The Snows of Yesteryear

Description

Published by Holt Rinehart and Winston, Toronto, 1973, 1st Canadian Edition, D/w, Fine.    Dr. William Taylor, a Scottish born climber who settled in Edmonton and became Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, here produced the first biography of Professor John Norman Collie (1859-1942).  J. Norman Collie, as he was best known, was an English polymath of the late Victorian era, being scientist, mountaineer, photographer, author, explorer, art collector and much more.  He climbed widely in the major ranges of the world over a 25 year period, from the UK to the European Alps with William Cecil Slingsby, Geoffrey Hastings and Alfred F Mummery.  Further exploits included the first Himalayan Expedition to attempt an 8,000 metre peak, Nanga Parbat, in 1895, on which Mummery lost his life, the Lofoten Islands and over twenty first ascents in the Canadian Rockies.  He produced numerous articles and two very well regarded and collectable climbing books, Climbing on the Himalaya and Other Mountain Ranges (1902) and, with Hugh Stutfield, Climbs and Exploration in the Canadian Rockies (1903).  In the UK, he is best remembered for the first ascent and first winter ascent of Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis, for his pioneering climbs on the Cuillin of Skye, and for his climbing in the Lake District.