At only 16 years of age, Alastair Borthwick began a career in journalism by leaving high school to start working for a small, local paper known as the Evening Times. While working for this paper, he held the position of copy taker before moving on to a slightly larger publication known as The Glasgow Weekly Herald. While working at the Glasgow Herald, he began writing for various columns and features of the paper but started to get a following for the pieces that he was writing for their column known as “Open Air”. Alastair Borthwick had discovered an interest in the sport of climbing. In particular, he enjoyed being able to climb the rolling hills of his home country of Scotland, but he also found himself traveling to other parts of Europe to find what the world would bring him.

While the sport of climbing was something that enthralled Alastair Borthwick until he passed away in 2003, he found himself enjoying the people that were part of the experience as well. In fact, it was the experiences that he had with the rest of the people hiking through the countryside that left the biggest impact on the beloved writer. The book Always a Little Further collected the different pieces that he had written for the “Open Air” column while working for The Glasgow Weekly Herald on the subject of climbing. Always a Little Further was first published in the year 1939 and is considered a classic of the genre.

Readers of today still enjoy the works of Alastair Borthwick which includes not just Always a Little Further, but also a work that was first released under the name Sans Peur. Sans Peur shared the experiences that Alastair Borthwick had while serving his country during World War II. While war is a horrifying experience, it also brings out the best in humanity as well. The friendships and brotherhood that forms during times of war is something that cannot be compared to anything else and he was able to share this with the world.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/oct/09/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries