Banff Announces 2011 Film and Book Winners

Author:: Amanda Fox
Publish date:: Nov 7, 2011

The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival has announced its 2011 winners. The grand prize for films went to the movie Cold (preview below), which features the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II in Pakistan with Cory Richards, Simone Moro, and Denis Urubko.

From Forge Motion Pictures and producter/director Anson Fogel: "For the past 26 years, 16 expeditions have tried and failed to climb one of Pakistan's 8,000-meter peaks in winter. On February 2, 2011, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards became the first. Cory is now the only American to summit any 8,000-meter peak in winter. The journey nearly killed them. Cory carried a small camera and filmed the ordeal constantly. This is their story, as seen from the raw, honest perspective of Cory's lens." It was also given the "Best Film - Climbing" and "Audio Post-Production Scholarship" awards.

Other winners include (USA films in bold):

The Banff Centre Award for Creative Excellence: The Wolf and the Medallion, by Jeremy Collins
Best Film - Exploration and Adventure: Kadoma, by Ben Stookesberry
Best Film - Mountain Culture: The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom, by Ritu Sarin
Best Film - Mountain Environment: Spoil, by Trip Jennings
Best Film - Mountain Sports: The Freedom Chair, Mike Douglas
Best Film - Mountain Wildlife and Natural History: Broken Tail, by John Murray
Best Short Mountain Film: Chasing Water, by Anson Fogel and Peter McBride
Best Feature-Length Mountain Film: All.I.Can, by Malcolm Sangster and Dave Mossop
People's Choice Award: On the Trail of Ghengis Khan, by Richard Dennison and Tim Cope
People's Choice Award - Radical Reels: REEL ROCK: Race for the Nose, by Peter Mortimer
Special Jury Mention: Journey on the Wild Coast, by Greg Chaney

On the book side, Freedom Climbers by Bernadette McDonald won the grand prize. From Banff: "Freedom Climbers weaves a passionate and literary tale of adventure, politics, suffering, death and ultimately, inspiration. This is the story of a group of extraordinary Polish adventurers who emerged from under the blanket of oppression following World War II to become the world’s leading Himalayan climbers. Although they lived in a dreary, war-ravaged landscape, with seemingly no hope of creating a meaningful life, these curious, motivated and skilled mountaineers created their own free-market economy under the very noses of their Communist bosses, and climbed their way to liberation."

Other winners include (USA books in bold):

Best Book - Mountain and Wilderness Literature: Murder in the High Himalaya, by Jonathan Green
Best Book - Adventure Travel: The Magnetic North, by Sara Wheeler
Best Book - Mountain Image: Unexpected: Thirty Years of Patagonia Catalog Photography, by Jennifer Ridgeway and Jane Sievert
Best Guide Book: Peak District Bouldering, by Rupert Davies, John Coefield, and Jon Barton
Best Book - Mountaineering History: Desert Towers, by Steve "Crusher" Bartlett
Special Jury Mention: Crossing the Heart of Africa, by Julian Smith