Jimmy Marshall, the architect of modern Scottish climbing, has become the third person whose contribution to mountaineering and Mountain Culture is recognised by the prestigious Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture. 

This unique and national annual award, set up in 2008 by the Highland Mountain Culture Association Ltd, organisers of the Fort William Mountain Festival, and sponsored by Rio Tinto Alcan, celebrates the achievements and accomplishments of one inspiring individual and their outstanding contributions to Scotland's mountains, encompassing sport, theatre, art, photography, film and literature. 

Though a relative unsung hero of Scottish and UK mountaineering Jimmy Marshall has been inextricably linked to the development of cutting edge climbing in Scotland since the 1950's and 60's.  In one legendary week on Ben N]]>/news/Dave_MacLeod_and_Andy_Turner__The_Great_Chimney_Historic_Repeat__2424.html2010-02-0850 years to the day, after Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith set  in motion the wheels of modern Scottish winter climbing, Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner repeat The Great Chimney  (IV,5) on the north face of Ben Nevis. The repeat on the 50th anniversary (Saturday) was devised as part of the 2010 Fort William Mountain Festival, which will also see repeats of 5 more routes that Marshall and Smith achieved in six consecutive days of climbing in February of 1960. The original routes by Marshall and Smith included in addition to The Great Chimney:

Minus Three Gully (IV,5) 7th February 1960

Smith's Route (V,5) 8th February 1960

Observatory Buttress (V,4) 9th February 1960

Point Five Gully (V,5) 10th February 1960

Piggot's Route (V,6) 12th February 1960

Orion Direct (V,5) 13th February 1960

Any number of challenges could stop MacLeod and Turner's repeat attempts. The weather and conditi]]>/news/Centercourt_Repeated_2425.html2010-02-08On January 19th, top Slovenian ice climbers Klemen Premrl and Aljaz Anderle made the second ascent of Centercourt (WI7+) in Austria's Gasteinertal. First ascensionist Albert Leichtfried suggested the route might rank as one of the world's hardest pure ice climbs (read the full story on the first ascent on the planetmountain website here).

Premrl and Anderle engaged in the very steep, thin and sustained ice of Centercourt. Photo: Josef Inhoeger

The pair travelled to the Gasteinertal in mid-January and warmed up on some of the classic hard ice routes in the valley before turning their attention to the challenge of the rarely-formed line of Centercourt. The two climbers managed to repeat]]>/news/Six_Winter_Ascents_of_Ben_Nevis_on_Six_Consecutive_Days_2422.html2010-02-05/news/Staff_Wanted_planetFear_Store_2421.html2010-02-04