Savage Arena

Savage Arena

Joe Tasker was one of Britain's foremost mountaineers. He was a pioneer of lightweight, 'Alpine-style' climbing in the Greater Ranges and had a special talent for writing. He died, with his friend Peter Boardman, high on Everest in 1982 while attempting the previously unclimbed North East Ridge. Their deaths marked the end of a remarkable era in British mountaineering. Born in Hull in 1948, Joe began rock climbing in his teens. Drawn to mountaineering, he made many remarkable ascents in the Alps, including the first British winter ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, before moving to the Greater Ranges. Here, Joe pioneered routes of extreme technical difficulty in a bold, Alpine-style - at a time when huge expeditions and siege tactics were still the mountaineering norm. Peter and Joe left two legacies. One was their great endeavour, their climbs on high peaks with bold, lightweight innovative methods; the second is the books they wrote and left behind. Both had developed a special talent for writing. Joe's first book Everest the Cruel Way is an exciting account of his winter attempt on Everest and his second book, Savage Arena, was finished just before he left for Everest in 1982. Both have become mountaineering classics. The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was established in Pete and Joes' honour, and is presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature. For more information about the Boardman Tasker Prize, visit: www.boardmantasker.com