A Munro is a Scottish mountain with a height over 3,000 feet (914.4 metres). They are named after Sir Hugh Munro (1856–1919), who produced the first attempt at an exhaustive catalogue of such hills, known as Munro's Tables, in 1891.
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History
Before the publication of Munro's Tables there was considerable uncertainty about the number of +3,000 ft peaks in Scotland, with estimates ranging from 30 to over 300. Sir Hugh Munro's original list, published in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal in September 1891, 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. As of 1997, all peaks with a prominence of 500 feet (152.4 m) or more have been given Munro status. This has resulted in the subsidiary summits of several well-known mountains, such as Beinn Alligin, Beinn Eighe and Buachaille Etive Mòr, gaining Munro status. This is in line with other classification schemes in Scotland, such as the Corbetts (2500–3000 feet) and Grahams (2000–2500 feet), which require a peak to have a prominence of 500 feet for inclusion; however, the Munros still lack a rigid set of criteria for inclusion, with many summits of lesser prominence listed. The current revision, published in 1997, lists 284 Munros and 227 further subsidiary tops. They are all in the Scottish Highlands, north of the Highland Boundary Fault.
Climbing the Munros
Despite their modest height, 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. Sadly, 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 the most popular form of peak bagging. Probably the most famous Munro is Ben Nevis in the Lochaber area. It is the highest peak in Scotland and the entire United Kingdom, with an altitude of 1,344 m (4,410 ft). Other famous Munros include:
- Lochnagar, a mountain near the Royal Castle of Balmoral in the area of Glen Muick
- Sgurr nan Gillean, Sgurr Alasdair and the Inaccessible Pinnacle, in the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye
- Liathach in Torridon
- The Devil's Point, Cairn Gorm and Ben Macdui in the Cairngorms
- Ben Lomond, the most southerly of the Munros.
- Schiehallion, a mountain often described as lying at the centre of Scotland
Notable completions
As of 2007, more than 4,000 people have completed the Munros. The SMC, who maintain a list of all Munroists, have attempted to popularise the archaic spelling of compleation. Hugh Munro never completed his own list, missing out on Càrn an Fhidhleir and Càrn Cloich-mhuillin. Sir Hugh is often credited with missing out the Inaccessible Pinnacle of Sgurr Dearg, on the Isle of Skye, which he never climbed. However the "In Pinn" was not included on his list (despite being several metres higher than Sgurr Dearg, which was). The first "compleationist" is generally believed to be the Reverend A. E. Robertson, in 1901. However, research has cast doubt on this claim, and it is not certain that he reached the summit of Ben Wyvis. 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". 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 miles (2,638 km), 150 km of which were on a bicycle, with 449,000 feet (137 km) of ascent. The walk is fully documented in his book Hamish's Mountain Walk, which is often credited with kick-starting the popularity of Munro-bagging as a hobby. Most munro-baggers take several years to complete this challenge. The first reported completion of all the Munros plus the subsidiary tops in one continuous expedition was Chris Townsend in 1996. The round was broken twice for spells at the office. The first person to complete a winter round (all the Munros in one winter season) was Martin Moran in 1985. In the winter of 2005/2006, Steve Perry completed a continuous unsupported round entirely on foot (and ferry). Charlie Campbell, a former postman from Glasgow, holds the record for the fastest round of the Munros as of 2006. He completed the round in 48 days 12 hours, finishing on 16 July 2000, on Ben Hope. The person with the most rounds of munros is Steven Fallon from Edinburgh, having 'compleated' 13 rounds in 2006. 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.
See also
External links
- Scottish Mountaineering Club official Munros page, including completionists.
- MunroMagic – details and route descriptions for all Munros. (Some content requires registration.)
- The Munros and Tops 1891-1997 - Spreadsheet showing changes in successive versions of Munro's Tables.
