Barry Blanchard’s memoir titled The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains has won the prestigious Boardman Tasker Award.

Blanchard’s 2014 memoir is about a kid saved from juvenile delinquency by the mystery and challenge of the Canadian Rockies. Blanchard went on to become one of North America’s most cutting-edge alpine climbers.

The 20 chapters in the book reveal the wild times Blanchard had on and off the mountains, from new routes in the Canadian Rockies to nearly dying on Nanga Parbat. If you enjoy climbing history and exciting stories then be sure to pick up The Calling.

And the winner of the @BoardmanTasker award for 2015 is The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains by Barry Blanchard! pic.twitter.com/KHRB6nsa0W — Kendal Mountain Fest (@kendalmountain) November 20, 2015

“A portrait of the power of mountains to lift us physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.”


Blanchard is the second Canadian to win the award, Bernadette McDonald won it in 2011 for her book Freedom Climbers. For a complete list of the winners, see here. To purchase The Calling, visit here.