Adam Watson's interest in snow began at 7, the Cairngorms at 9,
mountaineering and ski-mountaineering in later boyhood. His book
recounts many fine days on the hill in Scotland, Iceland and
northern Scandinavia on foot or ski, often on his own in wonderful
places that excited him beyond measure. He tells what it was like
to be with four remarkable Scots who greatly influenced him as a
young naturalist and mountaineer, Seton Gordon, Bob Scott o the
Derry, Tom Weir and Tom Patey. The beauty and variety of the hill,
the weather and the wildlife were and are an inspiration to him,
and his descriptions touch on this. In these modern times of
pervasive regulation and politically correct control, this book is
a breath of fresh air as a proclamation of the value and wonder
that are the greatest joys of lone exploration on the spur of the
moment. Author Adam Watson, BSc, PhD, DSc, DUniv, raised in lowland
Aberdeenshire, is a retired research ecologist aged 80. He began
lifelong interests on winter snow in 1937, snow patches in 1938,
the Cairngorms in 1939. A mountaineer and ski-mountaineer since
boyhood, he has experienced Scotland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden,
mainland Canada, Newfoundland, Baffin Island, Finland, Switzerland,
Italy, Vancouver Island and Alaska. His main research was and is on
population biology, behaviour and habitat of northern birds and
mammals. In retirement he has contributed 16 scientific
publications on snow patches since 1994. He is a Fellow of the
Arctic Institute of North America, Centre for Ecology and
Hydrology, Royal Meteorological Society, Royal Society of
Edinburgh, and Society of Biology. Since 1954 he has been a member
of the Scottish Mountaineering Club and since 1968 author of the
Club's District Guide to the Cairngorms. This book is testimony to
the idea that Exploring for yourself by your own free will, without
formal courses or training, is the best joy the hills can give (my
Preface, The Cairngorms, 1975). Now I would add 'without detailed
planning', for my best days have been lone trips begun without such
planning, indeed on the spur of moment and weather, almost chance
events. Four chapters salute Scots to whom I owed much as a young
naturalist and mountaineer, Seton Gordon, Bob Scott, Tom Patey and
Tom Weir. They held to the above idea. Reading Seton Gordon's
Cairngorm Hills of Scotland in 1939 changed my life. I wanted to be
in these hills at all seasons. Exploration by one's own free will
is best pervaded by humility and wonder. Alien to this are
avalanche alerts, 'challenge' walks, 'character-building', courses,
Duke of Edinburgh Awards, guided walks, hill-runs, interpretive
boards, marker cairns, outdoor centres, qualifications, rangers,
route-cards, school outings, signposts, sponsored walks, tests of
snowpack stability, text messages sent as avalanche alerts to
mobile phones, transceivers, visitor centres, 'walk of the day',
wardens, and 'wilderness walks'. Also alien are Munros, Corbetts
and other anthropocentric designations, those who 'bag' them as if
hills were shot birds, and assault, attack, battle, conquer,
conquest, fight, vanquish and victory as if hills were enemies.
Many with flashing camera, global positioning, map, compass, mobile
phone, and survival equipment are unsafe, as rescue accounts often
reveal. Even climbers have been rescued after neglecting navigation
on easy ground after completing rock climbs or ice climbs. Those
who behave as if alone on an icecap when nobody else knows where
they are and no help is possible, have greater inherent safety.
They are also more likely to understand and appreciate the hill and
its weather, snow, wildlife and indigenous folk.
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