My interest in Marilyns began... in the early 90s. I had completed two rounds of the Munros and was well into my third when a friend discovered The Angry Corrie and from that, that there were other hill lists apart from those sanctioned by the SMC. I bought 'Relative Hills' in 1995 and I suppose it was from that time I started to bag Marilyns as such. I have since completed the Furths and the Corbetts.
My favourite Marilyns are... hills that have a well-defined ridge such as Stac Pollaidh, An Teallach or Blencathra. These tend to be busy hills though and so my all-time greats are Foinaven (with Arkle) and Suilven. To contradict that, I was recently on Cairnpapple, a very modest hill, yet with glorious views over the Central Belt, so... ?
My least favourite Marilyns... Although I maintain there are no boring hills, fighting my way through sitka to arrive at a pile of stones surrounded by trees is not something I enthuse about. Drumcroy Hill and Airds Hill come under this category.
Do I keep Marilyn bagging a secret? I don't advertise the fact that I'm bagging Marilyns but if I meet a fellow hillwalker, it may come up in conversation. The club I belong to know and tend to be pretty tolerant of my behaviour.
I... am a retired teacher and so have always had plenty of time for bagging. I've dabbled in most aspects of mountaineering, not to any high standard: rock and winter climbing and ski-touring as well as walking. I've visited the Alps regularly since the mid-70s. I started running in the hills at the same time as I discovered Marilyns and they are an ideal combination.
