Eric Langmuir

Eric Duncan Grant Langmuir MBE FRSE (3 May 1931 – 18 September 2005) was a Scottish mountaineer and educationalist.

Education Langmuir attended the independent school Fettes College in Edinburgh (1943–1950) and, after national service, Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read natural sciences (Geology, Zoology and Physiology) from 1952 to 1955.

Climbing In 1954, he established the first modern rock climbing routes on the "Etive Slabs" on Beinn Trilleachan when he went with Mike O'Hara and others "to investigate a report that Eric's father had given of some rocks on Beinn Trilleachan that he had spotted when fishing on the loch and which might be of interest. They made the first ascent of "Sickle" and of "Spartan Slab" (the latter a 3-star classic climb at VS 4c). His alpine climbing included the first British ascent of the NE face of the Piz Badile in 1955.

Career After graduation he worked as an exploration geologist in Canada from 1956 to 1958. near Buxton, (1959–63) The centre employed a number of Britain's leading climbers as instructors and Langmuir appointed Joe Brown as the chief instructor.

From 1963 to 1969 he was the Principal of Glenmore Lodge Outdoor Centre near Aviemore. Prior to his appointment, Glenmore was known for hosting residential courses for schoolchildren, but under Langmuir's influence its focus moved towards providing specialised training in mountain skills, particularly for aspiring mountain leaders. He later became a member of the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland and was its chairman from 1968. in Edinburgh, that and a following publication established a framework for a better understanding of avalanche risk in the Scottish mountains.

In 1976, he became Assistant Director of the Lothian Department of Leisure Service, where his responsibilities included the Hillend ski centre, which had been opened ten years earlier as Britain's largest artificial ski centre, a new sailing training centre at Port Edgar and the setting-up of the Pentland Hills Regional Park. When the Scottish Mountain Leader Training Board was formed in 1964, Langmuir became a leading member.

Langmuir was asked to initiate and edit a new handbook for all those taking part in the Board's training schemes, Later editions of the book, which included a refinement Naismith's rule, were jointly published by the Scottish Sports Council (later to become SportScotland) and the Mountain Leader Training Board, more than 150,000 copies of those first three editions were sold. The book remains in print 20 years after his death and is "the indispensable bible for all who would take parties of young people into the hills".

Honours In recognition of his pioneering work on avalanche prognosis in Scotland, for his publications and his personal contribution to outdoor education and safety in the mountains, Langmuir was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1978. In 1993 the British Association of Ski Instructors named him Honorary President.