Short listed for Boardman Tasker Award 1999

Jock Nimlin is best known as a pioneering climber of the 1920s and 30s who made many first ascents, particularly at Arrochar but also of Raven's Gully on Buachaille Etive Mor. He was a legend amongst the working-class climbing fraternity in those years, remarkable for his climbing ability, his physical toughness and his total commitment to the outdoor life. With his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Scottish highlands and an innate talent as a communicator - both around the bothy fire and in the written word - he was a seminal figure in Scottish mountaineering.

Later in life these skills were put to use when he became the first field officer for the National Trust for Scotland and organised field-trips to the Cairngorms in search of semi-precious stones (another of his passions) and sea voyages to St Kilda.

Jock was also a life-long socialist with a deep sense of social justice. His father died when Jock was only ten and poverty was a close companion during his childhood. He grew up under the influence of the Red Clydesiders and the Independent Labour Party, but he never became embittered politically, always maintaining his pawky Glaswegian humour and a balanced outlook.