The Sunlit Sumit - W H Murray Biography

'Find beauty; be still' is one of my favourite quotes. It is by W H Murray. A biography about his life and journey has been published in 2013 the centenary of his birth. The Sunlit Summit is by Robin Lloyd-Jones with a forward by Robert MacFarlane (Mountains of the Mind, Wild Places)


On either side of the Second World War, W H (William Hutchison) Murray (1913 - 1996) was one of Scotland's most distinguished climbers. During the war, while on active service in North Africa in 1942, he was taken prisoner and it was during his time as prisoner of war, he wrote his first classic book, Mountaineering in Scotland. It was written in secret on rough toilet paper from memory. It was found, confiscated and destroyed so Murray rewrote it. The rewritten version was published in 1947 and followed by Undiscovered Scotland.

2013 is also the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest which Murray made a significant contribution to. He was part of the 1951 team under Eric Shipton - the Everest Reconnaissance Expedition.

The 1951 Everest Reconnaissance, from left, Eric Shipton, Bill Murray, Tom Bourdillon, Earle Riddiford, Mike Ward, seated, and Edmund Hillary, seated

 In his later years he became a successful novelist and pioneer conservationist.

'Looking back over a wide landscape, cloud shadows racing over the mountains, sun, wind. I know I have known beauty.'

Happy New Year

Do you have any intentions for 2013?  W. H. Murray, the Scottish mountaineer and writer, once said  'Find beauty; be still.' This is a wonderful piece of advice and intention to hold at the start of a new year .

From my walking in the mountains I know that there is beauty to be found there. There is obvious beauty in the overview - the grand panorama from a summit or a distant view of a chain of mountains. Less obvious is the beauty to be found in the detail -  a mountain flower, an animal print in the snow.

Beauty in the detail....

As Colin Mortlock, the adventurer, outdoor education pioneer and writer says in 'The Spirit of Adventure', beauty can be found all around us and within us. We only have to look closer......

'Beauty in one's surroundings - from micro to macro,
Beauty in terms of human contact and relationships,
Beauty in terms of one's thoughts and actions.'

Good luck in your search for beauty during 2013.