Peak District Bouldering Wins at Banff

Our Peak District Bouldering guidebook, published back in June, has been awarded the Best Guidebook prize at this year’s Banff Mountain Book Festival.

The Banff awards are pretty much the biggest prizes in publishing in the outdoor, adventure and environment genres and it is the second time one of our titles has won at Banff, following the presentation of the prestigious Grand Prize to Jerry Moffatt’s autobiography Revelations in 2009.

Commenting on the book, the Book Festival Jury, said:

"Peak District Bouldering is a visual treat. Filled with crisp, uncomplicated information, the book combines appealing art and design with practical maps and diagrams. This new bouldering tome jumps out of the confines of the traditional guidebook box by blending aesthetics with practicality — form and function. It has the beta. It has the maps. It has the photos. But, it also has that sexy metro style with its unique shape, strong imagery and clean layout. Clearly a winner! The result is a feast for the eyes and whether you are a novice boulderer or a world class climber, it nurtures the adventurous spirit in all of us."

We're obviously totally made up to win this. You enter the books, but you don't give a second thought to the possibility they may win. We poured a huge amount of time and effort into this book, really beginning as soon as the original guide was published in 2005, with the documentation of new problems and new areas by Rupert. This built up in the 18 months before publication, as we visited crags, revisited them and visited them some more. This guide, and consequently the award, wouldn’t have been possible without the support we received from local activists, who helped us out with their local crags, checked scripts and generally offered invaluable feedback. Likewise we’re indebted to our excellent photographers who helped illustrate the guide so beautifully.

I was fortunate enough to fly over to collect the award; my first time in Banff and at the festival. It was an incredible experience, and a great opportunity to meet lots of creative and inspirational people.

Incidentally, the Best Guidebook prize was sponsored by Bison Belong, a really cool programme whose goal is to reintroduce Bison to Banff National Park.