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Walking in the Alps

A comprehensive guide to walking and trekking throughout the Alps

ISBN

9781852844769

Availability

Published

1 Nov 2005

Reprinted

6 Dec 2021

Edition

Second

Pages

512

Size

23.40 x 15.60 x 2.90cm

Weight

1120g

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An outstanding and comprehensive book exploring the walking and trekking possibilities in every Alpine region. Many thousands of possible routes are suggested, from the Maritime Alps of southern France throughout the range to the Julian Alps of Slovenia. Walks vary from undemanding to long and tough, and everything in between.

ISBN

9781852844769

Availability

Published

1 Nov 2005

Reprinted

6 Dec 2021

Edition

Second

Pages

512

Size

23.40 x 15.60 x 2.90cm

Weight

1120g

Overview

The second edition of this classic guidebook by Kev Reynolds on walking and trekking in the Alps. This book is a definitive guide to the many thousands of possible routes, with a geographical span that ranges from the Maritime Alps of southern France to the Julians of Slovenia, from Italy's Gran Paradiso to the little-known Türnitzer Alps of eastern Austria, and from the ice-bound giants of the Bernese Oberland to the green rolling Kitzbüheler Alps and the bizarre towers of the Dolomites of South Tirol, showing the amazing diversity of this wonderful mountain chain. There are walks to suit every taste: gentle and undemanding, long and tough, and everything in between. Written by Britain's most respected authority on the Alps, this is a fully updated edition of this important book.

Table of Contents

1: THE MARITIME ALPS
Hut to Hut in the Alpes Maritime
Summary

2: DAUPHINÉ
Queyras
Tour du Queyras
Massif des Écrins
Tour de l’Oisans
Vercors
Summary

3: THE GRAIAN ALPS
The Western Graians
Tour du Mont Pourri
Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise
Tour of the Vanoise
The Eastern Graians
Grande Traversata del Gran Paradiso
Alta Via della Valle d’Aosta No 2
A Traverse of the Graian Alps
Summary

4: THE MONT BLANC RANGE
Tour du Mont Blanc
Chablais, Faucigny & Dents du Midi
Summary

5: THE PENNINE ALPS
Tour des Combin
The Walker’s Haute Route
The Eastward Traverse of the Italian Valleys
Summary

6: THE BERNESE ALPS
The Northern Valleys
Multi-day Circuit of the Lütschental and Lauterbrunnental
Tour Wildstrubel
The Southern Flank
Bernese Alps Glacier Tour
Oberland Passes
Summary

7: THE CENTRAL SWISS ALPS
The Eastern Bernese Alps
Tour of the Göschenertal
The Western Uri Alps
Uri-Rotstock Circuit
The Eastern Uri Alps & Glarner Alps
A Tour of the Hürital & Bisistal
Summary

8: THE LEPONTINE ALPS
A Tour of Ticino
Summary

9: THE BERNINA ALPS
The Bregaglia Alps
The Bregaglia Circuit
Sentiero Roma
The Bernina Massif
The Engadine Valley
Summary

10: ADAMELLO-PRESANELLA-BRENTA
Adamello-Presanella
An Adamello Circuit
The Brenta Dolomites
A Tour of the Central Brenta
Vie Ferratae
Summary

11: THE ORTLER ALPS
A Tour of the Ortler Alps
Summary

12: THE SILVRETTA ALPS
The Verwall Group
The Rätikon Alps
Rätikon Höhenweg Nord
The Silvretta Alps
Tour of the Southern Silvretta
The Silvretta Traverse
Summary

13: THE ÖTZTAL ALPS
Across the Central Ötztal Alps
Hut to Hut in the Ventertal
Gurglertal-Ventertal Hut Tour
Two-Day Cross-Border Tour
Across the Alpi Venoste
Summary

14: THE STUBAI ALPS
The Stubai High Route
Summary

15: THE ZILLERTAL ALPS
Zillertal Hut Tour
Summary

16: THE EASTERN AUSTRIAN ALPS
The Hohe Tauern
The Venediger Höhenweg
A Tour of the Glockner & Schober Groups
The Niedere Tauern
Hut to Hut in the Schladminger Tauern
The Gailtal & Carnic Alps
Summary

17: THE NORTHERN LIMESTONE ALPS
Allgäuer Alps
Lechtal Alps
A Lechtal High Route
Wettersteingebirge & Mieminger Kette
Karwendelgebirge
Hut to Hut Across the Karwendelgebirge
Rofangebirge (Brandenberger Alps)
Kaisergebirge
Berchtesgadener Alps
Tennengebirge
Dachsteingebirge
Tour of the Gosaukamm
A Dachstein Circuit
Totes Gebirge
Summary

18: THE DOLOMITES
Sassolungo & Puez-Odle Groups
Catinaccio & Latemar
Sella Group
Marmolada Group
Pale di San Martino
Civetta & Pelmo
Sorapis & Marmarole
Monte Cristallo
Dolomiti di Sesto
High Level Routes
Alta Via 1
Alta Via 2
Alta Via 4
Summary

19: THE JULIAN ALPS
The Julian Alps of Slovenia
The Julian Alps of Italy
Summary

Updates

March 2017

Route Updates

Page 286:

Adamello Circuit (with grateful thanks to reader, David Lloyd for the following information)

Please note that Passo del Maroccaro is now closed due to erosion on the Passo Tonale side above the Presena Glacier. With the retreat of the glacier due to a warming climate the upper sections of the path have become unstable and there have been reports of rock falls and landslides. An alternative path has now been opened further East, which presents a deviation in the route described in the book.

