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A WORD BEFORE WE BEGIN

We all have these moments, moments as big as years, when we experience something so powerful or profound that, although it may last for only a very short time, it can be recalled decades later in all its vivid intensity. Life is full of them – moments of humour, excitement, adventure; moments of drama, relief and inspiration; moments that prove to be life-changing, life-enhancing and uplifting; and moments of quiet contemplation in the midst of wild nature. They mould our character and make us who we are.

This book is a bran tub of such moments harvested from fifty years among the mountains. There are no tales of gripping adventure on the world’s highest or most challenging peaks, nor are there accounts of horrendous accidents – I leave such stories for those at mountaineering’s sharp end. My climbs have been modest but exhilarating, and I have discovered, on reflection, that it is not often the summits themselves that stand out as highlights of my career. It’s the experiences won on and around the mountains that count.

Of course, days among mountains are not all blessed with sunshine. Clouds, whether they be drifting innocently across the summits or preludes to a storm, form an integral part of the mountain landscape, adding both movement and mystery.

My long walk among such clouds has left me with a rich store of memories. This collection is a celebration of wild places in all their seductive mystery – a commemoration of mountains and valleys; friends with whom some great days have been shared; people met along the way; the generosity of strangers; humour plucked from the most unlikely situation. A celebration of life. If there’s one recurring theme, it’s the sheer joy of being ‘out there’. The mountain world confronts all who enter it with a reality at odds with that of everyday living. In wild places the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Although this is an autobiographical collection, it’s by no means an autobiography. Some of the locations for these stories have been identified and the same goes for the friends who shared and enriched many of these experiences. A few are mentioned by their first name; a tiny minority have been given a different identity to avoid embarrassment.

There’s no chronological order to follow. This is not a book where you need to start at the beginning and work your way through to the end, so I’d suggest you open at any page and take pot luck.

Memory is like that, too – it doesn’t work to an orderly schedule. One of my favourite authors, John Stewart Collis, once likened the power of memory to a journey taken through ‘the unboundaried kingdom of the mind’. That’s how this book developed. Being something of an insomniac I often lie awake for several hours during the night experiencing once again days of high living – not as a nostalgic trek down memory lane, but as a spur to creating more such memories for the future.

For perhaps the first time in one of my books, my wife is referred to as ‘Min’. It’s not her real name, but it’s how she’s known. When we share long mountain trips we both keep journals and read them to one another months later. As we do, we’re constantly astonished at the differences. Written at the end of each day, either curled up in a tent or in a quiet corner of a mountain hut, we recall the happenings of that day with such contrasting emphasis that you’d think we’d been on different journeys. I have a loft creaking with the weight of these journals, but even so some memories are mysteriously absent from their pages – yet they come to me unbidden as fresh as the day they occurred.

Memory may play tricks, perhaps. All I know is that life is an adventure and we must cherish every moment to live it to the full.

Kev Reynolds

Froghole

Spring 2013