Tom Patey

Who was Tom Patey?

Tom Patey was a Scottish climber, mountaineer and writer. Although he was a leading Scottish climber of his day, particularly excelling on winter routes, he his probably best known for his humorous songs and prose about climbing, many of which were published posthumously in the collection One Man's Mountains.

He was born in Scotland and educated at Ellon Academy and Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen. He first became interested in climbing while he was in the Scouts, but it was at the University of Aberdeen, where he trained as a doctor, that he first revealed his full talent as an exploratory climber, captaining the Lairig Club. Much of his early exploratory routes were on Lochnagar and neighboring Cairngorms. A dedicated climber he often dropped all other commitments for the prospect of a good climb. Patey's preference of travelling light extended to leaving his gloves behind on some ice climbs and he had a disrespect for climbing ropes unless they were necessary.