I am delighted to say that I won the Words and Pictures award in the 2012 Awards for Excellence from the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild, presented on Saturday October 13th at Durrell Wildlife Park in Jersey.

The award, sponsored by Cicerone Press, was for Leapers and Creepers, which appeared in Privateer magazine. The judges said:

“Jon's entry stood out from the rest – a really interesting article on the Kennett brothers, pioneering mountain bikers of New Zealand. The article is lavishly illustrated with stunning photographs that convey both the beauty of the New Zealand landscape and the technical demands posed by the unspoiled countryside.”

It’s always great to win, but I’m particularly thrilled by this one, for several reasons. I had a hand in the inception of this category some years ago and it means a lot to me. 

It was also a thrill just to get the chance to write for Privateer in the first place, because it is such a high-end publication and because it allowed me to use rather more words and pictures than usual – though I hope this award still recognises quality rather than quantity!

It was also a delight to be able to spend a couple of weeks exploring the mountain bike trails of New Zealand. Everyone knows what spectacular landscapes the country has and fortunately there is an outdoor community that does them justice.”

Many people helped to make this trip, and this feature, possible, especially:

The Kennett Brothers – especially Simon and Jonathan, with whom I spent such a memorable day exploring Pureora Forest;

Master of the trails Hoz Barclay, our guide in Pureora;

Avanti Bikes for loan of two excellent bikes;

Tim Ceci and the team at Vertigo Bikes in Queenstown;

Tineke Water for lending me the car to get around North Island.

The Slideshow starts with the shots that were chosen by Privateer editor Tym Manley for inclusion in the feature and then goes on to a few others of my favourites from the trip. If you want to see exactly how they were used, and read the text (this was a Words and Pictures award, after all), you'll have to get hold of a copy of Privateer 9.