THE CUILLIN: Great Mountain Ridge of Skye

CuillinGordon Stainforth’s third book (published in 1994) focused on what many climbers and walkers regard as Britain’s finest chain of mountains. Using over 120 full colour plates and accompanying text Gordon considered the special qualities that make the Cuillin unique; mountains rising sheer from the sea, a magical light, rapidly changing weather conditions…. The Cuillin, one of the most successful mountain books of its type ever to have been published in Britain, is now out of in print after seven print runs in thirteen years.

Awards

  • Best Book of Mountain Image
    The Banff Mountain Book Festival, 1994
  • Award for Excellence 
    Outdoor Writers’ Guild 1995

Reviews

  • A masterpiece…. The astonishing quality of his photography puts this work in a class of its own.
    The Alpine Journal
  • Gordon Stainforth’s photographic tour de force, revealing him as something of a philosopher besides master landscape photographer.
    The Independent
  • Superb photography and a profoundly good text.
    The Great Outdoors
  • I can imagine this book glowing in the dark.
    High Magazine
  • A photographic feast
    The Northern Echo
  • An inspirational vision of a book
    Climber and Hill Walker 
  • Stainforth evokes a huge range of moods, presented with rhythm and purpose in a beautiful progression of double-page spreads, designed entirely by the author, with an attention to detail rarely seen in mountain books.
    Climbing
  • Unlikely to be surpassed.
    On the Edge
  • The mountain book of the year, by a long margin.
    Weekend Telegraph, December 1994
  • Gordon Stainforth’s beautiful opus, ‘Cuillin: Great Mountain Ridge of Skye’ published in 1994 remains the outstanding work on that range of mountains.
    Footless Crow: Mountain Life, October 2018