury Mention for Outstanding Book on Mountain Culture — A Painter's Year in the Forest of Bhutan, A.K. Hellum, University of Alberta Press (Canada, 2001, ISBN 0-8248-2486-5). Margaret Foster comments, "The paintings and the painter’s stories totally captured my interest…. What a unique and authentic means of ‘seeing’ a region intimately and using that way of seeing to communicate with the people who live there."

Raven's End, Ben Gadd, McClelland & Stewart (Canada, 2001) wins the Canadian Rockies Award for the best book on the local area, sponsored by Eagle Creek Travel Gear. This award is chosen by a local book festival awards committee.