After much debate, we decided on Bidean nam Bian as the initial publication. It was local to us and it was as complex and interesting a mountain as could be found anywhere in the highlands. The book was to be a pocket field guide, roughly A5 in format and to be made in a classic ‘old school’ manner with black and white photographs, hand drawn illustrations and meticulously hand drawn maps.
As Glen Coe is an area steeped in mountaineering history we felt that a 1950’s aesthetic would suit the project very well. Although the popular walks on major footpaths are included, we have also included several intriguing and pathless routes of my own to showcase the sheer variety of superb mountain walks to be found on Bidean nam Bian.

Many of these routes were on the outlying peaks which make up the Bidean massif such as Aonach Dubh, An-t Sron, Gearr Aonach and Beinn Fhada. These summits are much less frequented than Bidean nam Bian but are offer some superb mountain walks.

We wanted to encourage our readers to explore the mountain hollows and hidden corners, to travel into the mountain rather than to head straight to its upper most summit cairn. As Nan Shepherd eloquently puts it in her book ‘The Living Mountain’,
“To aim for the highest point is not the only way to climb a mountain.”