Scottish mountaineer, lecturer, photographer, writer, poet and international mountain guide Hamish Brown MBE is named as the 10th recipient of The Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture.
Nominated by the public and his peers as a mountain hero who celebrates achievement, accomplishment and the spirit of adventure, Hamish joins previous esteemed winners in the Fort William Mountain Festival Hall of Fame alongside other mountaineering greats, Dr Adam Watson, Jimmy Marshall and Ian Sykes.
At 82, Hamish is one of the most accomplished British hill walkers of the past 50 years and is best known for his walking exploits in the Scottish Highlands.
He was the first person to walk all the Munros in a single trip and only used the Isle of Mull and Isle of Skye ferries and a bicycle as transport.
Hamish’s Mountain Walk (1978), his now legendary account of this epic 112 day journey in 1974, featuring 289 peaks and covering 1,639 miles, remains one of the most acclaimed books on the Munros.
Hamish was also the first person to hike seven rounds of the Munros.
Mile Pescod, chairman of The Highland Mountain Culture Association Limited, organisers of The Fort William Mountain Festival, said: “Hamish embodies the passion and the excitement that exploring the wild Scottish landscape entails, and the great desire to share this sense of adventurous wonder with others.
Not only has Hamish explored Scotland and many other mountain areas right across the globe but he has helped countless others do the same and find the same sense of satisfaction. Hamish is a true exponent of mountain culture.”
Over several decades Brown has written beautifully and insightfully of his love for the hills, writing or editing more than 30 books and numerous articles for newspapers, guide books and outdoor magazines.
He followed his 1974 Munros walk with the longest trip over the English, Irish and Welsh peaks, told in another best seller, Hamish’s Groats End Walk. Some of his more distant treks to Corsica, Norway, the Andes, Atlas and Himalayas were covered in his book The Great Walking Adventure.
Hamish has edited two classic poetry books: Poems of the Scottish Hills and Speak to the Hills, besides having volumes of his own poems, including Time Gentlemen and short stories published.
Born in Colombo in Sri Lanka on 13 August 1934, Hamish lived in Japan for a time and then Singapore, escaping with his family in 1942 as it fell to the Japanese. He lived in South Africa for two years as a refugee before returning to live in Scotland at the end of World War II.
His family lived in Dollar and Hamish, who was educated at Dollar Academy, spent much of his youth exploring the nearby Ochil Hills. This was what really awakened his interest in the outdoor life.
In 1997 Brown received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letter from the University of St Andrews for his contribution to mountain writing and poetry. In 2000, he was made an MBE for his educational work and a fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
In May 2007, he was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.
The award will be presented to Hamish Brown during the Fort William Mountain Festival which runs in and around Fort William and Lochaber, The Outdoor Capital of the UK, from 15 to 19 February 2017.
The 3rd Scottish Youth Ambassador for Mountain Culture will also receive their award at the same time.