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Between a Loch and a Hard Place: Life, History, Climbing & Mountain Rescue in Glencoe
The author was born in Oban and brought up in the village of Carnoch, better known nowadays as Glencoe village. A Highland upbringing rich in community. Glencoe is an area steeped in bloody history, surrounded by mountains and cut through by the River Coe. Known for its infamous 1692 massacre, Glencoe is also famed for its mountaineering, with people coming from all over the world to climb its majestic peaks and test themselves on its rock and ice climbs. Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team has a long history of saving lives and of rescue from the West Highlands and has had a few of Scotland’s best mountaineers as members. Not least was one of the rescue team founders, Hamish MacInnes.
This book gives some local history and insight into how a Highland boy lived beside a river that gave quietude and wonder as its silver leapers, the Atlantic salmon, forged up through its foamy waters into the mountains. And where the boy, me, was to meet mountain folk who opened his eyes to a broader world and possibilities. This book is about my upbringing, and the community of Glencoe that formed me. The reader may find the climbing and rescue tales a bit technical as I have used the terms and technicalities of the sport. The same is true for skiing. Forgive me as it’s hard to convey some of these ascents and descents without these technical details. Skip past bits if necessary and just enjoy the book as a collection of impressions and short tales.
This book gives some local history and insight into how a Highland boy lived beside a river that gave quietude and wonder as its silver leapers, the Atlantic salmon, forged up through its foamy waters into the mountains. And where the boy, me, was to meet mountain folk who opened his eyes to a broader world and possibilities. This book is about my upbringing, and the community of Glencoe that formed me. The reader may find the climbing and rescue tales a bit technical as I have used the terms and technicalities of the sport. The same is true for skiing. Forgive me as it’s hard to convey some of these ascents and descents without these technical details. Skip past bits if necessary and just enjoy the book as a collection of impressions and short tales.
186 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 30, 2025
Picked this one up for my boyfriend whilst in Glencoe over the weekend there meaning only to read a wee excerpt and two hours later, here I am closing the back cover.
This book is incredibly real, raw and intense and yet the author’s passion for a life in the mountains, along with that for his colleagues, family and friends really, really shines through. A tough read at times but one that highlights a very real and dangerous side to the hills that so many are often uncomfortable to talk about in such transparent detail.
I would be interested in other works by this author going forward now and my interest is also peaked to research other names mentioned throughout the book. A wee bonus that I’ve somehow managed to acquire a signed copy, although I did so happen to be smack bang in the middle of the star of the show when coming across it for the first time; the insatiable and stunning Glencoe.
PS: I am in love with the poem at the very end of the book. It concluded the novel perfectly.
This book is incredibly real, raw and intense and yet the author’s passion for a life in the mountains, along with that for his colleagues, family and friends really, really shines through. A tough read at times but one that highlights a very real and dangerous side to the hills that so many are often uncomfortable to talk about in such transparent detail.
I would be interested in other works by this author going forward now and my interest is also peaked to research other names mentioned throughout the book. A wee bonus that I’ve somehow managed to acquire a signed copy, although I did so happen to be smack bang in the middle of the star of the show when coming across it for the first time; the insatiable and stunning Glencoe.
PS: I am in love with the poem at the very end of the book. It concluded the novel perfectly.
Displaying 1 of 1 review