Listen to John McLellan talking about his new novel, Unconformity. In his second novel, John McLellan continues his love affair with the wild landscape of the Highlands. A geologist at heart, John's books combine his deep understanding of the bones beneath the landscape with his sensitivity to its influence on the human heart. Get your copy HERE ‘Unconformity’ is a standalone novel, but readers of his debut novel ‘The Faultline’ will also enjoy some continuation of the characters and their journey. Set over four summers, initially in The Alps and then across the North West Highlands, we see the inner turmoil of the characters unfold. Life will change for some of them, as they head off on a different and unprecedented path. The novel is about friendships, affection and love, with a continual background of mountains and rocks.  We discover the significance of a geological unconformity, not just as an important historical discovery but also as a metaphor for understanding a life.  The characters weave their way through relationships as the story moves from the glacial terrain of Chamonix into the spectacular and ancient scenery of Loch Eriboll, Assynt and Torridon. Loch Eriboll Read my comic novel, Sky Dance, set against the challenges facing the battle for rewilding in the Highlands of Scotland. Get your copy HERE

Harold Raeburn is acknowledged as the father of Scottish mountaineering. At the dawn of the twentieth century he was pushing the boundaries of what was possible on the ice wreathed cliffs of the Scottish mountains and later in the Himalayas. Listen to author, Peter Biggar, talk about his new book, Harold Raeburn- The Steps of a Giant and his quest to chronicle the life and achievements of this enigmatic figure whose name will be written forever on the face of Scottish climbing. Raeburn was not a climber who sought to publicise his achievements and only wrote about them in very modest terms. For this reason, as Peter explains in the interview, researching the book was often difficult and the author frequently had to rely on the accounts of Raeburn's contemporary's. Peter Biggar author Harold Raeburn As Scottish Mountaineering Press, the book's publishers, explains the background to the book. In feats of extraordinary vitality, he made winter ascents of Tower Ridge, North-East Buttress and Crowberry Gully in four days, cycling from Fort William to Glencoe in between. His breath taking ascent of Green Gully, cutting steps up near-vertical ice with a single axe, was doubtless the hardest ice climb anywhere at the time and was unsurpassed in difficulty in Scotland for nearly three decades. But perhaps Raeburn’s finest achievement was the first winter ascent in 1920 of Observatory Ridge, which remains one of Ben Nevis’s longest and most serious winter climbs. These routes, amongst so many others, were visionary, while beyond Scotland, he pioneered climbs in the Alps, Norway and the Caucasus, attempted Kangchenjunga and was Climbing Leader on the calamitous 1921 British Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition. Tragically, the latter was to be his undoing, precipitating a ‘melancholia’ that had perhaps, to some degree, dogged him all his life. With extracts from Raeburn’s own elegant writings and accounts from his friends and climbing companions, The Steps of a Giant is an intimate portrait of a master craftsman, chronicling his outstanding mountaineering record while digging beneath the surface of his modest reserve to reveal a complex, driven character upon whose shoulders subsequent generations of climbing luminaries stand. SMP This is an important book and one which rightfully holds its place in the history of Scottish Mountaineering. John D Burns

Listen to Alan Hepburn talking about Scotland's rewilding journey. Alan is a life-long environmentalist, who fought for a moratorium on whale hunting in the early eighties and today faces urgent challenges to reverse biodiversity decline and combat climate change. A teacher and a trustee of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, Scotland's rewilding charity, he works to ensure that young people have their voice heard when discussing the future of the natural environment in Scotland. SCOTLAND: The Big Picture has just released an exciting new film Why Not Scotland. The film asks an important question about the future of Scotland: - Across mainland Europe, nature is making a dramatic recovery. Wildlife is returning, forests are expanding, rivers are being set free and wetlands restored. As nature bounces back, people are returning too, finding new economic opportunities and enjoying the many benefits of a revitalised landscape. https://youtu.be/3qogJE4sqtw So, if rewilding can happen in Italy, Germany, Poland and Norway, could Scotland be next? As this new film launches I thought it would be good to ask Alan where he thinks we are in this journey. Alan Hepburn John D. Burns - If you walk in the hills of Scotland, as I do, you'll know that there are vast swathes of landscape laid waste as Driven Grouse moors or or kept as barren sporting estates for the sport of rich men who enjoy stalking deer. Sometimes I find myself losing heart when I think about the sheer scale of the task involved in re-introducing the wild into this enormous landscape. It is easy to forget what has been achieved and to overlook the big plans for Scotland's future that groups like SCOTLAND: The Big Picture are campaigning for. In all this destruction I sometimes have to make myself remember that things are changing. There are beaver living in the rivers of Scotland, something that has not happened for over three hundred years. You can go to the Island of Mull and see the great outstretched wings of a Sea Eagle sweeping across the Sound of Mull. All this could support a thriving economy based on sustainable projects that could revitalise many parts of the Highlands. WHY NOT SCOTLAND This is my novel, Sky Dance, that raises many of the issues Alan and I spoke about. Get your copy here Get your copy of this fascinating and important book here

Kinder Scout is an iconic hill in Derbyshire. Love it or loath it you can't ignore it. Listen to Sarah Lister talking about her new book on 15 best walks on Kinder.

