Des Rubens was a well known and greatly admired Scottish climber. He graduated from Edinburgh University in 1973 and was a teacher of Outdoor Education in Craigroyston School Edinburgh from 1979 until retirement in 2011. Des kept diaries of his walks and climbs all over Scotland and wrote accounts of his climbs in the Himalaya, the Caucasus and the United States. This collection of his writings and those of his companions conveys, with a dry wit, his great enthusiasm for the Scottish hills and for all aspects of mountaineering in the greater ranges. Geoff Cohen, who has edited the collection, was one of Des' closest climbing partners for over 40 years. Together they shared many of the adventures recounted here, in Scotland and overseas.