Robin Campbell reflects on the life of Scottish mountaineering icon Jimmy Marshall, who passed away on 2 March, aged 94.

James Robertson Marshall

(b. 01-02-1929, d. 02-03-2023)

James 'Jimmy' Robertson Marshall was one of a dozen Scottish climbers who elevated the standard and ambition of climbing in the country after the Second War.

In the North-East there were Bill Brooker and Tom Patey; in Glasgow, John Cunningham, Pat Walsh, Mick Noon and John McLean; and in Edinburgh the Marshall brothers - Jimmy and Ronnie, the Currie climbers Dougal Haston, Jim (Elly) Moriarty and Jim Stenhouse, and the Lone Star Robin Smith.

Jimmy Marshall was the glue that bound this disparate group together. He was also a true pioneer, on rock and ice. His rock routes blazed a trail for others to follow. His Enigma (1952) was the first route on the Mainreachan Buttress of Fuar Tholl; his Mousetrap (1959) was the first route to tackle the Central Gully Wall of Creag an Dubh Loch; his Trapeze (1958) was the first route on the East Buttress on Aonach Dubh. Other notable rock routes were Apparition (1959) on Slime Wall, The Pause (1960) on Etive Slabs, The Bullroar (1961) on Carn Dearg Buttress, and Unicorn (1967) on Stob Coire nan Lochan. 

On ice, Jimmy tracks right back to Look C Gully (1953), but he worked in Switzerland for a while to avoid National Service, and on return it took him a while to find partners who shared his ambition for bold winter lines. All that changed with the recruitment of the fearless Currie climbers and the strong and willing Graham Tiso around 1958. Parallel Gully B of Lochnagar (1958), Minus Two Gully (1959), and Smith's Gully on Creag Meaghaidh (1959) were the first interesting fruits of these partnerships. But in the meantime, the E.U.M.C. team of Robin Smith and Dick Holt had made two startling winter routes, a first route on the Orion Face (1959) and Tower Face of the Comb (1959). 

In a famous meeting, Marshall and Smith joined forces on Ben Nevis in February 1960, and in the space of a week they made first ascents of The Great Chimney, Minus Three Gully, Gardyloo Buttress, Observatory Buttress, Pigott's Route on the Comb, and Orion Face Direct, while fitting in a second – and the first clean – ascent of Point Five Gully. It should be borne in mind that these ascents were made by step-cutting with a single axe, and that most of them were not repeated for many years.

Curiously, it seems that Marshall and Smith didn't climb together after this historic week on Ben Nevis. Jimmy had started an architecture business, and was married later in 1960, with children rapidly following. Besides, after labouring for years on the S.M.C. Glencoe guidebooks, he had now committed to revising the Ben Nevis guidebook, so not too much should be read into the end of their partnership. Smith died in the Pamirs in 1962, putting an end to further possibilities. 

After the departure of Haston to Leysin, of Moriarty to Skye, and the disappearance of Stenhouse to England, Jimmy was reduced to climbing with his brother and me, and the striking innovations of 1958 to 1960 petered out, although we had a great deal of fun on Ben Nevis and elsewhere.

Jimmy was honoured by the Fort William Mountain Festival in 2010 and Paul Diffley directed a fine little film "The Pinnacle" for Hot Aches in the same year, which celebrated the extraordinary week on Ben Nevis in 1960.

All who knew Jimmy have nothing but fond admiration for him. He was the finest Scottish climber of his generation, and fully deserved his title of 'King of the Ben'.

A UKC Logbook ticklist of Jimmy Marshall's routes:

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