Christmas Gift Guide 2024
Searching for something a little different this Christmas? Have a browse of our gift guide to help you on your way!
Whether it’s inspiration to help you pick the perfect gift for your outdoors-obsessed friends and family, or a handy link you might want to send the well-intentioned but less mountain enthused people in your life who sort of know you like going up hills but don’t really know what that exactly entails, we hope this guide will help readers select from our most recent publications to find the perfect publication (or something else a little bit different too). Dig in!
Lowland Outcrops
by Topher Dagg
For: boulderers, sport climbers and trad climbers who might frequent the Lowlands of Scotland, especially ideal for those based in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
What it’s about:
Though perhaps lacking the grandeur of the Highlands, the Lowlands make up for this in variety and accessibility with dolerite quarries, adventurous greywacke sea-cliffs and basalt test-pieces. With over 1,900 trad, sport and bouldering routes, from esoteric gems to world-classics, the area holds something for everyone. Compiled and updated by local activists, this new guide presents the best that the Lowlands have to offer. With colour photographic topos throughout, inspiring action shots, detailed maps, public transport and accessibility details, it’s designed for both seasoned climbers and those taking their first steps onto outdoor crags. Coverage of the book includes Stirlingshire, Glasgow, Ayrshire, the Forth Valley, Berwickshire Coast and the Borders Hills.
One Man’s Legacy: Tom Patey
by Mike Dixon
For: anyone wanting to read more about mountaineering and its rich history will get a kick out of this, but it will especially resonate with the maverick or ‘character’ in your life.
What it’s about:
One Man’s Legacy chronicles the brief but brilliant life of Dr Tom Patey: bard, musician, and one of Scotland’s foremost climbers and mountaineers. His story is one of pioneering ascents and boundless enthusiasm, and his spontaneity, carefree approach and ability to burn the candle at both ends remain legendary, several decades after his untimely death. Supported by a foreword from Mick Fowler and first-hand insights from some of the leading climbers of the last century, including Sir 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.
The Fox of Glencoe
by Hamish MacInnes
For: anyone with a passion for Scottish hills, winter climbing, mountain rescue, or the history of mountaineering – and, with Hamish’s work on iconic films, cinephiles too.
What it’s about:
This multi-award winning book chronicles the adventures of the legendary Hamish MacInnes and his achievements in the field of mountaineering, from exploits worldwide to his landmark contributions in modern mountain safety and alpinism. Few people cram as much into a lifetime as Hamish did, and these memoirs reflect his restless curiosity and ability to marshal loyalty and support for the most outlandish scheme. His legacy is vividly brought to life in this collection of unseen and retold stories, images and additional narratives from some of his closest friends.
Tickets to a talk or workshop
Scottish Mountaineering Press at Fort William Mountain Festival
For: those who seek inspiration even when they’re not on the mountain.
What’s On:
This year we’re bringing a larger programme of events than ever before to Fort William Mountain Festival. Working in conjunction with the festival and Highland Bookshop, we’ve curated a line up with talks on everything from the skyrunning to the singular beauty of the Cairngorms, to writing inspired by the mountains and more. We’re also running 2 amazing workshops as part of Creatives, taking place outside amongst the mountains which inspire us.
Scottish Winter Climbs West
by Neil Adams
For: enthusiastic winter climbers, beginner, intermediate or expert.
What it’s about:
Covering not only the classic winter climbing venues of Glen Coe and Ben Nevis, but spanning the Southern Uplands all the way to the rugged hinterland of Knoydart and Glen Shiel beyond, Scottish Winter Climbs West is a grand tour of the best winter climbing destinations across western Scotland. With over 1,300 routes and an abundance of new lines covering both familiar and lesser-known crags, its scope and range offers options for climbing across all levels and styles and in almost all conditions.
The Great Sea Cliffs of Scotland
Compiled by Guy Robertson
For: ‘For anyone with the slightest interest in the history, scenery and climbs on the sea cliffs of Scotland, this fantastic book is a must’ – Mick Fowler. Also a great gift as the perfect coffee-table book.
What it’s about:
The Great Sea Cliffs of Scotland is the 2021 Banff Mountain Book Award-winning anthology of outrageous climbing adventures from 26 of the most extraordinary sea cliffs across Scotland. Each area is described in rich detail and accompanied by personal accounts that offer an intimate perspective of the distinctive nature of this unique environment, and the generous rewards for those willing to accept the challenge of these seemingly improbable lines.
Tears of the Dawn
by Jules Lines
For: climbers, those who love travel and adventure, and thrill-seekers. Ideal for anyone who wants an insight into the life and mind of a free solo climber.
What it’s about:
In Tears of the Dawn, Jules Lines, Britain’s most accomplished free solo climber, gives a rare and candid glimpse into the mind of one of climbing’s most audacious and determined legends. With eloquence and unexpected humility, Lines recounts triumphs, tribulations, friendships, romances and, perhaps most poignantly of all, his close encounters with death. It is a journey like no other, leaving the reader breathless, on edge, and dreaming of mountain tops and adventure.
