"Stud Marks" reprint?

[RobCVFR]

I can't recall any copy of SMOTS going for a price as comical as £650 before but there it is. Still, it looks beautiful, and dipping back into it myself I see a fantastic read that I'm looking forward to reading through again.

In 2015, fellow FRA member Monolith (Tom) and I went on the lookout to see if there'd be any call for a reprint of Stud Marks on the Summits. Looking to put any profits into Mountain Rescue, we took the impression that the ethics of a second edition would be OK, as Bill Smith himself had apparently pondered it upon being asked towards the end of his life.

We set about putting that together. I've got the whole thing typed up and more-or-less ready. Tom was put onto the image reproduction and legalese side of the project and by this time in 2016 things were coming into place. As things happened, Tom entered a very busy period of his life amidst working two good jobs while starting up his family, while I was left a bit isolated with two long-term injuries keeping me out of fell running circles, while lack of funds and other focuses took me elsewhere.

I got back in touch with him the other week though. I now live a few miles outside the Lakes and the knees that had been my ruination for over 15 months made a miraculous recovery over lockdown, so my heart, mind and body are now weekly visitors to the finest of the fells. As Tom's got a more packed schedule it's a project I'll endeavour to conduct myself.

Plan is now to consider some sort of foreword ahead of the second edition. Then I'll give my re-typed copy yet another proof-read with fresh eyes, go about licencing, permissions, graphics blah blah blah until we have a product ready for a print run that we can potentially crowdfund. Ultimately the second edition should be befitting of Bill's good name and I would like other's approval on how that's carried out.

Hopefully I won't let anyone else down and will get SMOTS out fairly soon. Affordable fell running for all!