The route is not clearly indicated and from the Mandrone Hut it would be easy to make the mistake of heading due north to Passo del Maroccaro instead of taking a north-easterly heading to Passo Paradiso which is now the new access point to and from the Presena glacier. The overall distance is in my opinion no greater, but if a mistake was made forcing the walker to retreat it could be costly in terms of time.

September 2015

Please note that due to a massive rockfall from Piz Cengalo, the route connecting Capanna Sasc Fura with the Sciora Hut via Colle Vial – as outlined on pp255/256 – has been closed. Further rockfalls are expected.

July 2013

Readers planning to walk the Adamello Circuit described on pp286-290 are advised that Passo di Lago Scuro (page 286) is now too dangerous to attempt (the wardens at the Bedole and Mandrone refuges issue a dire warning). Use the alternative crossing via Passo del Maroccaro instead - this is also described.

With thanks to reader Geoff Whitby for this information.
Kev Reynolds

Reviews

So helpful in deciding where to head next

I have Walking in the Alps & Trekking in the Alps. I'm a bit of Cicerone Guidebook Junkie, but I find them so helpful in deciding where to head next.

LuAnne, by email

'A big book in every sense, Reynolds' classic was originally published in 1998 and has been republished in soft cover, with improved mapping and a lot more colour photographs. Its format is simple but highly effective.

There is little route description - books that offer that are referred to at the end of each chapter - but there is much loving details of what makes each sub-range and its region unique. The suggested tours are well-thought out, with plenty of scope for personal variations.'

(Walking World Ireland / July - August 2007)

'Perhaps you are thinking of your first walking trip to the Alps; but where? How do you decide? Well you can't do better than start with this comprehensive guide to the whole Alpine chain. It is a soft cover update of the original 1998 hardback, which was recognised immediately as the most complete description of the Alps and the walking it offered.

Kev Reynolds is a long established writer in the field with a string of guides to individual areas. It is hard to think of anyone to better his extensive knowledge of the Alpine world and clear writing style. I think even old Alpine buffs will discover a corner they were unaware of.'

(Scottish Mountaineer Magazine / August 2006)

‘The most comprehensive book about alpine walking in the last fifty years.’

(Chris Bonington)

‘This is a book that needed writing, and who better to write it than that doyen of guidebook authors – Kev Reynolds. It is a hefty volume that makes no pretence of being a pocket or even a rucksack guidebook, it’s a full scale Alpine bible weighing no less than two and a quarter pounds. It’s a book for the long winter evenings, not to dream over but to conspire with, to plot with and to use.’

(John Cleare, High)

‘According to my calculations, if I wanted to do everything listed in this marvellous book I would need to live to just over 400 years and remain fit to the end.’

(Ernst Sondheimer, The Alpine Journal)

‘In his own poetic and inimitable style, [Kev Reynolds] has produced a book that condenses the vast wonderland that is the Alps, from the Mediterranean coast near Nice to the wooded hills of Vienna, into 480 pages of densely, yet eminently readable, information. … This then, is probably the most important guide to walking abroad that has been published in Britain. It is simply stunning, and should be on the shelves of every walker, scrambler and backpacker who harbours any inclination to travel south to these, one of the finest ranges of mountains in the world.’

(Cameron McNeish, TGO)

‘Illustrated with excellent colour photographs and sketch maps, it’s definitely a book for the enthusiast.’

(Walking Abroad)

‘Kev Reynolds’ style of writing combines graphic visual descriptions with a real feeling of his love for the mountains – there is nothing dry or understated in his prose. The second feature which I found most attractive, is [the] use of quotations from earlier writers, such as Tuckett, Freshfield, Whymper, Leslie Stephen and many others. He goes further and provides reading lists at the end of each chapter and this, for me, adds perspective and a sense of the inheritance of a wonderful recreation from those who have trodden these incomparable mountains in the past.’

(Ewen Moir, Austrian Alpine Club Newsletter)

'I was impressed by the many good-quality colour photos throughout the whole book. They are the type walkers like - taken on the route, whether on a valley path or crossing a high pass, with a dramatic background scenery.'

(Irish Mountain Log)

By Kev Reynolds

Kev Reynolds was a freelance writer, photojournalist and lecturer. A prolific compiler of guidebooks, his first title for Cicerone Press (Walks & Climbs in the Pyrenees) appeared in 1978; he later produced many more titles for the same publisher. A member of the Outdoor Writers' Guild, the Alpine Club and Austrian Alpine Club, his passion for mountains and the countryside inspired a lifetime's activity, and he regularly travelled throughout Britain to share that enthusiasm through his lectures. Sadly, Kev passed away in 2021. He will be remembered fondly by all who knew him and by many more he inspired through his writing and talks.

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