DAVID 'HEAVY' WHALLEY: A SCOTTISH MOUNTAIN LEGEND

THERE'S an old wisdom that says you should never meet your heroes, and while that may hold true in many cases it certainly didn't apply to David 'Heavy' Whalley.

Regarded as a legend in mountaineering circles and beyond, the man who gave 37 years of his life to mountain rescue was a true one-off, an inspirational figure always willing to share his time and experience chatting about the outdoors.

The esteem in which he was held by so many is evident in a timely publication about his extraordinary life and love of the hills, A Heavy Affair with the Mountains. The book had been many years in the making and his friends Bob Sharp and Gerry McPartlin have done a fine job in putting it together, collating Heavy’s writings and perfectly capturing his unique story-telling style and delivery.

Heavy passed away last March at the age of 72 from non-alcoholic liver disease, but he was delighted to see and hold a copy of his life's work in print before he died.

It seems remarkable now that this giant of mountain rescue had to fight tooth and nail to be allowed to join the team during his RAF days as he was regarded as too small and slight for the task, hence the ironic nickname Heavy.

The RAF teams were established to primarily deal with aircraft crashes – safety cover, body recovery and crash site security – but they often worked with the civilian teams, adding their expertise and personnel when required.

A lifetime in mountain rescue will inevitably take its toll and Heavy's blogs became a catharsis for the many tragedies and horrors he and his teams encountered over the years. His honesty, humanity and humility in recounting these events are striking and the chapter on the Lockerbie atrocity – where he and his team were among the first responders – is particularly moving. The aftermath and the battles with PTSD that followed are a reminder that no one could ever be expected to come to terms with the vision of hell they witnessed. The mountains also provided a safe space for Heavy and there many uplifting stories as well as tales of long-distance multi-day treks across the country in the worst of weathers and climbs all over the world including a leading role in a successful summiting of Everest. But Scotland was always his first love. He completed the Munros seven times and in his later days added the Corbetts to that list. There's even a chapter devoted to his beloved dog Teallach.

Everyone who knew or met Heavy has their own tales to tell. He was very supportive of my mountain writing and would often get in contact to chat about the words I had just posted. Sometimes he would suggest a subject matter for a blog, especially in winter when he wanted to get a safety message across as widely as possible.

On one occasion I had written about the story behind the memorial for a teenager who was lost in the mountains above Loch Cluanie in 1960 and mentioned that the small bronze plaque on the granite boulder was looking rather the worse for wear. A couple of days later, Heavy got in touch to tell me he had travelled up to Loch Shiel and cleaned and polished the plaque. It seemed above and beyond, but I shouldn't really have been surprised. That was Heavy, the humanity of the man once again shining through.

The Scottish mountains are littered with aircraft wreckage and he would regularly visit those sites, tending the memorials and tidying the surrounds. He would also lead or accompany relatives and friends of those who had perished in the crashes to those remote places to pay their respects.

Walking with him was always an experience. During an appearance at the Moray Walking Festival, I was surprised to see him in the audience. I was even more surprised to find that he was the festival guide for our midnight walk up Ben Rinnes.

It was a wild night: the hoped-for sunrise never appeared and the cloud and drizzle kept views of any kind to a minimum, but all I could hear above the howling wind was Heavy's voice, chatting, laughing and passing out advice to all the participants all the way up and all the way down.

The last time I saw him was a couple of years ago when he was guest speaker for the Grampian Club annual dinner. I had heard him talk quite a few times and while his message and knowledge was second to none, he could come across as slightly disorganised as his infectious enthusiasm for the mountains overtook the narrative and lead him way off topic. Not this time – he was superb. The audience was captivated as told his extraordinary, yet often under-exaggerated, life story. Everything was related in typical down-to-earth fashion, no need to try to over-dramatise, the talk all the more effective for that. It was obvious that every incident he had attended was personal and had left its mark on him. When we chatted before the event it was apparent he was struggling with his voice and later he told us he was having some other health issues, but we never expected things would go downhill quite as fast as they did.

There are many fine mountain books around at the moment but this is a must-read for anyone who loves the high places. And if you do need any further persuading, all proceeds from the book are being donated to Scottish Mountain Rescue, in accordance with Heavy's wishes. A true man of the mountains to the end.

David 'Heavy' Whalley BEM MBE – a Scottish mountaineering legend, an exceptional human being and a much-missed friend.

* A Heavy Affair with the Mountains is available online for £21.50 plus p&p at http://www.Lulu.com (just go to Bookstore at top right of menu).