At the height of his powers; Richard Moore speaks to Hamish MacInnes,

Surrounded by the mountains around his home in Glencoe, Hamish MacInnes, a stern and appropriately authoritative look on his face, surveys the scene. It's an unusual one for one of Scotland's true (and living) climbing legends: the inside of the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

A specially commissioned portrait of MacInnes is the centrepiece of a new exhibition, On Top of the World, devoted to reflecting the important contribution made by Scots to the world of mountaineering.

Equally, the new painting by acclaimed artist and keen mountaineer Rob Maclaurin, the Scottish artist now based in Australia, is a fitting tribute to the 71-year old MacInnes, a pioneer in more than one area.

On Top of the World opened on Friday (and will run until 19 January 2003), but the MacInnes portrait only arrived from Australia earlier this week and the subject hasn't even seen it yet. "I feel like the Queen before she saw that last one," he laughs. "I was approached for the painting and they mentioned that Rob Maclaurin used to climb and that he was quite keen on what I did," he says.

"I'm not into art in a big way, but some of his work is quite exceptional. He's a very talented bloke but I hope he hasn't come to an abrupt halt with this."

The first question you must ask concerns how he'd like to be described. It's far from straightforward. The entry in Who's Who for Hamish MacInnes OBE (1979), BEM, runs to 18 lines and makes mention of some of his notable achievements: that he's the founder of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team; a filmmaker; author; deputy leader of the successful British Everest Expedition of 1975; and designer of climbing equipment, including the first all-metal ice axe and world- renowned MacInnes stretchers.

Currently updating two of his books - High Drama and The Price of Adventure - MacInnes is as busy as ever. Deadlines loom like forbidding mountains. "The deadline has actually passed," he jokes. "I've got a new one. So I'm burning the midnight oil."

He's not joking there, surviving, as he is wont to do, on just four hours sleep a night, a routine that sees him retiring at midnight and rising at 4am.

With some understatement, he comments: "I seem to work quite well on that." Some of his books are works of fiction, some factual, but the most famous is perhaps his International Mountain Rescue Handbook, in print since 1972 and recognised as a bible for rescue teams everywhere.

It is for his contribution to mountain rescue that MacInnes is perhaps best known, a fact that possibly reflects a desire on his part to make a difference not just in Scotland but throughout the world. In this he says he's only following a tradition almost as old as mountaineering itself.

"It's very interesting," he says. "The first rescue in Mont Blanc area was in 1866; and in this book I'm working on now there's an account of a rescue on Ben Nevis in 1861. That's amazing. You see: Scotland has a very old history of climbing and pioneering.

"Climbing started for me, as with most people, as the pursuit of pleasure, and that kind of developed into a way of life. I certainly have very fond memories of my climbing experiences, all over the world, but one of my lasting 'hobbies' if you like, is mountain rescue, and developing rescue equipment. It gives me a lot of satisfaction because it's something a lot of people will get a direct benefit from. I've been lucky to have this inclin-ation for design work."

A constant awareness of the danger, and an accompanying lack of arrogance, MacInnes accepts, are essential comp-onents in any climber with the desire to enjoy a long career. His mountain rescue experiences only reinforced the point.

"Every time you go out you see someone's mistake," he says, "or you see what's caused the accident, and you remember these things. It doesn't mean you're less daring, but you go into a situation with more know-ledge. And you've probably more chance of survival."

In this technological age this climber-cum-inventor has embraced any advances and innovations designed to improve safety. "I'm a computer freak," he says. "I'm into gadgetry. It used to be chess that I was into. On expeditions Chris Bonington and I played a lot of chess. I think Chris is one game up on me."

Mention of Bonington underlines MacInnes' status in the climbing world. Yet if it was celebrity he'd wanted he wouldn't have chosen to make his name in this activity, and he wouldn't have devoted so much time and energy to mountain rescue.

"I don't think climbers generally feel the need for PR," he says. "They go climbing to get away from that sort of thing. I'm no different, though I think it's certainly a good thing to celebrate the early pioneers. I think Scotland has certainly left its mark in the world of mountaineering."

He still climbs regularly in Scotland, which he loves. "I know the weather's grim, but it's a great place to climb," he says. He's never short of invitations, meanwhile, to join more exotic expeditions. Despite several attempts, and being deputy leader of the 1975 expedition, he never made it to the summit of Everest. Is this a matter of regret?

"Not really. The '75 expedition did succeed but I got caught in the avalanche with Dougal Haston. I didn't have any aspirations to go back. People tend to underestimate it, particularly people who are not climbers. It's highly dangerous as soon as you go up to that zone.

"I was invited the other day to join an expedition of which I'm the patron, to Mt Roraima, 'the Lost World,' in Venezuela. I would think that's probably the most inhospitable place in the world, so I don't think I'd really want to go back. Too many creepy crawlies."

He laughs again at this, but becomes more serious when he returns to talking about mountain rescue. It's an unusual mix, I suggest, to have the individual drive and focus necessary to become a top climber, and also the altruistic streak to devote so much to mountain rescue, not to mention the development of new equipment.

"No, I think it's understandable with me because I'm a mountain- eer and I have an interest in helping my friends," he argues. "But a lot of people who join rescue teams are not mountaineers - that's remarkable."

On Top of the World is showing at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, until January 19. Admission is free.

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