Later in life, as Whillans lost his physical condition, he no longer bothered with this kind of climbing. It had simply offered him a way to make his name. That was in direct contrast to his partner and, later, his rival Joe Brown, who, like Perrin, had grown up in south Manchester and who, also like Whillans, was unusually short.

Over this period all our existing gear was increasingly refined based on comments from leading mountaineers the world over, and our own discoveries whilst on the mountains. In 1973 we received the ultimate accolade from Chris Bonington after an attempt on the South West Face of Everest. He stated that all members of the expedition considered Troll's Whillans harness to be best in the world. It was not surprising therefore that in 1975 Troll harnesses and tapes were chosen yet again for what was to be the successful ascent of Everest's South West Face. Troll harnesses went all the way to the summit. We can speculate till the cows come home as to WHY Don might have felt insecure, and felt the need to adopt a confrontational stance to the world: genetics? being evacuated during the war? absent father? distant non-emotional parenting? macho tough culture? etc etc. Jim Perrin has had the luxury of having more evidence at his disposal to piece together a version of Don's persona that 'fits' his behaviour. All we can do is indulge in amateur speculation. Of course, no one is entitled to judge anyone else's life or make definitive statements as to how happy he was. However, Perrin (or anyone else) is entitled to their opinion that, given Don's talents as a mountaineer, he could have achieved even more; and, given the evidence of his behaviour to others, he did not SEEM to be a contented soul. Born and brought up in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, Whillans began hiking on the Pennine moors while still at Broughton modern school; [1] climbing was the next step for an adventurous young boy.Martin ‘Basher’ Atkinson, Andy Pollitt, Mark ‘Zippy’ Pretty, ‘Scottish’ Ben Masterson, Mark Leach, Craig Smith) Perrin grew up in Manchester just after the war, first in Fallowfield and then among the slums of Hulme. Like Whillans, he found freedom in the hills. A lot of stuff goes on round here (North Lakes) which is very much off the radar. There are many climbers close by, quite a few famous, some less so. A couple of years ago we had a Hesket Spiders lecture evening where there were a couple of talks about new routes, climbing in France, then Doug Scott gave an excellent talk about Don. He wanted to correct the impression that Don was (according to Perrin) "a villain". It was a generous, adulatory little talk, much enjoyed and quite touching. Clearly Don to those who really knew him was a top man, very kind, likeable, tough yes, but very fair. Doug was certainly very complimentary about Don. There are many Whillans jokes doing the rounds, one of the best being the World Cup joke when Whillans gave his response to Dyrenfurth's comments on "national sports" on the International Everest Expedition. There seems to be no secret that Don, especially in later years, drank a few pints - probably more than was healthy. The interest in alcohol could be explained by statements as "People ask me why I drink so much. It's because of a morbid fear of dehydration." Give Don Whillans a thought next time you have a pint on the terrace at the bar "Le National" in Chamonix. When Don was not sitting in his favourite place he was most certainly out climbing. One might wonder why Whillans, with so obstinately and sometimes cynical behaviour, has become so famous? Probably it is not only due to his qualities as climber and mountaineer. The question is difficult to answer but we all love heroes – and anti-heroes – don’t we?

Re the televised ascents with Brown and Bonington, I too had the feeling that there was tension beneath the surface - on his side. My impression is that both Brown and Bonington were magnanimous towards him but he just wouldn't let stuff go. And, if you don't let stuff go, it eats away at you.Brown moved to Llanberis, where he opened a climbing shop in 1966, which became one of three. He contributed to new types of climbing protection by creating some of the first “nuts” by drilling out the thread of the nuts and putting a sling through the centre. Whillans was an apprentice plumber when he started his climbing career with Joe Brown in 1951. Whillans met Brown while climbing at the Roaches in Staffordshire. When Brown's climbing partner failed to follow him up a new route, Whillans asked if he could try—and subsequently led the second pitch of Brown's new route, which became known as "Matinee". Hamish met Chris Bonington in 1953. They shared first winter ascents of Agag’s Groove, Crowberry Ridge Direct and Raven’s Gully on Buachaille Etive Mor. During the same year, Hamish and John Cunningham set sail from New Zealand to attempt to make the first ascent of Everest. Much to their disappointment they found that they had been beaten to the summit by a team led by John Hunt. The two men set their sights on Pumori and ascended to above 22,000ft. In deteriorating weather conditions, the climbers became exhausted and had to retreat. In 1958 Hamish returned to the Alps and again met his good friend Chris Bonington. They decided to climb the South West Pillar of the Dru ( Bonatti Pillar), a route considered at the time as one of the hardest in the world. They were joined by two Austrian climbers, Walter Phillip and Richard Blach, and later by Don Whillans and Paul Ross. The climbers ascended the Dru couloir and started up the pillar until a good bivouac was found for rest. The tired men enjoyed tea and watched a huge stonefall shatter the area they had climbed during the morning. Then a single stone fell from above and Hamish was hit. Blood poured from his head and he became weak and dizzy. Walter and Richard led the following day, Don climbed with Hamish and Chris and Paul removed pegs. Hamish struggled but kept going. The six endured another night on the pillar and summited the next day. Hamish, Chris, Don and Paul had completed the first British ascent of the South West Pillar of the Dru. Harlin III, John (2008). The Eiger obsession: facing the mountain that killed my father. Hutchinson. ISBN 9780091925581.

