The number of new Marilyns climbed in 2012 was a personal record which I will never be able get near to in the future. During the year, my wife Jean passed the 400 mark and ended 2012 with a total of 421. Jean and I targeted our unclimbed lower Welsh Marilyns. We climbed 43 in two trips, one in late January and the other in October and November. We only have one Marilyn left outstanding in England and Wales - Bardsey Island. The tips for the tops in previous editions of Marhofn were very useful. In general, the lower Welsh Marilyns were better than I expected although there were a few duds. If there was another best/worst Marilyn poll I would definitely vote for Pen y Garn-goch as the worst sub-600m Welsh Marilyn. Breaking through the densely planted conifers, which were soaking wet at the time, to the clearing at the top was horrendous. We did manage to find a better route back through less dense planting at the north end of the clearing.
We had a couple of holidays in the Highlands during which I climbed thirty new Marilyns, including some Corbetts and Grahams. We also had a week in the Lakes in glorious weather in late March, climbing some old favourites.