Cairngorms Scene & Unseen
by Sydney Scroggie
For: those who love a night in a bothy – and especially those who love the Cairngorms as well. Worth noting this is a pocket-sized volume, so would make a great stocking-filler.
What it’s about:
One of the best original accounts of Scotland’s bothy culture. A Lovat Scout, Syd Scroggie was a true man of the hills and an ‘inveterate scribbler’. Despite losing his sight and one leg a fortnight before the end of the Second World War, he returned to the Scottish mountains with companions and summited over 600 hills well into his 80s. Syd is frequently quoted as saying, ‘I can do without my eyes, but I can’t do without my mountains,’ and his rich, vivid descriptions of his beloved Cairngorms speak of an insight that transcends the corporeal.
A’ Chreag Dhearg
Compiled by Grant Farquhar
For: anyone with a love of community. Climbers will revel in hearing detailed adventures from a lesser-frequented part of Scotland, and all will enjoy following the history of a growing collective of dedicated outdoor enthusiasts.
What it’s about:
Compiled and co-authored by veteran climber Grant Farquhar with contributions from a range of voices within Scotland’s close-knit climbing community, A’ Chreag Dhearg traces the rich climbing history of the Angus Glens. Despite the deceptively narrow scope of this story, the breadth with which it is considered here captures the way that climbing has developed in Scotland over time, and how this history is often exceptionally localised. A’ Chreag Dhearg is both a tribute to Victorian pioneers and latter-day trailblazers and a poignant reflection on formative, youthful endeavours.
Highland Scrambles North
by Iain Thow
For: keen scramblers and climbers, who will find a whole variety of routes they’ve yet to try in this book. Packed full of detailed information and advice, it’s also a great guide for walkers seeking to test themselves and reach new heights.
What it’s about:
This newly delineated guide describes some of the best scrambles and easy rock climbs in the North-West Highlands of Scotland, the Outer Hebrides and Rum. With 200 routes, its scope and range offer scrambling options across all levels and rock types. Keen hillwalkers can build their confidence on straightforward itineraries with a bit of exposure, and there’s plenty to whet the appetites of those who already have some experience and want to explore new territory on sustained, technical journeys requiring greater commitment.
Scottish Rock Climbs
Compiled by Kevin Howett
For: any climber seeking to spend time on rock in Scotland. A grand tour of the whole country, it means that on any day or trip you’ve planned to climb, if there’s dry rock somewhere, you’ll be able to find a route to get on it.
What it’s about:
Wired Guides’ Scottish Rock Climbs showcases 1,760 of the very best trad and sport routes across Scotland, covering a wealth of climbing never before presented in a single volume. Each route is presented on a diagram and supported by detailed information which has been gathered and compiled by local activists. It’s the book you need to inspire a lifetime’s worth of rock climbing adventures in Scotland.
The Grahams & The Donalds
by Rab Anderson & Tom Prentice
For: walkers and peak-baggers looking to get even more out of the Scottish mountains with some off-the-beaten-track summits and tops.
What it’s about:
Following on from the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s best-sellers, The Munros and The Corbetts, this revised and expanded guidebook recommends the best journeys on the next principal listings of Scottish hills. Written and compiled by some of the foremost authorities on the Scottish mountains and brought to life with maps and vivid colour photographs, this richly illustrated guide details more than 250 routes, including, where appropriate, logical combinations with neighbouring hills. Ranging between 600m and 762m, there are 231 Grahams, while the Donalds comprise the 141 summits and Tops above 2000ft (610m) in the Scottish Lowlands. At such an accessible height range, these hills are increasingly popular and offer challenges across the country for both the occasional and dedicated walker.
The Munros
by Rab Anderson & Tom Prentice
For: walkers and peak-baggers alike. For anyone with compleator aspirations, this is the ‘definitive’ guide. And for those that are less inspired by ticking off summits, this guide still delivers, with over 200 walks which will get you well off the beaten track and into some of Scotland’s most remote, wild and inspiring areas.
What it’s about:
This fully revised fourth edition of the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s original and best-selling guidebook The Munros describes the best walking routes on Scotland’s 282 mountains above 3,000ft. Comprehensive descriptions in this definitive guide recommend ascent and descent routes for each of the Munros and their 226 subsidiary Tops, with maps of the peaks and principal surrounding hills to help you plan the most enjoyable journeys through Scotland’s wild landscape. The descriptions are brought to life throughout with vivid photography that illustrates the dramatic beauty of these much-loved mountains.
Limited Edition Fine Art Prints
by Christopher Smith-Duque
For: anyone with spare space on the wall and a love of the hills.
What they are:
Unique evocations of the Scottish hills, informed by the artist’s passion and expertise as a geologist. These prints are part of a collection being produced for the complete series of SMC climbers’ and scramblers’ guidebooks, and will be limited to 50 prints. Choose from either Church Door Buttress in winter (the cover of Scottish Winter Climbs West), or one of Scotland’s finest ridges, Liathach (the cover of Highland Scrambles North.