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General Climbing Discussion

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Vale - Hamish McInnes 24-Nov-2020 At 5:55:57 AM Ithomas

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Two days ago, after a long period of illness renowned Scottish climber and inventor died at the age of 90.

McInnes was the climbers climber. He invented dirt-bagging before Yosemite was a destination. With Glaswegian ice climbing ace John Cunningham, he set out to climb Mt Everest with a crazy plan to scavenge food dumps left behind by an earlier Swiss expedition.

He invented a rescue stretcher system that is still in use today. He invented the first all steel ice axe and in so doing revolutionised ice climbing.

He climbed all over the world including early stints in New Zealand, the Caucuses, the Alps and the Himalaya. His name will be forever linked to greats such as Patey, Bonington, Whillans, Brown, Cunningham and pretty much everyone who was anyone.

His legacy was fun, adventure, independence and community spirit.

This morning I pulled aside the parkas, the cagoule, the overpants, the hats and there it was: my 50 year old MacInnes axe. What a beauty.