Vass has been named winner of the 2023 Nankervis/Bamford New Zealand Mountain Book of the Year for his book Not Set in Stone.
The NZ Mountain Book Competition is part of the long-running NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival, held in Wānaka and Queenstown.
Not Set in Stone tells Vass’ own story of an adventurous life as a career mountaineer and guide, establishing numerous first ascents and descents in the country’s hills and canyons, until he had an accident in 2015 which resulted in a broken neck and incomplete tetraplegia, forcing a change of direction.
He shares both colourful tales and thoughtful perspectives on the importance of connection with nature, and what happens when we are separated from it.
Vass said he was "chuffed" with his win and having recently moved away from Wānaka, the award was a "truly great farewell present".
"I've been much humbled and gratified by the feedback I've received so far — it seems to have moved people in a similar way to how I felt writing it — the highs and the lows ... and, if I think about it, to be awarded the Nankervis/Bamford feels somehow fitting, now that I’ve finally become an armchair mountaineer myself."
Vass will be speaking at the NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival in Wānaka on June 27 alongside Robbie Burton, whose book Bushline — A Memoir was highly commended by the competition judges.
Judges Otago Daily Times senior reporter Marjorie Cook, Hazel Phillips and Allan Uren were impressed by the standard of entries in this year’s competition.
Head judge Ms Cook said this year’s entries made impressive and inspiring reading.
“The authors are evocative, relatable and well connected to the environment — and just damn good storytellers. I particularly liked it when the kiwi writers wove Māori context and culture into their adventure stories, used Te Reo and referenced creation stories."
She did miss female voices in this year’s entries and encouraged "every adventurous woman to enter their story next year".
The Mountain Book Competition covers literature about the world’s remote places, expedition tales and stories about people and their adventures. Submissions were invited for two categories: Mountain and Adventure Narrative for stories and accounts about specific adventures, fiction or non-fiction; and Mountain and Adventure Heritage for guidebooks, coffee table or picture books, history books, analyses, reflections on culture, environments or ethics and advocacy.
Wānaka mountain guide and adventure photographer Gavin Lang received the Heritage Award for his book Seeking the Light.
Lang challenged himself to climb — and photograph — all 24 of New Zealand’s 3000m peaks.
High Risk: Climbing to Extinction by Brian Hall won the Narrative Award.
The book, which took three years to write, speaks to a period from the mid 1970s to the ’80s often called the "Golden Age of Himalayan Climbing", and pays homage to the generation of climbers who pushed adventure to the edge.
The NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival runs in Wānaka from June 23 to 27, Queenstown June 29 to 30, and online from June 24 to July 23.