Anna Danby talks about the huge range of activities and events available at Fort William Mountain Festival

Listen to heather Dawe talking about her new book of short stories, Dreams of Lost Buttresses.

Have you ever been on a trek and looked at your meal of highly processed dehydrated food and thought, "Is there a way I can eat better than this?" Most of us wouldn't consider eating the type of food we find in our rucksacks on a long hike when we were at home. When hiking we sacrifice taste and freshness for light weight convenience. In his new book, Cook Out, chef and hiker, Harrison Ward, proves that you can eat well in the hills. For Harrison Ward, otherwise known as Fell Foodie, the mountains are his solace, his gym and his kitchen. Harrison Ward Although a self-taught cook, Harrison’s journey to leading a life and career as an outdoor cook, hiker and mental health speaker only began in 2016 when he reached a point where he knew he needed to turn his life around. Harrison began suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts during puberty and discovered alcohol, whilst working in multiple roles in the hospitality trade, as a coping mechanism. A move to York followed for a stint at university but Harrison soon found himself back in the pub trade and subsequently ballooning in weight, drinking up to 20 pints a day and taking up smoking full time as he battled his mental illness. "I saw alcohol as an additional tool to silence my thoughts, but it ended up becoming a bit more of a poison,” says Harrison. "Things all came to a head in 2016, when my relationship at the time broke down. I vowed to get sober, remove alcohol from my life, stop smoking and really try and turn things around. So I came back to my home in Cumbria and was completely open with my story to friends and family and was really welcomed with a huge show of support.” He filled the void left by alcohol with the combination of hiking and cooking, gradually tackling more and more of the Lake District fells. “I'm completely self-taught but I have always loved cooking from a very young age. I used to cook with my grandmother and from the age of 10 I’ve studied cookbooks and cooking shows quite religiously.” Harrison began sharing his culinary adventures via social media in 2017 and soon captured people’s imaginations, using a stove and simple ingredients to create hearty but delicious meals. After being sober for two years in 2018, Harrison shared the full background to his story with his followers, including how he had lived with mental health issues and struggled with alcohol. "The outpouring of support I received was huge and I found it really empowering and I uncovered lots of other stories of people who have found the outdoors to try and recover." follow Harrison https://youtu.be/bKZSRtAx74w?si=8IO-vHqHFvN3kJ71

Amazing tales of adventure from sailor and explorer Amelia dalton.

In this podcast John D. Burns talks to mountaineer and producer / director, Joe French, about his important new book, Out of Mind. Joe writes as both victim and observer of trauma, providing an acutely immediate account of the events he has experienced, with a fragile honesty. Trauma made more bearable by meditation and the mindfulness of barefoot running: Joe’s spiritual and physical connection to nature and the ground beneath his feet. Out of Mind documents four separate traumatic experiences: The first free ascent of Don’t Die of Ignorance, Ben Nevis, in 2008; the 2014 avalanche at Everest Base Camp; the 2015 Nepal earthquake; and threading through all of these: Joe’s wife Julie’s battle with cancer. It describes how Joe harnesses mindfulness and barefoot running to quieten the noise of those compound traumas. In his own words, it is a book about many things: the healing power of nature, spirituality, consciousness and death, our connection to the Earth and feeling grounded. Joe French “A deep, thunderous roar began to echo all around. It was impossible to locate, but it was growing louder, as if the mountains were collapsing above me…I heard myself cry out as Base Camp began disappearing under a dark shroud, expanding ever upwards and outwards. Within seconds the fierce shockwave had hit me and I was blown off my feet. As I crouched over my camera, something screamed past my head, and I braced myself for impact.” Photo: Andrew Muggleton “On a calm day, the surface of the lochan would capture and amplify silence. The surrounding trees would hold it there in place. Within this space, waves of sound could unwind and unravel into distinct layers, separating the hum of nature from the distant rumble of civilisation, broken only by the squawk of a jay or the splash-landing of a duck. It was easy to miss these subtleties when lost in my thoughts. Tuning in to this pristine now was the truest way to draw me out of the horrific then.”

Do we take our hills for granted? Do we ever stop to think about the toll our boots and wheels are taking on the fragile mountain environment. Listen to Stuart Younie, CEO Mountaineering Scotland talking about the crucial role Mountaineering Scotland is playing in a new project, It's Up to US , Which aims to raise awareness of the need to save our upland paths and pull together funding to enable work to begin on the most sensitive areas. An Teallach An Teallach is an iconic mountain. Seen from a distance it looks magnificent. But take a closer look. The damage from hundreds of feet is plain to see. Work is already starting to restore the path network. Click here to donate to It's Up to Us and help preserves the infrastructure of our hills. https://youtu.be/lJfXcT_6dxk?si=PJa_2o_WeCg-3aB1 Stuart Younie