Legendary Scottish mountaineer Hamish MacInnes who worked with Clint Eastwood on the Eiger Sanction has died at the age of 90.
Dr MacInnes – who passed away at his home in Glen Coe on Sunday – climbed the Matterhorn in the Alps when he was just 16 and went on to found mountain rescue teams and write books on mountaineering.
In 1975 he was an adviser on Clint Eastwood’s film The Eiger Sanction, which follows Dr Hemlock – a retired assassin tracking a killer through a treacherous mountain passage.
He also worked on Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the 1970s and The Mission starring Robert De Niro in the 1980s.
Dr MacInnes is credited with inventing climbing’s first all-metal ice axe and a rescue stretcher.
Legendary Scottish mountaineer Hamish MacInnes who worked with Clint Eastwood on the Eiger Sanction has died at the age of 90
Dr MacInnes – who passed away at his home in Glen Coe on Sunday – climbed the Matterhorn in the Alps when he was just 16 and went on to found mountain rescue teams and write books on mountaineering. Pictured: A young Hamish on his first attempt at Everest in 1953
Last year, he became the subject of a documentary, The Final Ascent, narrated by Michael Palin and the two became close friends.
Nicknamed the Fox of Glencoe due to his ‘cunning as a mountaineer’, he had extensive experience and knowledge of climbing.
He was involved in the founding of Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team – leading the team for many years – as well as the Search and Rescue Dog Association and the setting up of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service.
Dr MacInnes took part in more than 20 climbing expeditions abroad, including four to Mount Everest and was almost killed in an avalanche on the peak in 1975.
In 2008, he was the first recipient of the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture, and was an explorer and a prolific inventor, building a car from scratch when he was 17.
In the 1970s, he was an adviser on Clint Eastwood’s film The Eiger Sanction, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and also The Mission starring Robert De Niro in the 1980s
In 1975 he was an adviser on Clint Eastwood’s film The Eiger Sanction, which follows Dr. Hemlock (pictured) – a retired assassin tracking a killer through a treacherous mountain passage
Friend, actor Sir Michael Palin, told BBC Scotland Dr MacInnes saw life as something ‘to grab with both hands’.
Sir Michael said: ‘I first met Hamish when we were doing some filming in Glen Coe for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
‘He was head of mountain rescue in Glen Coe at the time. He had a great sense of humour and was wonderfully eccentric, which was just what we wanted and he helped us on the film.
‘He threw ‘bodies’ into the Gorge of Eternal Peril. I just remember the irony of it. People were looking at this man throwing ‘bodies’ and we said: ‘Don’t worry, he’s the head of mountain rescue’.’
Another friend, former RAF Kinloss Mountain Rescue Team leader David Whalley, said Dr MacInnes was a legend of Scottish mountaineering.
He made an attempt to climb Everest in 1953. Pictured with fellow mountaineer Hamish MacInnes in an icefall on Mount Everest
He said: ‘The people he must saved over the years because of his work in mountain rescue and the stretchers he invented must be incredible.
‘He has left a wonderful legacy.’
Mr Whalley added: ‘If we were talking in terms of football, he was Lionel Messi.
‘At Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team he brought together a great team of local people. It was amazing.’
For a period in later life Dr MacInnes battled ill-health. He suffered delirium, apparently caused by an acute urinary infection but it was misdiagnosed as dementia.
Dr MacInnes, who received an OBE and BEM, and was inducted into the Scottish Sport Hall of Fame in 2003
Dr MacInnes spent time in psychogeriatric detainment in hospital, and made attempts to escape from the building.
His struggle with his health and recovery were told in the 2018 film, Final Ascent.
The remarkable Scot, who was climbing on the Matterhorn as a teenager and was involved in Sir Chris Bonington’s successful Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition in 1975, was a pioneering figure widely regarded as the father of modern mountain rescue.
He made an attempt to climb Everest in 1953.
A sense of wanderlust, thirst for adventure and desire to break down barriers was in his DNA. His father served in the Chinese police in Shanghai, before joining the British Army and the Canadian Army during the First World War.
Friend, actor Sir Michael Palin, told BBC Scotland Dr MacInnes saw life as something ‘to grab with both hands’ (pictured together)
Dr MacInnes, who received an OBE and BEM, and was inducted into the Scottish Sport Hall of Fame in 2003.
John Allen, the former head of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, paid heartfelt tribute to his former colleague.
He said: ‘The Scottish hills are darker and emptier today following the passing of the iconic and universally respected Hamish McInnes.
‘In addition to being a world-class mountaineer, Hamish had a lifelong interest in mountain rescue.
‘Today, the stretcher he designed is well known as the McInnes Stretcher and is used by many mountain rescue teams both in the UK and throughout the world.
‘In 2000, when the Cairngorm MRT opened their new rescue base rescue in Aviemore, we were looking for a celebrity to perform the opening ceremony and, in my view, there was only one possible candidate. Hamish was delighted to fill that role. He was generous with his praise and we were honoured he gave us his support.
‘His name and memory will live on in all our hearts and minds.’