During 2015 I did not have much time for bagging hills due to work commitments, mountain rescue activities and adjusting to fatherhood. However, I went out a little, and it was an interesting year teaching Seumas to walk and starting him on his hill-bagging journey.
I bagged four new Marilyns in 2015 but, for the first time in my hill-bagging career, my year-end Marilyn total was affected by a deletion, Swyre Head. My bagging on other hill lists was a bit more productive. I bagged 18 new Humps, two new Simms, 66 new Tumps and 42 new Sibs in 2015, bringing my year-end totals for these lists to 930 Humps, 787 Simms, 1300 Tumps and 132 Sibs. I also bagged my first London borough top, during a tube strike whilst on a business trip to London.
One of the highlights of 2015 was when a weather window opened up in October 2015 to enable a quick trip out to St Kilda to bag the Marilyns of Stac Lee and Stac an Armin. I had not been out climbing for a while, so psychologically these Marilyns were challenging, but the conditions were so good that I had to drop everything and go. A huge thanks to Sarah for giving me a pass for this one, she knew that I was disappointed to have not gone out to St Kilda in 2014 with Rob Woodall and Eddie Dealtry. However, as Seumas had just arrived at the time of that trip, it was not appropriate for me to go in 2014. In many ways, with hindsight, I am glad to have had to wait until 2015, as conditions were so much better for us. I am sure that others will be writing up the ascent of these stacks in this edition of Marhofn so I will not say much more than thanks to everyone involved in this trip for good teamwork to achieve the objectives safely. It was nice seeing Alan Whatley descending Stac Lee following the completion of his Marilyns and accompanying Michael Earnshaw to the top of his final Marilyn.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing various island bagging trips. My 100th Sib was Creag Island (east of Lismore) in June 2015 and was celebrated by some cake when we got back on the boat. I am continually impressed with Alan Holmes's ability to organise boat trips with military precision to squeeze in as much as possible during one charter and I am thankful for all of his efforts.
The Marilyn that I enjoyed the most during 2015 was Dun Caan on Raasay that I ascended with Sarah, whilst I was carrying Seumas on my front. The path all of the way up made it a pleasant family outing so that we could get some fresh air and good views. My next few years of bagging are likely to try to encompass more of the family-friendly hills. with the occasional trip to other hills. The only other Marilyn in 2015 was Cruachan Charna in Loch Sunart, on a particularly wet day in June with a group of fellow baggers on a trip ably organised by Alan Holmes.
I managed to repeat a few hills during 2015 but on some occasions instead of repeating Marilyns when I was in an area then I started picking up a few more Humps. During a trip to the Isle of Man, for Sarah to bag some lighthouses, I was able to tidy up the region Humps, including a quick trip over to the Calf of Man with Sarah and Seumas. I managed to make a further dent in region 42's Humps and have now done two-thirds of the Humps there, at the opposite end of the country from where I live.
There have been many developments in Marilyn bagging over the previous 20 or so years since RHB was first published and it has been a pleasure to see it evolve. I remember when the list first came out that Mr Adams, my secondary school physics teacher who took me out walking with the Marr College hillwalking club in my formative years, said of the list 'I am not doing that list, it is named after a woman'. This statement has always stuck in my mind but I like ascending Marilyns as it has taken me to many fascinating, interesting and sometime scary places as well as many nice tea rooms and pubs.
I am now fortunate enough to have completed the region 25 Marilyns and hence I am past the wall that has existed in Marilyn bagging for many years. I had better pull my finger out and start working on completing the list over the next couple of decades in between having to work. At the end of 2015, I only have 800 Marilyns to go.
My commitment to Marilyn bagging commenced as a new challenge after completing the Munros in December 2004. As I started finding out more about them I have really enjoyed the various experiences I have had en route and I have met many interesting fellow baggers. Now that I have gone past the Marilyns that have traditionally been considered the crux, I feel like I now have renewed enthusiasm and commitment for the cause. I just need more time and money to be able to squeeze them all in.
By the end of 2015, four people had completed the Marilyns, and several others are likely to follow, so it is inevitable that my thoughts will also turn to the Humps. No-one has completed them yet. I think in the future I will be looking to mount attempts to tidy up the Humps that present a wall for Hump completion. Of the seven Humps forming the Hump wall I have already bagged the Old Man of Hoy, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin. Just four other challenges to overcome to get over this crux. With the Marilyns and the Hump lists to complete I think that there will be plenty of hills needing bagged for me in the future. If I am ever allowed to retire in 25+ years' time then I may get a chance to complete both lists.
Thanks to the contributors and editors of Marhofn for a good read over the years and hope to see you all out in the hills somewhere sometime or at a Marhof meet. Happy future bagging everyone.
Bob and Seamus Kerr on Raasay (photo: Sarah Kerr)
