Hamish MacInnes, the Scottish mountaineer, explorer, mountain search and rescuer, author, inventor, movie stunt co-ordinator and all round good guy, was born on July 7th 1930.
MacInnes was born in Gatehouse of Fleet, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, his father's surname was McInnes, but Hamish, according to some he "later adopted the more distinctive Scottish spelling of the family name". Hamish was the youngest child amongst five siblings. He had three sisters and a brother who was eighteen years older than Hamish.
The legend of Hamish MacInnes began early. At 16 he climbed the Matterhorn. At 17 he built his first motor car from scratch. He attempted Everest in 1953 with his friend Johnny Cunningham. As an explorer, expedition leader, and engineer he achieved world fame. author of the International Mountain Rescue Handbook and founder of Glencoe Mountain Rescue he has been responsible for saving hundreds of lives, if not thousands.
Keen to improve mountain safety, he was also a technical innovator whose invention of an all-metal ice axe and a lightweight folding stretcher for rescues – which became known as the “MacInnes stretcher” – were landmark developments that were widely used and much lauded. Author of 26 books on mountaineering topics, including fiction, Hamish became heavily involved in film and documentary work, which included making his own programmes and acting as safety and location adviser, climbing double and stunt man.
MacInnes, also known as “Fox of Glencoe” for his esteemed climbing reputation, made headlines when he was asked to shoot footage for Clint Eastwood's 1975 thriller The Eiger Sanction, other movie projects included Highlander, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Mission.
In 2014 he was misdiagnosed with dementia leading to being sectioned for over a year in psychiatric hospitals before a correct diagnosis of urinary tract infection was made, allowing him to return home, but bereft of memory. In the BBC film, The 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".
Hamish MacInnes died on 22nd November 2020, aged 90, at his home in Glen Coe.
Writing on his death, The Scotsman said, "No one man has done more to help put in place the network of emergency response efforts designed to keep climbers from harm’s way, and it seems that MacInnes took just as much pleasure in helping to rescue people as he did in making record-breaking ascents.”