The sudden death of Robin Campbell brings to a close one of the most significant and exciting chapters in the history of Scottish mountaineering. Furthermore, as a highly respected authority on the history of the sport, and as a writer of exceptional insight and expressive power, his loss has dealt a massive blow to his many admirers and friends in the climbing community and beyond.

Robin started his climbing career as a self-taught 14-year-old on the relatively benign crags of Craig Y Barns near Dunkeld but he soon moved on to more serious challenges in 1960, when he matriculated as a student at Edinburgh University. His fellow students, Robin Smith and Dougal Haston, were already regarded as two of the leading climbers of their generation and it was not long before Campbell and his partner, Neil Macniven, joined forces with them to form a formidable team. Between them, they established many new routes of high quality and considerable difficulty. It was probably Haston who introduced Robin to another group of local climbers with a prodigious reputation. The “Currie Boys”, as they came to be known, included the Marshall brothers, Jim Moriarty and several other leading exponents. This group was known for being particularly unfriendly to newcomers and, in the case of the older Marshall, for a wicked sense of humour. It is testament to Robin’s acerbic wit and to his climbing abilities that he soon became friends with these daunting characters.

Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, this loose association of “hard men” drove climbing standards higher and ever higher. This was so much the case that a new system of grading to describe the greater degree of difficulty of rock routes had to be devised. The grade of “Very Severe” (VS) had become inadequate for this purpose and shortly afterwards a new grade of “Extreme” (E1, E2 etc) was taken under consideration. Many of the routes from this period are still regarded as classics in terms of their difficulty and commitment and remain as serious test pieces for ambitious young climbers.

Robin Campbell received the Award for Services to Mountain Culture in 2015

Winter snow and ice climbs were often completed in bad weather and darkness. Furthermore, they were achieved without the use of modern devices such as drop-pick axes, front point crampons or tubular ice screws. Routes were established by cutting holds in steep ice and nevé with traditional wooden shafted axes. This was an exhausting business, requiring boldness and stamina in equal measure. Robin often described these as “proper” climbing methods, frequently dismissing more modern approaches – with a characteristic snort – as “cheating”.

This period was probably Robin’s most productive in terms of difficult climbing, but the early and tragic deaths of Smith and Macniven in climbing accidents abroad affected him deeply. Nevertheless, he continued to climb to a high standard with the Edinburgh Squirrels, another group of talented Scottish climbers. Also, at this time and as a member of the Alpine Club he paid several visits to the European Alps, “bagging” many of the 4,000 metre peaks.

As his appetite for demanding physical activity began to diminish, so his interest in literature and writing increased in inverse proportion. The lives and activities of Victorian mountaineers had always interested him and none more so than those of Sir Hugh Munro. Robin was, without doubt, the recognised authority on Munro and his excellent publication “The Munroist’s Companion” is essential reading for any aspiring compleatist of the round. He was involved in the creation of the Munro Society in 2002 and was, at the time of his death, their Honorary President.

He was invited to join the Scottish Mountaineering Club at the remarkably young age of 21 and remained a fiercely loyal and active member for over 60 years. For ten years he served, with great distinction and humour, as Editor of the Club’s annual Journal. His own frequent and widely varied contributions to the Journal, as well as his long service as Club Librarian and Archivist, did much to sustain the SMC’s essential ethos. He was elected President of the Club in 1994 and became an Honorary Vice President in 2016. His huge contribution to Scottish mountain heritage was recognised in 2015 when he received the Award for Services to Mountain Culture at the Fort William Mountain Film Festival.

Robin’s other interests were many and varied. He was a talented musician and had a particular passion for jazz. His garden, created largely by himself and his wife Vicki, afforded him great joy and still gives much pleasure to visitors. He was an excellent cook – a skill which he acquired while working as a relief lighthouse keeper during his university vacations. In middle age he became interested in the history and development of watercolour paintings of mountain landscapes. Typically, by assiduous study he made himself an authority on the subject, and his essays and lectures were well received by members of that discriminating and knowledgeable community.

Robin Campbell was born in Ayr on 28 November 1942. He was educated in Perth where his father, Matthew, was employed in the office of the Town Clerk and his mother, Mollie, was a school secretary. He attended Perth Academy from the age of six. At school he was popular with his peers, not least because of his casual attitude to school discipline and for his ability to match the caustic wit and sarcasm of some of the teaching staff. Resulting confrontations gave much vicarious pleasure to his classmates, usually watching from the safety of the sidelines. Despite this eccentric attitude to school life there was never any question as to the quality of his intellect, and in 1960 he was named Dux of School – no small achievement in view of the extreme selectively and intense competition which characterised Scottish education at that time. In the same year he won a bursary to study mathematics at the University of Edinburgh; he subsequently graduated with honours in mathematics and psychology.

Following three years as a postgraduate researcher at Edinburgh, he was appointed to the University of Stirling as a lecturer in the Department of Psychology. His research interests included the Evolution of Language and Child Development. His published papers are of high quality and are regularly cited by other researchers in these fields. He will be fondly remembered by generations of young people who attended his lively and often entertaining lectures. In turn, he took a close and professional interest in the careers of his postgraduate students, many of whom became personal friends. Shortly before his death he was appointed Honorary Lecturer in the department.

Robin could be intellectually challenging and even intimidating. Certainly, he was never known to suffer fools gladly. Nevertheless, he was by nature a generous and affectionate man. He loved his wife and family above everything, and he cared deeply for his many friends. Always of a cheerful and optimistic nature, he recently confided to a close friend, “I am over 80, still with all my faculties. I have a wonderful wife, and the time and resources to enjoy life. These are some of my very best years!” Eight days later he died, at home, with Vicki at his side – just as he had wished.

Robin will be remembered primarily as a family man and also for his brilliance as an academic, mountaineer and writer. To know Robin was a great privilege. It is hard to believe that we will ever see his like again.

Robin Neil Campbell died on 4 March in Fintry. He is survived by his wife Vicki, his two daughters with Kate – Jenny and Kirsty – and five grandchildren.

Obituaries

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Obituaries: Robin Campbell, accomplished and daring mountaineer and respected authority on the history of the sport