SCOTLAND, 1847. Convalescence doesn't suit Professor Forbes. When one of his former students appears exhausted at his door, telling stories of bloodthirsty gamekeepers and a mythical glacier in the heart of the Cairngorm mountains, he can't resist the chance for another adventure. Forbes is soon involved in the chase of his life - with perhaps one last chance to make his name before it is too late. This is a tale of life in the Scottish mountains before mountaineering began.