It is with great sadness that I write to report the death of one of BAEML’s* first ever Honorary Members, Kev Reynolds, on Friday 10th December. It was my privilege as BAEML President back in the late 90s and early 2000s to propose Kev’s Honorary membership in recognition of his huge contribution to the guide books that bear his authorship, published almost exclusively by Cicerone.
Kev has always been a mountain-man. He came to my notice when I was looking into walking and scrambling in and around the Pyrenees. If you are an aficionado of this range I’d be really surprised if you didn’t have one of his guides on your guidebook shelf. Since those days he has extended his guide book range to include the Alps, and one of his major works was a Cicerone guide for the Tour de Mont Blanc. He loved all mountains but he really did have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Alps. His guide to the Alps must be one of the most read walking guides for this range.
He was always a man of the people and this stems from his days as warden for a Kent YHA long since sold off. He just loved walking and meeting folk and this really was his, and his wife Min’s, ideal job. Since the rationalisation of YHAs led to the demise of such gems as the YHA in Crockham Hill, he focused his attention on guidebook writing and this was his main preoccupation in his later days.
But European mountains weren’t the only ones to receive his attention. He also knew the Himalayas intimately and, before my trip in 2019, I turned to Kev for advice on where to go and who to use. His advice was spot on as you’d expect and this led to one of the best mountain treks I’ve ever done. Arguably though it was his time in this range that could well have given him the tuberculosis that was to come to plague his later years. Despite his illness and the restrictions having such a respiratory disease imposed on him in Covid times, he maintained his positive outlook on life right up to the end. He wrote reflective poems and made time for visitors, me included, and his cheerful disposition was inspirational.
The world of mountaineering has lost one of its best proponents. He walked the earth gently, with compassion, humility and kindness. Walk in peace, Kev.
Photo of Kev (left) at the summit of Schiehallion in November 2000 with Phil Berry (then Treasurer) and Lochan the dog. Kev was conferred his Honorary Membership of the association at the November 2000 AGM.
*BAEML was the predecessor to BAIML, the E being European rather than International. It came about through the hard work of an earlier Secretary to MTUK, Iain Peter, who mapped the then various components of the UK’s ML programmes on to the scheme necessary to become an Accompagnateur in France. This received European Union assent and allowed the profession of the European Mountain Leader to come into being.
