Photo Roly Smith
Readers of Outdoor Focus or anyone lucky enough to have attended one of Kev Reynolds ’ legendary lectures will recall how he often described himself as “ the man with the world ’ s best job .”
And I would claim , judged from our 40 years of loyal friendship and as an admirer of his many meticulously crafted guidebooks , he was also “ the best man at the best job in the world .” The sun was shining as Kev passed peacefully away just three days after his 78th birthday in December last year at his Kentish home , set rather incongruously in the millionaire stockbroker belt between the High Weald and North Downs . His close family – his beloved wife of 54 years Min and their daughters , Claudia and Ilsa – were with him as he embarked upon his �inal expedition .
KEV REYNOLDS ( 1943-2021 )
Roly Smith pays tribute to the best man at the best job
A fellow Essex “ bor ”, Kev Reynolds was born in the closing years of the Second World War at Ingatestone in 1943 . He �irst fell in love with the mountains on a Boy Scout camping trip to North Wales . Then in 1965 , at the age of 21 , he had an opportunity to go on a Nansen Club expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco , which he claimed was a life-changing experience . As he recalled in his semi-autobiographical A Walk in the Clouds ( 2013 ): “ We climbed all and everything that appealed , crossed cols and visited remote valleys and villages , and on one of the 4000m summits I made two decisions which , on re�lection , seemed incompatible . “ The �irst was to marry my girlfriend , and the second was to abandon the job in which I was working Monday to Friday , looking forward to Saturday , and try to �ind work among mountains . Nearly �ifty years on , I have no reason to regret either decision .” He started his working life in advertising and local government , later becoming a youth hostel warden at Crockham Hill in Kent for 18 years between 1968 and 1986 . Then , encouraged by former Cicerone boss Walt Unsworth , he wrote his �irst guidebook in 1978 to what he called “ his spiritual home ” – the Pyrenees . His Walks and Climbs in the Pyrenees is now in its seventh edition . Kev �inally took his “ leap of faith ” in 1986 when he became a full-time freelance writer . His
4 outdoor focus / spring 2022