Good Mountain Writers Commit--T.S.M. Newsletter
Greetings from Peaklessburg!
On Monday I finished submitting my pre-read reviews to the Banff Mountain Book Competition. I reviewed two books and 19 articles. Unlike other years, I didn’t see an outright Banff winner. I saw four that could be worthy, but I wasn’t gobsmacked by one as I usually am each summer.
One thing I look for during my Banff pre-reading are articles that are unapologetic about their story and climbing. I mean that they don’t have to explain climbing to a non-climber and that they are committed to the story. I recently read the intro to 2023’s best science fiction short stories edited by Rebecca F. Kuang, the fiction writer and author of Babel (which is remarkable, by the way.) Kuang said it differently and added some insight: The best writers commit to the world where their story happens. They don’t say, “really, there are real dragons there with scales and wings and everything.” No, the best say, “we can’t hunt in that valley because the dragons are nesting.” The same should be done in climbing literature. Otherwise we’re reading something for Readers Digest.
There were only 19 mountain articles submitted this year. I say “only” because for a while I thought that it was a short list, but my memory was off. There were 26 last year, but in previous years it varied and I think 26 was the most, both in 2017 and 2023. I remember one year (I bet it was 2017 because it was a lot and it was when the family and I were moving from DC to Pennsylvania) I had to scramble to read and muster a reasonable amount of critical intelligence to review remaining 20 articles. This year I read one or two a day on a schedule, which made it very enjoyable this year, and I also actually re-read the ones I read previously rather than brush through for efficiency.
The category winners will be announced before the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival and the Grand Prize Winner, always a book, will be announced on Halloween night. You can follow the path to the winner and get some good book recommendations here.
RECENT POSTS, in case you missed them...
Is This All There Is? Climbing Magazines Currently in Print
Upending Our Relationship with Mountains
Writing is Not For Radio, and what I am Reading this Summer
The Longest Climb by Paul Pritchard
Not Climbing Alone
If you’ve been route climbing with partners, you’re a lucky person. I’ve mostly been bouldering indoors just because I didn’t have a partner. I used auto belays, too, but the video game nature of the auto belay, where you go back to the beginning, isn’t quite the scrappy climbing I sought. Well, I’ve recently been climbing with friends and it has been delightful.
Ethan was out of town for a wedding and was peak bagging in New England, thought of me and invited me to go climb at a crag called Safe Harbor, which he called by its other name Enola, because it’s along the Enola Low-Grade Trail. We have busy schedules so we had to look well into the next several weeks to find a day to go. It ended up raining, so we pulled plastic instead. We finished with beers talking about our kids.
My friend Nathan, who climbed in the Red River Gorge in college, started his career as a fabricator and he keeps an eight foot row of holds along a beam in his family’s downstairs’ den. His forearms are enormous and my envy right now.
Nathan also let me borrow his grigri so I can offer a belay with that instead of my basic ATC. He didn’t have to do that, but the support was fantastic.
Although I find a mental peace in bouldering on my own, climbing with a friend gives me more euphoria. We cheer each other on and give encouragement. We read routes together and check the other’s knot. I’m glad Ethan and Nathan kept the slack out of my rope. I won’t leave any for them.
Thanks for reading.
Andrew