One man’s Mountains

classic mountaieering literature and a fitting tribute to one of the most
singular and admired climber that Britain has produced! This autobiography
offers a glimpse into the mind of Tom Patey, a man whose contributed greatly
to modern climbing. He was killed in May 1970, abseiling from a sea stack off
the north coast of Scotland. He was 38. People outside the climbing world knew
of him as the only man who launched himself into space during the televised
climb of the Old Man of Hoy. Inside the climbing fraternity everyone knew of
him. It was when studying medicine at Aberdeen University that Tom first
showed his talent as an extraordinary climber and started his long series of
epic first ascents. He also took part in the four-man 1956 British expedition
to climb the 28,800-foot Mustagh Tower, a mountain that many people regarded
as unclimbable; they conquered it – Tom, John Hartog, Ian McNaught-Davies and
the legendary Manchester plumber Joe Brown.