The Villain: The Life of Don Whillans

Product Information

If you were right up shit creek, you'd want Whillans by your side. The rest of the time, not so much. Seems as though, if you weren't a threat, he'd be OK with you. But, if you were perceived as a threat, it was a different story. I loved Don. I never saw him be mean-spirited, though I did know he drank and had his frustrations. He was especially intolerant of people who overrated themselves or simply did not know what they were talking about. I respected that quality in him, although he could have tempered his opinions, certainly, at times. I don't think I ever saw him get wrankled with someone who didn't deserve it. 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. He was also instrumental in the design and development of new gear, (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.The Whillans box tent was grounbreaking and stood up better than any of its contemporaries. Siegfried Herford Way ahead of his time. Imagine looking up at an unclimbed CB with only a hemp rope to help you.

Some would marry and settle down. But others, Brown and Whillans included, would find a less conventional path. In North Wales particularly, the two men established a series of climbs on cliff s such as Dinas Cromlech and Clogwyn du'r Arddu that retain a mystical quality, made even more special by their very obscurity. The two men would become the most famous duo in the history of the sport . 'Joe Brown was our absolute hero,' says Perrin now. 'To do his new climbs was our great ambition, and even the easiest of them had considerable cachet.' His dry wit and humour were legendary (though some of the better known stories probably didn't happen) . Huts aren’t just a place to stay, they’re a place to socialise. They are communal places, with beds or bunks in dorm type rooms, so you’ll need to bring a sleeping bag or blanket, and possibly a pillow. You can expect to find separate men’s and women’s bathrooms. Depending on the size of the place there might be several rooms to sleep in, and depending on the mix of people attending, rooms might be allocated for men, women, couples, families and/or visitors. Often it’s just down to individuals to grab their preferred space on arrival - this is usually down to the meet organiser to coordinate, so just ask if you’d like to know more.Bear in mind also that both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington have praised the book as being extremely good in every way.

Peter Donnelly, 'Whillans, Donald Desbrow (1933–1985)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006 His reputation as a hard drinker went hand in hand with his notoriety for the odd bit of fisticuffs. There are many tales covered in a book called ‘The Villain’ by Jim Perrin. It’s well worth a read if you can get a copy. He needed the simplicity of that conflict and he was still generous and endearingly funny as he endured with dignity the ill-health of his final years.

Chris Bonington’s grand plan was beginning to unravel. Upon leaving school at the age of eighteen National Service had seemed a logical step towards a full-time mountain career. Yet upon joining he began to drift. Pulled into the fold by the military he stepped away from his initial plan to join mountain rescue with Royal Air Force and instead joined Sandhurst to Following this success, Troll, already familiar in parts of Europe and the States, became internationally known, and expeditions from all over the world were using and recommending our gear. Hamish died in his home in Glen Coe on 22 November. He was 90 years old and had led an extraordinary life. The word 'influential' is often used, but for Hamish, nothing could be more appropriate. From pioneering cutting edge first ascents in Scotland and the Greater Ranges, through development of mountain rescue and avalanche safety, inventing new ice tools and sharing mountain knowledge through his writing and guidebooks, Hamish MacInnes' influence continues to be both long lasting and profound. The expedition proved to be Britain's most important mountaineering achievement since the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. [101]

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.” So there's a lot to like about him. But then there's the bad stuff. Propensity for violence, reputation around women, alcoholism etc. I think it's worth noting some of the bad stuff went beyond the "lovable rougue" categoryand tipped him into the "utter bastard"or even the "complete c***" categories, and I think it's for this reason he was never lauded or honored as much as his contemporaries. Hamish's technical safety expertise was greatly sought after by filmmakers around the world and he was involved in many films from the Eiger Sanction to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In 2014, Hamish contracted an undiagnosed infection which left him severely confused and delirious for a lengthy period. Eventually the infection was diagnosed and treated and to recover his memory he reread accounts of his previous climbs. This led to a series of fresh tales, and a book recounting untold adventures from Hamish's early life will be published by the Scottish Mountaineering Press later this year. In 1967 he was one of those climbing the Old Man of Hoy, off Orkney, in an ascent televised by the BBC. In 1984 he repeated the experience with his younger daughter, Zoe, whose character came over as being as amused and engaging as his own. He even made a quirky series of television shorts about fishing in inaccessible places and acted as Jeremy Irons’ double in the waterfall sequences of The Mission (1986) – the fact that Irons towered over him by almost a foot was concealed by careful camerawork.

Herzog, Maurice (1954). Annapurna. Translated by Morin, Nea; Adam Smith, Janet. Reprint Society. Introduction by Shipton, Eric. There are several deserved heroes of British mountaineering but it’s fair to say Don Whillans is the most impressive anti-hero. After experimenting with various dog breeds (in particular German Shepherds) to search for avalanche victims, Hamish was responsible for the formation of the Search and Rescue Dog Association in 1965. Always ahead of his time, MacInnes recognised the serious danger posed by Scottish avalanches and worked with Fred Harper and Eric Langmuir to establish the Scottish Avalanche Project. This eventually became the Scottish Avalanche Information Service that provides such an important safety role today. As to marketing, obviously it depends what you mean by important. But sadly I think the commodification of climbing has been the most important trend in the last 20 years, and I think BM’s been the main man in helping with that. In 1972 Hamish was a member of both the European Expedition, led by Doctor Karl Herrligkoffer, and the British Expedition, led by Chris Bonington, to the South West Face of Everest. During 1973 he travelled to Guyana with Don Whillans, Mo Anthoine and Joe Brown to trek through dense rain forest and swamp to reach the great wall of Mount Roraima. It was a horribly challenging ascent drenched in almost continuous water and with rare ledges for rest already inhabited by scorpions. The climbers eventually reached a ‘fairyland summit’. Hamish comments: “There was always something new of interest. It was a wonderland like nothing on earth. For me, Roraima is still one of the wonders of the world.”

Jim Curran, one of Don's best friends in later days, listened to one of Don's performances. Don started out by showing an old group photo saying "You may wonder why I've included this. (Pause) That's me in the middle of the picture, but, over on the left corner is a girl I'd never spoken to at the time. (A longer pause) That's me wife Audrey. (An even longer pause) Which just goes to show that danger lurks when you least expect it ... "For me, the book also failed to give any insights into Don & Audrey's relationship. Even as a child of 10, it had seemed "unusual" to me, what with them both going off on expeditions and having no kids. Audrey probably deserves a book of her own and certainly a larger part in Don's story. Again, she isn't with us any longer so she can't comment on what Jim Perrin has said. Don Whillans Expertise too, but also a contribution to the way climbers saw themselves for generations. Isn't Perrin Brown's friend? and as the book seems to cast Brown in a much better light than Whillans (his only real competition?)it would be hard for Brown not to praise the book.