Despite being a Sassenach by accident of birth, Ralph has lived in Scotland since studying psychology at Dundee University. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked in the field of commercial and educational computing, initially as a computer programmer and more recently as a lecturer at Napier University of Edinburgh. He is an experienced hillwalker who has hiked and backpacked extensively around the world. His walking and climbing guides to the Scottish Highlands, which include best-selling 100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains, have become standard reference works and are highly regarded by Scotland's hillwalking community.