The Hillwalker’s Guide to Mountaineering - Essential Skills

This guidebook features the techniques, gear and approaches that the active and ambitious hillwalker needs to be equipped with to competently tackle Britain’s classic mountaineering challenges. Covers the use of the rope to abseil, belay and protect ascents and descents, placement of protection, gear selection, navigation, survival, scrambling and first aid skills.

'The title says it all. This book enters a fairly crowded genre but attempts to separate itself by being very specific with its target audience. This is a wise move – many hill walkers harbour the desire to go that little bit further and enhance the splendour of a day in the mountains with the adventure of mountaineering. The layout is clear and logical, and instruction and guidance is always excellent. It has three distinct sections; the concept of hill walking and mountaineering; “Skills for the Hills”, arguably the main thrust of the book; and a final section of route guides to some of Britain’s most respected mountaineering lines. It seems a strange thing to say but in some ways there is just too much information, far too much to simply read and retain – this book needs to be used as a companion for learning-through-experience.
    There are highlighted top tips, do’s and don’ts, ‘you really need to know this’ type of information and equipment lists. The text is well supplemented with technical photographs but particularly pleasing is the inclusion of mountain vistas that successfully capture some of the gems of British mountaineering. It’s a useable guide and not some giant hardback that becomes relegated to a rest on which you write out your Christmas cards.
    In order to get a practicable opinion it was given to a colleague who represents exactly the target audience. It was read cover to cover. As to whether or not it is inspiring – no question, the aforementioned colleague arranged a day on the Aonach Eagach with myself as accomplice  - the day was a good one.'

(Scott Chafer, Scottish Mountaineer December 2003)

'This book’s joint authors recognize that there is a sizeable constituency in the outdoors that occupies, or would like to occupy, the overlap between hill-walking and mountaineering. At the beginning they say, ‘This book is not a comprehensive manual; on the contrary, it is intended to keep things short, practical and to the point’. The first 160 pages thus aim to cover what this volume calls, in its subtitle, the ‘essential skills for Britain’s classic routes’.
    It focuses on ‘skills for the hills’, the knowledge and techniques that will allow folk with a straightforward hill-walking CV to move on and tackle more ambitious objectives. The authors bring complementary perspectives to bear on their subject. Stuart Johnston runs a climbing and adventure business, holds the Mountain Instructor’s Certificate and instructs on Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician courses.  Terry Adby is a widely published freelance writer with considerable hill-walking and mountaineering experience; he nevertheless claims to be an enthusiast rather than an expert.
    All of the dimensions you might expect to find in this kind of book are there: planning and preparation, access, kit, navigation, mountain weather, technical gear, bivouacking, ropework and so on. It works from the premise that the ambitions of the hill-walker require the skills of the mountaineer. There is lot of good sense in the book, for example, the authors’ opinion that navigation is the top priority mountain skill, on the basis that navigational errors are one of the main root causes of mountain accidents and mishaps.  It is also up-to-date e.g. in covering the increasing availability of good quality maps that are downloadable from CD-rom and the internet. The use of GPS is discussed, with the conclusion that, whilst useful, it will be a long time before it replaces map and compass.
    Some 50 pages cover what is perhaps the area of greatest concern to the hill-walker who aspires to steeper things, namely scrambling and easy climbing, together with its associated technical gear and skills. This is covered carefully and thoroughly, and illustrated with frequent close-up photos. The pages are quite busy but effectively designed. Coloured boxes of ‘Top Tips’, bullet-pointed lists, map extracts and many photos break up the text. Photo sequences are used extensively e.g. to show basic scrambling moves, how a crampon fits on a boot, belaying, caring for a casualty in an emergency, or using an ice-axe for self-arrest.
    The authors state clearly that this volume will not equip the reader for all that the winter mountains can throw at them, but they do include a substantial chapter covering the basic requirements for winter mountaineering – boots, crampons and axe, ‘walking on snow’ and avalanche awareness. The lengthy chapter on A&E made me aware, after 30 years on the hill, and with perhaps a degree of complacency creeping in after no major accidents, that I could do worse than spend some time refreshing myself with the wisdom of this section.
    The last part of the book, occupying nearly 100 pages, describes a dozen classic outings that are beyond the reach but most likely on the wish list of the typical British hill-walker; beyond the reach, that is, until they have absorbed the contents of this book.  
These include Tryfan’s North Ridge Direct, the Forcan Ridge on the Saddle, Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag, The Aonach Eagach, the Cneifion Arete in the Glyderau, the Coire Lagan Round and Tower Ridge on the Ben; objectives that any serious hill-walker is likely to aspire to. There are also a couple of routes, like Wistow Crags, that deserve to be better known. Jeremy Ashcroft’s line drawings add a dimension to this part of the book.  Aspirants are given both inspiration and detail with, for example, a page describing the crux moves on Broad Stand.
    There are quirks in the book. Technical or copyright reasons perhaps prevent the highlighting of the routes on the OS map extracts. This might have been helpful to the budding mountaineer. There’s a snowy photo of the Fiacaill Ridge of Coire an t-Sneachda with a caption saying: ‘This book however, assumes summer conditions’.  Some of the occasional full-page photos don’t really earn their place in terms of conveying information, though perhaps it’s churlish to complain about a smiling face with a spectacular backdrop. It’s easy to be picky, of course. Overall this is an excellent instructional guide. And the half page on ‘Talking Rubbish’, about respect for the mountain environment, sealed my appreciation of the authors’ approach. If you are a hill-walker who aspires to be a mountaineer, this manual will help you achieve that goal.'

(Kevin Borman, HIGH Issue 260)