2024 Boardman Tasker Award Shortlist Announced

The judges of the 2024 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature have announced a shortlist of six books. Among the nominees is AC member Graham Zimmerman for his book A Fine Line.

The other shortlisted titles are Alpine Rising by Bernadette McDonald, Behind Everest by Kate Nicholson, Mountains of Fire by Clive Oppenheimer, Headstrap by Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar and Royal Robbins: The American Climber by David Smart. Both McDonald and Smart are previous winners of the Boardman Tasker for their biographies of Voytek Kurtyka and Emilio Comici respectively.

The winner will be announced at a special event at this year's Kendal Mountain Festival. 

New BMC Video Series Explores the Ecology of Climbing Venues

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) have teamed up with AC member Nathan Chrismas and filmmaker Jimmy Hyland to produce a series of videos exploring the ecology and geology of various UK climbing areas. The Landscape Project visits popular crags and shows how, as climbers, we move among a wealth of natural history, from the rocks themselves to the numerous species that make them their homes.

You can view all of the videos in the series via the BMC's YouTube Playlist.

Harish Kapadia to Receive 2024 Ulsan Ulju Mountain Culture Award

AC member and former editor of the Himalayan Journal Harish Kapadia is set to be honoured at the 2024 Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival. Kapadia will receive the presigious Mountain Culture Award in recognition of his contributions to Himalayan exploration and peace campaigning.

Announcing their decision, the UMCA committee said:

"Harish Kapadia(79) is an “explorer for peace” who has made significant contributions to the accumulation, analysis, and dissemination of the exploratory knowledge in the Himalayas, as well as to peace efforts in mountain conflict zones."

Kapadia joins an impressive list of previous recipients which includes Reinhold Messner, Sir Chris Bonington, Catherine Destivelle and Stephen Venables.

On behalf of the Alpine Club, we would like to congratulate Harish on this well-deserved mark of recognition.

Join Us for the Launch of Dorothy Pilley's 'Climbing Days'

Dorothy Pilley was one of the most significant figures of early 20th Century mountaineering. A member of numerous mountaineering clubs and a founder of the all-women Pinnacle Club, she climbed extensively in the Alps and North America, alongside her husband Ivor Richards. In 1928, together with Ivor and the guides Joseph and Antoine Georges, Dorothy made the first ascent of the north-north-west ridge of the Dent Blanche.

This, and many of her other pivotal climbing experiences, were immortalised in Dorothy's autobiography 'Climbing Days'. Despite Dorothy's significance and the book's warm reception, the title has sadly been out of print for several decades. However, thanks to the work of Dorothy's Great-Grand Nephew Dan Richards and publisher Canongate Books, a new edition of the book is set to be published in 2024.

This new title, the first since 1965 to feature all of the original photographs, will become part of the Canongate 'Canons' collection and will receive its official launch on 2 July at the Alpine Club's premises at Charlotte Road London.

To help celebrate the book's re-release and Dorothy's remarkable life, the evening will include a discussion by Dan Richards (who has written a new foreword for this edition), writer and academic Dr Sarah Lonsdale and UKClimbing Editor in Chief Natalie Berry. 

The book launch is free to attend and there will be the opportunity to buy copies of the book on the night as well as to view a small display of some of Dorothy's posessions from the Club's collection. The event will start from 7PM and you can sign up to attend via the Google form below.