Mountain Climbing, Rock climbing, Mountaineering, Collie, Norman, 1859-1942, J. Norman, Rocky Mountains, Canadian (B.C. and Alta.) 

This is a respectful biography of one of England's greatest mountaineers. He was one of the early explorers of the Canadian Rockies with exploits including first ascents Victoria, Lefroy, Athabasca and Forbes among many others. Collie participated in one of the first major expedititions to the Himalaya. The 1895 attempt on Nanga Parbat was audacious, and in retrospect ill-advised as Collie lost one of his closest friends - the influential Alpinist, A.F. Mummery. This adventure discovered the unique challenges of extreme high-altitude climbing and the extraordinary scale of Himilayan climbing, that continued to challenge the much better equipped expeditions of later years. In fact, it is astonishing what Collie and his companions were able to accomplish with what were, in hindsight, such modest foreknowledge of and preparation for the challenges. Collie was also a noted scientist, academic and volunteer. But it is his time in the mountains, including his deep affection for the Isle of Skye that dominate this book and his legacy.
In his farewell to the Rockies, Collie wrote:
...no longer should we sit over the campfires in our tent and listen to the stories (of) bear hunts, prospectors, hunters, and the endless other subjects that are of interest to the dwellers in the wilds. No longer should we laugh over the small jokes and the happenings that go to make up life in camp; we were soon to be engulfed by the great whirlpool of everyday life where the dollar counts for more than the man... . Those that never tasted the freedom of camp life amongst the great mountains can hardly understand the immense peacefulness that it all means. ...(T)he wanderer amongst the great mountains can sleep peacefully and dream of the snows and mighty woods, of rushing rivers, and the clear lakes reflecting the white clouds, and the rock peaks, and can feel with more certainty than most that "all's well with the world."