Читать книгу Scotland's Best Small Mountains. 40 of the best small mountains in Scotland under 3000ft онлайн

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But neither is this another guide to the Corbetts (2500ft-plus peaks) or the Grahams (2000ft-plus) in Scotland – it is a guide that shuns height altogether as a factor for climbing a mountain. People who climb mountains to tick them off a list, and then do not return, never find out more about the mountain than how to reach its summit. This guide sets out to convey some of the character of the mountain, its history, who lived there and why they left, the wildlife, the flora and the geology. It encourages you to climb a mountain many times, in different seasons, until you know it as you would an old friend.

There is, obviously, a question mark over what a mountain actually is. In England and Wales, a mountain is defined as a landmass over 600m. This fits with other definitions that use 2000ft (610m) as their benchmark. In Scotland, however, there is no such definition and, in keeping with the spirit in which this book is written, no attempt is made to offer one, or to exclude peaks that fall below 2000ft. Few who have gone up the 528m of Ben Hiant from sea level could say it was any less of a climb than the 1245m of the mighty Cairn Gorm, which most climb from a starting point of 625m.