Books by Members
The Alpine Club has a long literary history, with many members publishing not only books on mountaineering but also on mountain culture, ecology, science, geology and much more. This tradition of mountain writing continues to this day and you can see a list of recent member publications listed below.
'One Man's Legacy - Tom Patey'
Mike Dixon
His old friend chronicles the brief but brilliant life of Dr Tom Patey: bard, musician, and one of Scotland’s foremost climbers and mountaineers. Tom’s pioneering ascents, boundless enthusiasm, carefree approach and his ability to burn the candle at both ends remain legendary several decades after his untimely death. Drawing on his essays and verses, the narrative is imbued with dry wit and gentle satire, and brought to life by unseen images from John Cleare and the Patey family archive. With Mick Fowler’s foreword and first-hand insights from leading climbers of the last century, including Chris Bonington, Joe Brown and Paul Nunn, 'One Man’s Legacy' celebrates a complex, larger-than-life character who rightly deserves his place in mountaineering history.
Scottish Mountaineering Press
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'The Mountain Path'
Paul Pritchard
In 1998, Paul Pritchard was struck on the head by a falling rock as he climbed a sea stack in Tasmania. Close to death, Pritchard kept himself going with a promise that he would ‘at least attempt to live’. The Mountain Path is an adventure book like no other, an exploration of a healing brain, a test of will and a triumph of hope.
Vertebrate Publishing
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'No Easy Way'
Mick Fowler
"Mick Fowler is the master of the small Himalayan expedition. He has been at the forefront of this approach to alpinism for thirty years, balancing family life, work at the tax office and annual trips to the greater ranges. In No Easy Way, Fowler recounts expeditions to stunning mountains in China, India, Nepal and Tibet."
Vertebrate Publishing
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'Kangchenjunga'
Doug Scott
Completed before his death in 2020, and edited by Catherine Moorehead, 'Kangchenjunga' is Doug Scott’s final book. Scott explores the mountain and its people before going on to look at Western approaches and climbing attempts, including his own in 1979. 'Kangchenjunga' is Scott’s tribute to this sacred mountain, a paean for a Himalayan giant, written by a giant of Himalayan climbing.
Vertebrate Publishing
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'An Alpine Miscellany'
John Cleare
"An Alpine Miscellany is a portfolio of 75 mountain photographs of the European Alps, shot in monochrome by the professional mountain photographer John Cleare between 1957 and 2007. The subjects range across the Alps from the Écrins massif to the Julians and the images are accompanied by two pages of captions and an explanatory afterword.
Self-published by John Cleare and something of a ‘Collector's Piece’, the images are presented as a large-format hardback, measuring 325 mm. x 280 mm. and copies are individually printed to order at a cost of £50 plus appropriate postage. (Local postage in the US)."
Self-published
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'A Path of Shadows'
John Porter
"Written over a period of 50 years, A Path of Shadows is writer and mountaineer John Porter's first poetry collection.
Exploring the natural world, family ties and physical science as well as his climbing life, A Path of Shadows is a reflection of Porter's sharp and broad intellect, and of his desire and ability to express his feelings, beliefs and life experiences through poetry."
Little Peak Press
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'High Risk - Climbing to Extinction'
Brian Hall
"The golden age of Himalayan mountaineering, from the mid 1970s to the ‘80s, brought forth a generation of radical young climbers. With tiny budgets and high ambitions they pioneered light and fast Alpine style expeditions on mountains such as Jannu, Nuptse, Everest, and K2.
In High Risk, Brian Hall recalls the outrageous adventures of eleven of his climbing friends who risked, and too often lost, their lives to stand on some of the world’s highest peaks at a turning point in mountaineering history."
Sandstone Press
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'Everest 1922'
Mick Conefrey
"The dramatic and compelling account of the first attempt to climb Mount Everest, published to coincide with the centenary of the expedition in 2022."
Allen & Unwin
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'Himalaya - A Human History'
Ed Douglas
"This is the first major history of the Himalaya: an epic story of peoples, cultures and adventures among the world's highest mountains."
Vintage (Penguin)
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'Structured Chaos'
Victor Saunders
"Structured Chaos by Boardman-Tasker-winning author and renowned climber Victor Saunders describes his progression from scaling canal walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Told with humour, warmth and honesty, this is a story of friendships, adventures, triumphs and failures."
Vertebrate Publishing
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