With Anna Caig
The Sheffield-based publisher of adventure writing, Vertebrate, is dominating the Boardman
Tasker industry award shortlist this year, with an impressive three books all making the cut.
Among the three is Kinder Scout: The People’s Mountain by award-winning Sheffield author,
journalist and climber of over thirty-five years, Ed Douglas in collaboration with Bamford-
based photographer John Beatty. Kinder Scout is a beautiful book about how man has
shaped and been shaped by wild places, told through the story of this beloved mountain in
Derbyshire Peak District.
Vertebrate’s Managing Director Jon Barton said: “We’ve known Ed and John, the author and
photographer behind this beautiful and meticulous work, for as long as we’ve known the
Peak District. We’ve always wanted to publish something that captures the essence of the
landscape we have our adventures in, and so it just became a matter of putting all the pieces
together. It is a lifetime’s work, and not something we will ever be able to repeat.”
The two other Vertebrate titles that have also been shortlisted for the award are Tides, a
memoir by one of the UK’s leading climbers, Nick Bullock, and The Ogre, a biography of the
Himalayan mountain and the dramatic story of Doug Scott and Chris Bonington's first
ascent.
Tides tells the story of a man who has dedicated his life to climbing. We follow Nick Bullock’s
extraordinary life, living in his small green van, and flitting between Llanberis, Wales, and
Chamonix in the French Alps. The book contains a treasury of his antics and adventures
with some of the world’s leading climbers, including Steve House, Kenton Cool and Nico
Favresse. Together they push the limits on some of the world’s most serious routes: The
Bells! The Bells! on Gogarth’s North Stack Wall; the Slovak Direct on Denali; and Guerdon
Grooves on Buachaille Etive Mor.
Dubbed “one of the greatest adventure stories of all time,” The Ogre is a two-part biography
of this enigmatic peak. In the first part, Scott has painstakingly researched the geography
and history of the mountain. And the second part tells the personal account of his and
Bonington’s first ascent and their dramatic week-long descent on which Scott suffered two
broken legs, and Bonington smashed ribs. Using newly discovered diaries, letters and audio
tapes, we follow the desperate climbers all the way back to base camp.
The Boardman Tasker Award commemorates the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker,
acclaimed British mountaineers and authors. The winner will be announced at the Boardman
Tasker Award Presentation on Friday 16 November 2018 at the Kendal Mountain Festival.
For information on these books, and the full Vertebrate Publishing list, go to www.v-
publishing.co.uk/