My interest in Marilyns began... when I started doing Corbetts, but it was only when I spent the enormous sum of 59p on the excellent Hills App that I realised I had a done quite a few sub 2000ft Marilyns. Having previously completed the Munros and Corbetts, I am predominantly doing Grahams at the moment and hope to complete this list in early 2014. However, the number of sub 2000ft Marilyns done per year is now slowly increasing.
My favourite Marilyns are... without doubt, the island hills, although those with a view out to sea from the mainland are also special. The Western Isles hills in good weather are sensational and I am looking forward to doing some sub 2000ft Marilyns over there in future years. I have particularly enjoyed doing the Corbetts and Grahams as they generally have no paths and the sense of solitude is such that you get as close to a wilderness experience as you can get in the UK.
My least favourite Marilyns are... to date, those I have found amongst the so called lesser hills that have some of the worst bog, heather tussocks and sitka challenges. Perversely, I have become partially de-sensitised to this and just plough on.
Do I keep Marilyn bagging a secret? No, I do not keep it a secret but it is sometimes hard for relatives and friends to understand the challenge we undertake.
I... used to have a sole sport that was game fishing (salmon, sea trout and brown trout) before I discovered the hills through joining a company hill walk when I was 28. Since then I have fished much less but plan to do some wild fishing in hill lochs from spring onwards. I have enjoyed climbing many European mountains in Austria, Italy and Switzerland and they are in a different league altogether.
