John Cunningham was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 climber. Born in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, he climbed extensively in the Scottish mountains

Mountains and hills of Scotland

Scotland is the most mountainous country in the United Kingdom. The area north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault is known as the Highlands, and contains the country's main mountain ranges. Scotland's mountain ranges, in a rough north to south direction are: The Highlands & Islands, The Hills...

, where he pioneered new techniques of ice climbing

Ice climbing

Ice climbing, as the term indicates, is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water. For the purposes of...

. He worked for the British Antarctic Survey

British Antarctic Survey

The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....

 for several years. Mount Cunningham

Mount Cunningham

Mount Cunningham is a mountain, , at the west end of South Georgia's Esmark Glacier, between Jossac Bight and Queen Maud Bay. The mountain was named after John C. Cunningham as a memorial when he died in 1980. John was a well known Scottish climber who spent many years developing innovative ice...

 (1218 metres (3,996.1 ft)), overlooking Queen Maud Bay

Queen Maud Bay

Queen Maud Bay is a V-shaped bay 2.5 miles wide at the entrance, lying immediately north of Nunez Peninsula along the south coast of South Georgia. Roughly charted in 1819 by a Russian expedition under Bellingshausen, it was named prior to 1922 for Queen Maud, wife of King Haakon VII of Norway,...

 in South Georgia, is named after him. He was swept out to sea while climbing on Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

in 1980. He was the subject of a biography, Creagh Dhu Climber, the life and times of John Cunningham published by Ernest Press.