The Alps in Obergurgl

Dear Readers, it will soon be time for me to head off into the Alps for our annual Austrian trip to Obergurgl, and so I am getting into the mood by remembering some of my favourite mountain-themed books.

First up is Robert Seethaler’s ‘A Whole Life‘, set in the Austrian Tyrol. It tells the story of Andreas, who only leaves the valley once, to fight in the Second World War, and who returns to find his isolated village being transformed by tourism  and the burgeoning ski industry. It reminds me of how much even Obergurgl has changed in the thirty years since I first visited, but it also shows how impoverished people were, for all that they were living in such a beautiful place. Highly recommended.

Then there’s Nan Shepherd’s ‘The Living Mountain‘, about the Cairngorms in Scotland. This is a meditation on the nature of the mountain and its rocks, rivers and creatures. It was written during the Second World War, but wasn’t published for 30 years. It’s a book that helps you to both feel and see the landscape, and I always want to jump onto a train north when I’ve read it.

Robert Macfarlane’s ‘Mountains of the Mind‘ is a history of mountains and mountaineering – I didn’t find it as compelling as his more recent work, Underland, where he explores various underground sites (and helped to induce secondary claustrophobia in this reader at least) but it’s still an interesting book, well worth a look.

Somebody recently reminded me about Peter Mathiesson’s ‘The Snow Leopard‘ – whilst this isn’t primarily about the Himalayas they are present in every sentence, a kind of main character in all but  name. This is a brilliant book about what we search for, and what we find, and how these things might not be the same.

And for an absolute page-turner, there’s ‘Touching the Void‘ by Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. Two friends go on an expedition to the Andes, and after an accident, one of them is given up for lost. But is he? A true-life story that will keep you up late into the night.

Now, I know that I’ve missed a shedload of excellent books, so what are your favourites? Let me know, Readers! I’m in the mood for a bit of mountain literature.