Whillans was an apprentice plumber when he started his climbing career with Joe Brown in 1951. Whillans met Brown while climbing at
the Roaches in
Staffordshire. When Brown's climbing partner failed to follow him up a new route, Whillans asked if he could try—and subsequently led the second
pitch of Brown's new route, which became known as "Matinee". From rock climbing he expanded into mountaineering with trips to the
Alps where ascents included the "
Bonatti Pillar" of the
Dru and the first ascent with
Chris Bonington,
Jan Długosz and
Ian Clough of the Central Pillar of
Freney on
Mont Blanc. In 1957 he made his first visit to the
greater ranges on an expedition to
Masherbrum () in the
Karakoram. The expedition was unsuccessful: Bob Downes died on the mountain and the highest point reached by the team was about below the summit. Other more successful expeditions followed: in 1962 with Bonington he made the first ascent of the Central
Torres del Paine in
Patagonia, and with
Dougal Haston he made the first ascent of the south face of
Annapurna in
Bonington's 1970 expedition. These experiences led to his participation on the expeditions to
Everest in 1971 and 1972. Whillans was attributed with safety and mountain awareness, as evidenced by his retreat from the
Eiger North Face on several occasions because of bad weather or rockfall. He had few climbing accidents, such as when a fixed rope on the Central Torres del Paine snapped and he managed to put his weight on the holds with split-second timing before retying the rope.
Personality Whillans participated in the
1971 International Expedition and
1972 European Everest Expedition, each attempting to climb
Mount Everest's southwest face. The latter expedition was plagued with personality conflicts and the withdrawal of many climbers. While in camp, other climbers overheard news that England had lost a football match to Germany. "It seems we have beaten you at your national sport", said a German. After a pause Whillans replied, "Aye, and we've beaten you at yours...twice." Whillans was a heavy drinker, which harmed his career after the expedition to Annapurna and may have contributed to his early death. Although he was only tall, he had a reputation as a brawler and stories of his prowess circulated. He designed mountaineering equipment, including the "Whillans Harness", once described as designed to safely transport beer-guts to great height, and the "Whillans-box" expedition tent. ==Death==