Munro

Sgurr Fiona and the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles of An Teallach

A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 ft (914.4 m). They are named after Sir Hugh Munro (1856–1919), who produced the first compilation of a catalogue of such hills, known as Munro's Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain.

History

Before 1891 and the publication of Munro's Tables there was considerable uncertainty about the number of peaks in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914 m). Estimates ranged from as few as 31 in the guides written by M.J.B. Baddeley, up to 236 listed by Robert Hall in the third edition of The Highland Sportsman and Tourist, published in 1884. One of the aims of the Scottish Mountaineering Club, formed in 1889, was to rectify this situation and accurately document all of Scotland's mountains over 3000 feet. Sir Hugh Munro, a founding member of the Club, took on the task using his own experience as a mountaineer, as well as detailed study of the Ordnance Survey Six-inch to the mile and One-inch to the mile map series.^[1][2]

Munro's research produced a set of tables which were published in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal in September 1891. They listed 538 summits over 3000 feet, of which 283 were regarded as "separate mountains"; the term Munro applies to the latter, while the lesser summits are known as tops. Munro did not set any measure of topographic prominence by which a peak qualified as a separate mountain, and much debate has since taken place over how distinct two hills must be if they are to be considered as two separate Munros.

The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) have carried out a number of revisions of the tables, both in response to new height data on Ordnance Survey maps and to address the perceived inconsistency as to which peaks qualify for Munro status. Info from Alan Dawsons book Relative hills of Britain, Cicerone,1992 made it obvious that three tops not considered summits had over 500ft of prominence and would hence have qualified as Corbett summits had they been under 3000 feet. It also highlighted a number of significant tops with as much as 60 metres prominence, had also not been included as Munro subsidiary tops. As of new 1997 tables these three tops on Beinn Alligin, Beinn Eighe and Buachaille Etive Beag, plus five others have gained full Munro summit status. Other classification schemes in Scotland, such as the Corbetts 2,500–3,000 ft (760–910 m) and Grahams 2,000–2,500 ft (610–760 m), require a peak to have a prominence of 500 feet for inclusion. The Munros however, still lack a rigid set of criteria for inclusion, with many summits of lesser prominence listed. The 1997 tables ironed out many anomalies. Despite it being the most high profile hill list in UK, in a number of people’s eyes, the list still is, and will probably remain, not wholly satisfactory.

During May and July 2009 several mountains were re-surveyed by the Munro Society to determine a more accurate height reading for those mountains which are known to be close to the 3,000 ft figure. In a press release on 10 September 2009 it was announced that the mountain Sgurr nan Ceannaichean, south of Glen Carron, has a height of 913.43 metres (2,996.8 ft).^[3] As a result of the re-surveys the Scottish Mountaineering Club removed the Munro status of Sgurr nan Ceannaichean and this mountain is now a Corbett.^[4]

The current revision of the tables, published in 2009, lists 283 Munros and 227 further subsidiary tops.

Bagging the Munros

Deteriorating weather conditions on The Saddle in winter

Despite their relatively modest height compared with some continental ranges, walking and climbing in the Scottish mountains may be made treacherous by their latitude and exposure to Atlantic weather systems. Even in summer, conditions can be atrocious; thick fog, strong winds, driving rain and freezing summit temperatures are not unusual.

Winter ascents of certain Munros are widely accepted to provide among the most challenging ice climbs in Europe. Some walkers are unprepared for the often extreme weather conditions on the exposed tops and many fatalities are recorded every year, often resulting from slips on wet rock or ice.

Some hillwalkers climb Munros with an eye to climbing every single one, a practice known as "Munro bagging". Having climbed all of them, a walker is entitled to be called a Munroist. Munro-bagging is a form of peak bagging.

