To many fans of the great outdoors, the recent news of the death of Kev Reynolds, mountain writer par excellence, is sad news indeed. I only met Kev once, more than twenty years ago now, but his photographs and writings have encouraged me -and many others, I am sure – to get out , explore and head for the mountains.
He will forever be remembered for his definitive guide ‘Walks and Climbs in the Pyrenees’ , first published in 1978- certainly the volume that first inspired me to visit this mountain range back in 2001.
I first noticed Kev’s name on Cicerone guidebooks to walks in the Home Counties back in the 1990s, and having tried some of these, it wasn’t long before I saw that as well as guides to walking in Kent and Sussex, he had written guides to many Alpine areas as well as the Himalayas. Sometimes these were the first English language guidebooks to these areas, or certainly the first to be more than travelogues.
He once described himself as ‘the man with the world’s best job’ , having managed a youth hostel in Kent before embarking on a career in journalism, guidebook writing, guiding, photography and lecturing- all based around his love of the outdoors.
Before my first visit to the Alps, I noticed that he was giving an afternoon talk on the Alps at the nearby High Elms nature centre, and sparking my interest, I took the afternoon off to go and hear him talk . I’m glad I did. He captivated his audience (mainly pensioners) with slides and stories of his many visits to the Alps, its different countries and regions. Afterwards I remember speaking to him about a forthcoming holiday in Zermatt and he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm, giving confidence to a then novice like me that there were walks there for every ability.
After that I’d frequently see his name pop up in outdoor magazines, and visits to the Pyrenees and the Ecrins National Park followed, making heavy use of his guidebooks.
One of the most memorable days he led me to was a walk he described (in a now out of print Inghams guide) known as the Pinzgauer Spaziergang, Kev called it one of the great walks of the region, and if he said that you knew it was good. In fact I’ve seen it described as ‘Austria’s best day hike’. It is certainly an amazing walk, with expansive views of the mountains from a grand height, but which you can reach by means of cable cars at each end.
I had beautiful weather walking this route in summer 2001, and took my time, including stopping near the end at an idyllic mountain inn. That in fact was my downfall, as the clouds soon came in, I missed the last cable car down ( at something like 4.45 in the afternoon) and had to walk all the way down. Which would have been ok had it not bucketed down, and the downward path been a building site for works associated with a new ski lift!
In 2004, I embarked on the Alpine Pass route, for which he wrote the definitive guide. That book was my bible for four weeks that summer, although I do remember on occasion his text somewhat underplayed what’s involved. For instance ‘an old mule path that makes a gently sloping traverse of the hillside’ I remember as three hours of never ending, if beautiful, descent!
But it’s a small criticism when you have contributed so much to so many peoples lives, witnessed by the many warm and heartfelt wishes on his book of condolence. All I can say is thank you Kev, for inspiring me and many others to experience places we would never otherwise have seen. Your guidebooks and legacy will live on.
Across the Alps to the Adriatic 