The more I walk the hills, the more I become aware that I am hearing echoes which resonate with other echoes, footfalls on footfalls. When you make your footfalls on the mountains, you are not simply experiencing beauty as in a museum or gallery. With your eyes and ears you can see and hear what has gone before you, appropriate it and immeasurably enrich your experience.

This is the story of the adventures of Stobcross Gentlemen’s Climbing Club. Against all the odds thrown up by the Scottish weather, faulty map reading and the symptoms of physical decline, they strove to maintain the fine traditions of Scottish mountaineering. They battled through their Munros and Corbetts whilst valiantly trying to celebrate Burns’ Night, Guy Fawkes Night and Hogmanay in a ritual calendar of the Scottish Hills.

Alongside these adventures are explorations of a different kind – ones into the history of the bothies and the mountains that make up the present-day landscape, as well as the stories of those who have vacated the bens and glens within living memory. Based on Ian Mitchell’s

research and experiences, Mountain Footfalls adds a new dimension to hillwalkers’ appreciation and enjoyment of the Scottish Highlands.