Siegfried Herford Way ahead of his time. Imagine looking up at an unclimbed CB with only a hemp rope to help you. During 1959, Hamish, Don Whillans, John Streetly and Les Brown climbed the Walker Spur on the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses. They thought they had made the first British ascent of the route until they descended to Courmayeur where they found Robin Smith and Gunn Clark celebrating as they had just made the first British ascent of the route. Bonington compares this with 44° on the Brenva face of Mont Blanc and 61° on the Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses. [37] Hamish acted as Safety Officer to Clint Eastwood during the production of The Eiger Sanction in 1975. He had recently had an unusual accident when a stone wall fell on his leg resulting in an emergency operation for gas gangrene. Hamish was left with a wound on the side on his leg. Ever resourceful, he used his workshop to make a perforated aluminium alloy guard to protect the damaged area before travelling to Switzerland. That night at Camp III they discussed their religious beliefs – Bonington was a sceptic and Frost a Mormon. Bonington wrote to his wife, "He is a convinced and fervent Mormon, never rams it down your throat, yet his faith has given him a code of conduct that puts him way out in front of most of us." [64] The next day, it was straightforward to re-climb their fixed rope, but once again, onward climbing was extremely difficult. Whillans and Haston had been ferrying supplies from Camp II up to Camp III, and following their second climb, they started exploring the shelf which Bonington had investigated previously beside the ridge. They made such good progress that the pair on the ridge needed little persuasion to entirely abandon their efforts on the lowest part of the ridge. [65]

Classification

Hamish also worked on The Mission, Rob Roy and Five Days One Summer. During 2001 he actually played himself as leader of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team in a documentary with Michael Palin and Terry Jones called The Quest for The Holy Grail Locations.

Herzog, Maurice (1954). Annapurna. Translated by Morin, Nea; Adam Smith, Janet. Reprint Society. Introduction by Shipton, Eric. With his high-altitude career apparently over, Whillans returned to drink. He spent his final years appearing at festivals , playing up to his image as the straight-talking northerner with the ready put-down. Rescues on the hills and mountains of Scotland became a significant part of Hamish’s life. Hamish writes, 'Only too often it is a fight for life: there is nothing more satisfying than the successful evacuation of a critically injured person on a highly technical rescue, where a single mistake could result in the death of the casualty. It is, on a grand scale, a game of chance in which nature holds most of the cards'. Hamish climbed with a truly golden generation of British climbers at a time when the great mountains of the world were still isolated and enjoying early ascents. Perhaps it remains as the most rewarding time to have been a young, ambitious, invincible mountaineer. He continued to climb into his old age and the list of his achievements grew longer with the years. His last recorded new climbs, on Welsh slate and in the Anti-Atlas of Morocco, were accomplished in his late 70s. But after those two great Himalayan ascents of the mid-1950s, his climbing involvement was more relaxed.correct me if I'm wrong) the Whillans harness was the first harness to raise the legs into a sitting position, It was pretty close to the modern sit harness we all use today. It's just that it had a strap that went between the legs that made it a particularly uncomfortable fall for gentlemen. < Taylor, Derek (3 August 2016). "Behind the Shot: Dougal Haston at Annapurna Basecamp". Adventure Journal. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016 . Retrieved 18 January 2020. Chris Bonington had this to say about Hamish: “I owe and value Hamish so much for our long and rich friendship. He has been a great mentor, has contributed so much to our success on the South West Face of Everest and most important of all is one of my oldest friends in whose company I always delight.”