A childhood apprenticeship on the Arran hills, solo crossings of the Cairngorms, guideless climbing with her husband Michael Roberts in the Vanoise, Maurienne and Gran Paradiso, and a close partnership with the Courmayeur guide Othon Bron on classic climbs from Zermatt and Chamonix.

These elements are brought to life with a sense of gaiety and excitement and enjoyment of the whole Alpine experience: people in the valleys as well as climbers on the heights, successes and failures on unfamiliar peaks, laughter and friendship.

Pre-war Alpinism is captured in what has become accepted as a classic of mountaineering literature.