After 2014 marking my lowest annual Marilyn total since 2001, it was back to over 50 new Marilyns in 2015. Nowadays, by necessity, they are almost exclusively climbed on trips to Scotland. Particular highlights were visits to the islands of Arran and Rum. A traverse of the Rum Cuillin was a long-held ambition, with a fine high-level camp and the weather holding out on the tops, reserving the drenching for the return to the ferry via the coastal path. A week based in Fort William around Easter was particularly memorable for the cold and sometimes wild conditions on the tops that, with snow cover, provided winter adventure. At the other end of the spectrum, there were summer conditions at the beginning of November in the Cairngorms, particularly one hot and sunny day on Meall a'Bhuachaille. Closer to home there were many memorable days on Humps, Tumps and other hills. This was the first year that Tumps have come to dominate my hill days, taking me to new places and providing new perspectives on familiar areas.
The last Marhofn seems like the end of an era. I am not exactly sure when I became aware of its existence, probably after finding the Yahoo group, and long after luckily finding RHB in a Bristol bookshop in the mid 1990s. It has been fascinating to read of impressive feats of hill bagging, culminating in the St Kilda completions, and to see different perspectives on the activity. Particularly in the early days, I sought out the Tips for the Tops section for advice on tricky hills. However, maybe the biggest influence on me was finding out about the Hall concept itself, changing the frame of reference from completion to numerical landmarks. 1500+ Marilyns just seemed unimaginable. Prior to this, I had set manageable personal challenges like the 760m, then 600m Marilyns in England and Wales, embarrassingly still not complete. The Hall concept changed all that and my progress accelerated dramatically with the target of 600 in sight. Eighteen years ago, I doubt that I would have expected to reach 1000 Marilyns, but it happened. My lack of climbing skills mean that completion is hardly likely, so I wonder how progress will evolve. However, the Marilyns have inspired a parallel interest in many other lists, not least the Humps and Tumps with their Hall landmarks.