Perhaps the most famous Munro is Ben Nevis in the Lochaber area. It is the highest peak in the British Isles, with an altitude of 1,344 metres (4,409 ft). Other well-known Munros include:

• Ben Lomond, the most southerly of the Munros
• Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm in the Cairngorms
• Buachaille Etive Mòr at the entrance to Glencoe, one of the most photographed Munros
• Beinn Eighe in Torridon
• Liathach in Torridon
• Lochnagar, a mountain near the Royal Castle of Balmoral in the area of Glen Muick
• Schiehallion, a mountain often described as lying at the centre of Scotland
• Sgurr nan Gillean, Sgurr Alasdair and the Inaccessible Pinnacle, in the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye

Notable completions

As of 2009, more than 4,000 people have completed the Munros.^[5] The SMC, who maintain a list of those Munroists who have reported completing the Munros, have attempted to popularise the archaic spelling of compleation.^[6]

Hugh Munro never completed his own list, missing out on Càrn an Fhidhleir and Càrn Cloich-mhuillin (downgraded to a "top" in 1981).^[7] Sir Hugh is said to have missed the Inaccessible Pinnacle of Sgurr Dearg, on the Isle of Skye, which he never climbed.^[8] However the "In Pinn", as it is known colloquially within Scottish mountaineering, was not included on his list (despite being several metres higher than Sgurr Dearg, which was).^[9]

The first "compleationist" was to be the Reverend A. E. Robertson, in 1901.^[7] However, research has cast doubt on this claim, and it is not certain that he reached the summit of Ben Wyvis.^[10] Also it is known that Robertson did not climb the Inaccessible Peak of Sgurr Dearg.^[11] If Robertson is discounted, the first Munroist is Ronald Burn, who completed in 1923. Burn is also (indisputedly) the first person to climb all the subsidiary "tops".^[7]

Hamish Brown did the first continuous self-propelled round of the Munros (except for the Skye and Mull ferries) between 4 April and 24 July 1974 walking 1,639 mi (2,638 km), 150 mi (241 km) of which were on a bicycle, with 449,000 ft (137,000 m) of ascent. The walk is fully documented in his book Hamish's Mountain Walk,^[12] which is credited with kick-starting the popularity of Munro-bagging as a hobby. The average time taken to bag all the Munros is eight years.^[13]

The first reported completion of all the Munros plus the subsidiary tops in one continuous expedition was by Chris Townsend in 1996. His trip lasted between May 18 and September 12 (118 days), he covered a distance of 1,770 miles (2,849 km) (240 miles / 386 kilometres by bicycle) with 575,000 ft (175,000 m) of ascent. The round was broken twice for spells at the office.^[14]

The first person to complete a winter round (all the Munros in one winter season) was Martin Moran in 1984/85. His journey lasted between December 21, 1984 and March 13, 1985 (83 days), he walked 1,028 miles (1,654 km) with 412,000 ft (126,000 m) of ascent. He used motor transport (Campervan) to link his walk.^[15]

In the winter of 2005/06, Steve Perry completed a continuous unsupported round entirely on foot (and ferry). He is also the first person to have completed two continuous Munro rounds, having also walked Land's End to John O'Groats via every mainland 3000 ft mountain between 18 February 2003 and 30 September 2003.^[16]

Charlie Campbell, a former postman from Glasgow, held the record for the fastest round of the Munros as of 2006^[update]. He completed the round in 48 days 12 hours, finishing on 16 July 2000, on Ben Hope.

Stephen Pyke of Glasgow completed the round in 39 days, 9 hours, starting on the island of Mull on 25 April 2010 and finishing on Ben Hope in Sutherland on 3 June. He cycled and kayaked between Munros; no motorised transport was used. He was backed by a support team in a motor home, but had to camp out in the remoter areas.^[17]

The person with the most rounds of Munros is Steven Fallon from Edinburgh, who has having 'completed' thirteen rounds as of 2006.^[13]

Chris Smith became the first Member of Parliament to complete the Munros when he reached the summit of Sgurr nan Coireachan on 27 May 1989.^[18]

See also

The SMC recognises six peaks in England, fifteen in Wales and thirteen in Ireland that would be Munros or Munro Tops if they were in Scotland. These are referred to as Furth Munros.^[19]

• List of Munros
• Hill lists in the British Isles
• Mountains and hills of Scotland

References

Notations

• The Munros (SMC Guide), Donald Bennet et al., ISBN 0-907521-13-4

Footnotes

External links

• Scottish Mountaineering Club official Munros page, including completionists.
• MunroMagic – details and route descriptions for all Munros. (Some content requires registration.)
• Walk Highlands guide to the Munros - includes free OS maps and GPS routes for each Munro, and detailed descriptions.
• The Munros and Tops 1891-1997 - Spreadsheet showing changes in successive versions of Munro's Tables.
• ScottishHills.com - Hillwalking forum with Munro, Corbett, Graham and Donalds log, maps and trip reports.

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