Wide Atlantic Weird

The Great Grey Man and other Ghost Stories of Mountaineering

Enjoy a wee drop of whiskey at the cabin for a chat about the infamous Great Grey Man of Ben Macdhui - whether it be a cryptozoological Bigfoot-like creature, or a more mystical being of folklore. The Grey Man is only one of many strange tales told about high elevations. In this episode, we investigate: -the 1975 Bonighton Everest ghost -Dan Simmons’ novels ‘The Terror’ and ‘The Abominable’ -1920s mountaineering mania -Ghosts and hallucinations on Everest -Frank Smythe’s sighting of weird aerial creatures on Everest -Isolated high-altitude psychosis -Early stories of the Great Grey Man of Ben Macdhui -Mystical encounters with the Grey Man -The Grey Man speaking Scots Gallic and psychic communication! IMAGE from Haunted houses by Maple & Myring SOURCES: -Haunted Houses, Maple & Myring, 1979 link here -Howard Bury’s Footsteps episode (beginning of the Yeti myth!) link here -Day of the Triffids episode (me talking to Neil from UK Wildlife podcast!) link here -The Horror-Horn episode (Yetis in the Alps!) link here -The Abominable, Dan Simmons, 2013 link here -The Secret Lives of Ghosts, Paul Gater, 2013 link here -The Business Insider article about high altitude hallucinations, Kevin Loria 2018 link here -Frank Smythe’s hallucination, from The Crystal Horizon, Roger McDonald link here -Live Science, Hearing Voices When Climbing Mount Everest, Charles Q Choi, 2017 link here -Yeti, Graham Hoyland, 2018 link here -VacationScotland.biz article about the Great Grey Man, David McNicoll, 2018 link here -The Secret of Spey, Wendy Wood, 1930 link here -The Big Grey Man: Myth or Monster, Affleck Grey, 1989 link here -A Brocken Spectre in Ireland link here