Hamish MacInnes

Hamish MacInnes OBE FRSGS (born 7 July 1930)[1] is a Scottish mountaineer, explorer, mountain search and rescuer, author and mountain safety advisor to a number of major films. He has been described as "the father of modern mountain rescue in Scotland".[2] He made an attempt to climb Everest in 1953, and is credited with inventing the first all-metal ice-axe, and a lightweight stretcher, widely used in mountain and helicopter rescue.

Hamish Macinnes

Early life

He was born Hamish McInnes in Gatehouse of Fleet, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, Scotland, in 1930. He was the youngest child, having three sisters and a brother eighteen years older than himself. His father served in the Chinese police in Shanghai, then returned to join the British army and the Canadian army during World War I.[3] By the age of 16, MacInness had already climbed on the Matterhorn, and at age 17 had built his own motor car.[4]

Achievements

He made the first winter ascent of Crowberry Ridge Direct and of Raven's Gully on Buachaille Etive Mòr with Chris Bonington in 1953. He designed the first all-metal ice axe,[5] and is credited with introducing the short ice axe and hammer with inclined picks for Scottish winter work in the early 1960s. He pioneered the exploration of the Glencoe cliffs for winter work with the Glencoe School of Winter Climbing and for many years led the area's Mountain Rescue team. He is recognised as having developed modern mountain rescue in Scotland, setting up the Search and Rescue Dog Association and the Avalanche Information Service, and inventing the MacInnes stretcher, which is used for rescues worldwide.[5] In 1975, MacInnes was deputy leader to Bonington's Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition, which included Dougal Haston and Doug Scott.[6]

Although never an official member, MacInnes climbed extensively with the Creagh Dhu, Glasgow-based climbing club as well as with the rival Aberdeen clubs and joined forces with Tom Patey to make the first winter traverse of the Cuillin Ridge on Skye. He was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture in 2008.[5]

He has been involved with a number of films, as climber, climbing double and safety officer, including The Eiger Sanction and The Mission,[2] and has written numerous books on mountaineering, including the International Mountain Rescue Handbook (1972), regarded as the standard manual worldwide,[2] and Callout (1973), his classic account of his experiences leading the Glencoe Rescue team.

MacInnes acquired a number of nicknames within the mountaineering community, most noteworthy of which are 'The Fox of Glencoe'[2] and 'MacPiton'.[7]

Awards and honours

MacInnes was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to mountaineering and mountain rescue in Scotland in the New Year's Honours list of December 1978.[8] He received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1992,[9] and Stirling University in 1997.

Personal life

Hamish Macinnes lived in Glen Coe for many years. Until 1998, he resided at 'Allt Na Reigh' a cottage within the glen that was subsequently purchased by the sex offender, Jimmy Savile.[10][11]

Illness and recovery

In 2014, MacInnes suffered a urinary tract infection which rendered him severely confused and suffering from delirium. He was 'sectioned' into a psychiatric hospital in the Scottish Highlands. From there he made multiple attempts to escape, including scaling up the outside of the hospital to stand on its roof. Eventually recovering from the illness, he was left with no memory of his former life. In 2018 a documentary film was produced for BBC Scotland, titled Final Ascent:The Legend of Hamish MacInnes. Introduced by his friend, Michael Palin, it recounts the story of MacInnes's life and achievements, and how he used archive footage, his photographs and his many books to "recover his memories and rescue himself".[4]    

Bibliography
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1963). Climbing: A Guide To Mountaineering And Mountain Rescue. Edinburgh: Scottish Youth Hostels Association. OCLC 53800277.
  • MacInnes, Hamish; Ian Clough; Richard Brian Evans (1969). Ben Nevis and Glencoe : Guide To Winter Climbs. Manchester: Cicerone. ISBN 978-0-902363-00-7.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1971). Scottish Climbs : A Mountaineer's Pictorial Guide To Climbing in Scotland. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0-09-457450-2.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1972). International Mountain Rescue Handbook. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0-09-458200-2.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1973). Callout. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-17396-1.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1974). Climb to the Lost World. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-19041-8.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1976). Death Reel. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-20725-3.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1979). Look Behind The Ranges : A Mountaineer's Selection of Adventures And Expeditions. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-18949-8.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1979). West Highland Walks. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-23915-5.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1980). High Drama : Mountain Rescue Stories From Four Continents. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 9780340245590.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1982). Scottish Winter Climbs. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0-09-463620-0.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1984). Beyond the Ranges. London: V. Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-575-03512-6.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1985). Sweep Search. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-37258-6.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1988). My Scotland. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0-09-467700-5.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1988). Highland Walks. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-42384-4.
  • MacInnes, Hamish; Oliver Thomson (1988). Glencoe. London: National Trust for Scotland. ISBN 978-0-901625-52-6.
  • MacInnes, Hamish (1989). The Way Through The Glen. London: Constable. ISBN 978-0-09-469340-1.
  • MacInnes, Hamish; Moira Kerr (1989). Land of Mountain And Mist. Glencoe: Glencoe Productions. ISBN 978-0-9514380-0-8.
  • MacInnes (ed), Hamish (2003). The Mammoth Book of Mountain Disasters: True Stories of Rescue from the Brink of Death. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-1239-7.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
gollark: Wait for what? Are you doing things?
gollark: It utterly subsumes your existing process or something, unless it errors.
gollark: It doesn't *seem* to.
gollark: Does libc have anything useful then?
gollark: Did NOBODY think it would be useful to have a convenient way to do this?

References
  1. "Birthdays". The Guardian. Guardian Media. 7 July 2014. p. 31.
  2. "'Fox of Glencoe' awarded honour". BBC News. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  3. Fraser, Robbie (Producer/Director) (2019). Final Ascent: The Legend Of Hamish MacInnes. Bees Nees Media Ltd. 19:40 minutes in. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. "Final Ascent: The Legend Of Hamish MacInnes | Scotland". Final Ascent. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. "Stretcher pioneer carries off win". BBC News. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  6. "MacInnes 1975" from the American Alpine Journal Vol 20; Number 2; Issue 50; (1976) p.357
  7. "The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection: Hi-Ten Pitons0". www.smhc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/47723/data.pdf
  9. "Heriot-Watt degrees". The Herald. 14 November 1992. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  10. Ross, David (1 June 2013). "Glencoe residents relieved after sale of disgraced Savile's cottage". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  11. Alexander, Derek (13 January 2013). "Climbing legend who sold Scottish cottage to Jimmy Savile admits being 'hoodwinked' by the child sex abuser". dailyrecord. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
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