Product Description

Walking is unquestionably the best method of exploring, and it is the mountain walker for whom journeys in the Alps reveal some of the finest views, the greatest contrasts. This book then is a definitive guide to the many thousands of possible routes, with a geographical span that ranges from the Maritime Alps of southern France to the Julians of Slovenia, from Italy's Gran Paradiso to the little-known Turnitzer Alps of eastern Austria, from the ice-bound giants of the Bernese Oberland to the green rolling Kitzbuheler Alps and the bizarre towers of the Dolomites of South Tirol, showing the amazing diversity of this wonderful mountain chain. There are walks to suit every taste: gentle and undemanding, long and tough, and everything in between. Written by Britain's most respected authority on the Alps, this is a fully updated edition of this important book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17454 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 495 pages

Review
'The most comprehensive book about alpine walking in the last fifty years.'(Chris Bonington)'This is a book that needed writing, and who better to write it than that doyen of guidebook authors - Kev Reynolds. It is a hefty volume that makes no pretence of being a pocket or even a rucksack guidebook, it's a full scale Alpine bible weighing no less than two and a quarter pounds. It's a book for the long winter evenings, not to dream over but to conspire with, to plot with and to use.'(John Cleare, High)'According to my calculations, if I wanted to do everything listed in this marvellous book I would need to live to just over 400 years and remain fit to the end.'(Ernst Sondheimer, The Alpine Journal)'In his own poetic and inimitable style, [Kev Reynolds] has produced a book that condenses the vast wonderland that is the Alps, from the Mediterranean coast near Nice to the wooded hills of Vienna, into 480 pages of densely, yet eminently readable, information. ... This then, is probably the most important guide to walking abroad that has been published in Britain. It is simply stunning, and should be on the shelves of every walker, scrambler and backpacker who harbours any inclination to travel south to these, one of the finest ranges of mountains in the world.'(Cameron McNeish, TGO)'Illustrated with excellent colour photographs and sketch maps, it's definitely a book for the enthusiast.'(Walking Abroad)'Kev Reynolds' style of writing combines graphic visual descriptions with a real feeling of his love for the mountains - there is nothing dry or understated in his prose. The second feature which I found most attractive, is [the] use of quotations from earlier writers, such as Tuckett, Freshfield, Whymper, Leslie Stephen and many others. He goes further and provides reading lists at the end of each chapter and this, for me, adds perspective and a sense of the inheritance of a wonderful recreation from those who have trodden these incomparable mountains in the past.'(Ewen Moir, Austrian Alpine Club Newsletter)'Perhaps you are thinking of your first walking trip to the Alps; but where? How do you decide? Well you can't do better than start with this comprehensive guide to the whole Alpine chain. It is a soft cover update of the original 1998 hardback, which was recognised immediately as the most complete description of the Alps and the walking it offered.Kev Reynolds is a long established writer in the field with a string of guides to individual areas. It is hard to think of anyone to better his extensive knowledge of the Alpine world and clear writing style. I think even old Alpine buffs will discover a corner they were unaware of.'(Scottish Mountaineer Magazine / August 2006)'A big book in every sense, Reynolds' classic was originally published in 1998 and has been republished in soft cover, with improved mapping and a lot more colour photographs. Its format is simple but highly effective.There is little route description - books that offer that are referred to at the end of each chapter - but there is much loving details of what makes each sub-range and its region unique. The suggested tours are well-thought out, with plenty of scope for personal variations.'(Walking World Ireland / July - August 2007)

From the Publisher
The most comprehensive guide to walking in the Alps
Some fifty years ago Hubert Walker wrote a book called "Walking in the Alps" which became a classic. But times change and in any case the book has long been out of print, so Kev Reynolds, doyen of Alpine writers, has brought out a modern version. Every region of the Alps is covered in detail;walks and tours given in mouthwatering profusion. Chris Bonington agrees," The most comprehensive book about the Alps in the last fifty years,"he says. This is an essential volume for the Alpine traveller. What a present for Xmas! What a present at any time!

About the Author
A lifelong passion for the countryside in general, and mountains in particular, drives Kev's desire to share his sense of wonder and delight in the natural world through his writing, guiding, photography and lecturing. Spending several months each year among various high mountain regions researching guidebooks, makes him The Man with the World's Best Job; a title he aims to keep by remaining active for another 100 years at least. Kev has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Cicerone since the 1970s, producing walking and trekking guides to the Pyrenees, Alps and Himalaya, as well as walking guides for Kent, Sussex and the Cotswolds and he has several more books in the pipeline. A frequent contributor to outdoor magazines, he also writes and illustrates brochures for national tourist authorities and travel companies. When not away in the mountains, Kev lives with his wife in a small cottage among what he calls 'the Kentish Alps' with unrestricted walking country on the doorstep. But he also travels throughout Britain during the winter months to share his love of the places he writes about through a series of lectures. Check him out on www.kevreynolds.co.uk

Customer Reviews

Not what I had hoped for ...
I was dissapointed with this book for the amount it cost... It is hardback, but only marginally bigger than A5 and has only 16 full colour pages (each of these with 2 or more photos on). To my mind there are not enough maps and the maps that are provided I consider poor sketch maps. Place names, even whole areas mentioned in the text - even ones that are seemingly important - are not to be found on the maps which makes following things quite difficult. I was expecting either a "coffee table" book with lots of glorious photos, or a book with specific useful walking related facts, ideally both, what I feel I have got is neither. I would imagine that its the kind of book that if you have the patience to read it and the maps to cross compare what was being said with where things were on the ground you might be able to get something out of it, but to me it represents the kind of book where things will only really fall into place once you've been to the Alps many times and start to recognise what's being written about first hand - by which time the book is to a certain extent superfluous.
I am hoping that this may be a reflection of the fact that I am currently looking at one specific area and maybe the book is a bit lacking for this area, but for someone who is usually enthrawled by anything about the mountains I find the writing extremely difficult and, to be honest sheer hard work. Not quite bad enough to send back, but verging on it.

James Knight

The Ultimate Alpine Planner
This is the Alpine walker's bible. A labour of love by a man who obviously knows his Alps and knows his onions too.

Every region and every valley is covered. (So it will last you a lifetime..)

You need to read it with a map alongside and (like all good things) it may take a little effort before everything falls into place, but good advice is assured. Get to it !

Trekking anywhere in the Alps
This is a beautifully presented book with 500 pages full of ideas and superb photos for wonderful Alpine walks in 6 countries. These outlines of treks throughout the Alps are exactly what you need for an overview of which treks where may fit your next trip. Mostly based on treks with accomadation with bed and breakfast, evening meal (demi pension in France) and picnic sandwiches for the next days walking mean you do not have to carry a tent or take a warm sleeping bag or food or stove. The author has very good tested suggestions throughout the Alps. After deciding where to go you just buy the listed detailed guide with each days walking, accomadation phone numbers, and local transport, order maps from the Map Shop, buy a cheap air ticket. Do some practice walks and map reading here over a few weekends with suitable boots you will be wearing, 1000 mile socks, light waterproofs, not too big backpack, sunglasses, (try Milletts?). Have some Great Alpine walking.