1999 Landmarks

The number of members of the Hall of Fame increased from 36 to 46 during 1999, with three more joining in the first two months of 2000. The number of the newsletter reflects the number of members at the time of publication.
Two of the new members (James Gordon and Andrew Allum) crashed in to the upper tier of the Hall, each with a tally of over 1000 Marilyns.
Ken Whyte clocked up an amazing 316 new Marilyns during the year, all in Scotland. With repeat ascents included he notched up a total of 381 Marilyns: more than one a day. Only Peter Lincoln and Andrew Allum are thought to have exceeded this tally in a single year.
On 3rd June David Purchase reached the top of Whernside and so became the fourth person to climb all the Marilyns in England. This was also his final British Hewitt. On 31st July he finished the Welsh Marilyns on Coety Mountain, and in October completed the SubMarilyns of England and Wales. Later in the year David Hoyle also completed the English Marilyns.
In August Gordon Adshead became the fifth person to climb all the Welsh Marilyns: 'It was a relief to finish on Pen y Garn-goch (31C) and find some ancient cairns - despite the terrible surrounding desolation of felled forest.' Shortly afterwards Rob Woodall became the sixth Welsh Marilynist.
Also in August, on a family holiday, Peter Ridges claimed to be the first Marilyn bagger ever to turn back on Lewesdon Hill (41) because of rain.
On 23rd October Rob Woodall became the eighth person to reach 1000 Marilyns. Gordon Adshead was there: 'As the vast structure on Cairnkinna Hill (27C) loomed out of the mist there were nigh on 20 people on top. Before long a tall fell runner came racing up to the summit, and we all cheered. He produced a litre of Glen Ord which went down exceedingly well.'
Also on 23rd October, Daniel Woods became the youngest known Marilyn bagger, reaching the top of Cairnkinna Hill at the age of minus eight days, in the close company of his mother Lynda. While some have questioned the validity of this mode of ascent, others have likened it to bagging Bishop Wilton Wold by bus. Only three weeks after his 0th birthday (31st October), Daniel notched up his first Corbett (Conachraig), albeit with parental assistance.
In November Barbara Jones became the fourth woman to enter the Hall. Moira Burks soon became the fifth, with her membership delayed until January 2000 owing to a rigorous acceptance policy, counting only those hills 'we have dates, walks marked on maps and diaries for'.
On 22nd December Don Smithies became the ninth thousander, on The Cloud (36), accompanied by Gordon Adshead, Richard Webb and Bill Russell.
James Lamb became the first person to enter the Hall with a 100% Scottish total. Early in the new year Brian Ewing emulated this feat of albacentricity.
The Relative Hills of Britain became available for purchase online via amazon.co.uk, and soared into the Amazon sales chart at number 256,329. By April 2000 it had risen to 210,687, though it's not clear why; after eight years, total sales have only just reached 1500.

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