Munro


A Munro is defined as a mountain in Scotland with a height over, and which is on the Scottish Mountaineering Club official list of Munros; there is no explicit topographical prominence requirement. The best known Munro is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at.
Munros are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet, who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munro's Tables, in 1891. Also included were what Munro considered lesser peaks, now known as Munro Tops, which are also over 3,000 feet but are lower than the nearby primary mountain. The publication of the original list is usually considered to be the epoch event of modern peak bagging. The list has been the subject of subsequent variation and as of 10 August 2019, the Scottish Mountaineering Club has listed 282 Munros and 227 Munro Tops.
"Munro bagging" is the activity of climbing all the listed Munros. As of 2 July 2020, 6,768 people had reported completing a round. The first continuous round was completed by Hamish Brown in 1974, whilst the record for the fastest continuous round is currently held by Stephen Pyke, who completed a round in just under 40 days in 2010. Furths are mountains in England, Wales or Ireland recognized by the SMC as meeting the Munro classification.

History

Before the publication of Munro's Tables in 1891, there was much uncertainty about the number of Scottish peaks over 3,000 feet. Estimates ranged from 31 to 236. When the Scottish Mountaineering Club was formed in 1889, one of its aims was to remedy this by accurately documenting all of Scotland's mountains over 3,000 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 inches to the mile and one-inch to the mile maps.
Munro researched and produced a set of tables that were published in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal in September 1891. The tables listed 538 summits over 3,000 feet, 282 of which were regarded as "separate mountains". The term Munro applies to separate mountains, while the lesser summits are known as Munro Tops. Munro did not set any measure of topographic prominence by which a peak qualified as a separate mountain, so there has been much debate about how distinct two hills must be if they are to be counted as two separate Munros.
The Scottish Mountaineering Club has revised 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. In 1992, the publication of Alan Dawson's book Relative Hills of Britain, showed that three Munro Tops not already considered summits, had a prominence of more than. Given this they would have qualified as Corbett summits had they been under 3,000 feet. In the 1997 tables these three Munro Tops, on Beinn Alligin, Beinn Eighe and Buachaille Etive Beag, gained full Munro summit status. Dawson's book also highlighted a number of significant Munro Tops with as much as of prominence which were not listed as Munro Tops. The 1997 tables promoted five of these to full Munro status.
197 Munros have a topographic prominence of over and are regarded by Peakbaggers as Real Munros. 88 Scottish mountains over 1000m, with a topographic prominence of over have been termed Metric Munros.
Other classification schemes in Scotland, such as the Corbetts and Grahams, require a peak to have a prominence of at least for inclusion. The Munros, however, lack a rigid set of criteria for inclusion, with many summits of lesser prominence listed, principally because their summits are hard to reach.
During May and July 2009 the Munro Society re-surveyed several mountains that are known to be close to the 3,000 ft figure to determine their height more accurately. On 10 September 2009 the society announced that the mountain Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean, south of Glen Carron, had a height of. Therefore, the Scottish Mountaineering Club removed the Munro status of Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean and this mountain is now a Corbett. In a Summer 2011 height survey by The Munro Society, Beinn a' Chlaidheimh was found to be and thus short of the Munro mark. On 6 September 2012, the Scottish Mountaineering Club demoted it from Munro to Corbett status. On 10 August 2019 the SMC confirmed that Mullach nan Coirean East Top had been added to the list of Munro Tops.
As of 10 August 2019, the Scottish Mountaineering Club lists 282 Munros and 227 Munro Tops. The current SMC list; totals 509 summits.

Notable peaks

The most famous Munro is Ben Nevis in the Lochaber area. It is the highest peak in the British Isles, with an elevation of 4,411.18 ft
Other well-known Munros include:
Compared with some continental ranges, Scottish mountains might be modest in height, but walking and climbing in them can be treacherous because of their latitude and exposure to Atlantic and Arctic 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 some Munros are serious undertakings due to the unpredictable weather, the likelihood of ice and snow, and poor visibility. Some walkers are unprepared for extreme weather on the exposed tops and fatalities are recorded every year, often resulting from slips on wet rock or ice.
Some hillwalkers aim to climb every Munro, known as "Munro bagging". Munro-bagging is a form of peak bagging. A walker who has climbed all Munros is entitled to be called a Munroist.

Notable completions

By 2 July 2020, 6,768 people had completed the Munros. The Scottish Mountaineering Club, who maintain a list of those Munroists who have reported completing the Munros, 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 said to have missed the Inaccessible Pinnacle of Sgùrr Dearg, on the Isle of Skye, which he never climbed. However the "In Pinn", as it is known colloquially within Scottish mountaineering, was only listed as a Munro Top on his list.
The first "completionist" was to be the Reverend A. E. Robertson, in 1901, later minister at Braes of Rannoch from 1907. However, research has cast doubt on this claim, and it is not certain that he reached the summit of Ben Wyvis. Also it is known that Robertson did not climb the Inaccessible Peak of Sgùrr Dearg. If Robertson is discounted, the first Munroist is Ronald Burn, who completed in 1923. Burn is also the first person to climb all the Munro Tops.
The person with the most rounds of Munros is Steven Fallon from Edinburgh, who has completed 16 rounds as of 1 October 2019.
Chris Smith became the first Member of Parliament to complete the Munros when he reached the summit of Sgùrr nan Coireachan on 27 May 1989.
Ben Fleetwood is probably the youngest person to have completed a round. He climbed the final Munro of his round – Ben More – on 30 August 2011 at the age of 10 years and 3 months. The youngest completionist to have done the round without the presence of a parent or a guardian is probably Andy Nisbet, who finished his round in 1972 aged 18 years and 1 month.

Continuous rounds

did the first continuous self-propelled round of the Munros between 4 April and 24 July 1974 with of ascent and mostly walking – just were on a bicycle. The journey is fully documented in his book Hamish's Mountain Walk. The average time taken to bag all the Munros is eight years.
The first reported completion of all the Munros plus the Munro Tops in one continuous expedition was by Chris Townsend in 1996. His trip lasted between 18 May and 12 September, he covered a distance of with of ascent. The round was broken twice for spells at the office, which could be regarded as stretching the meaning of "continuous".
The first person to complete a winter round was Martin Moran in 1984/85. His journey lasted between 21 December 1984 and 13 March 1985, he walked with of ascent. He used motor transport to link his walk.
In the winter of 2005/06, Steve Perry completed a continuous unsupported round entirely on foot. 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 3,000 ft mountain between 18 February 2003 and 30 September 2003.

Fastest round

Charlie Campbell, a former postman from Glasgow, held the record for the fastest round of the Munros between 2000 and 2010. He completed his round in 48 days 12 hours, finishing on 16 July 2000, on Ben Hope. He cycled and swam between Munros; no motorised transport was used. His record was broken by Stephen Pyke of Stone, Staffordshire, in 2010 who completed the round in 39 days, 9 hours. Pyke's round started on the island of Mull on 25 April 2010 and finished on Ben Hope in Sutherland on 3 June 2010. 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 more remote areas. The women's self-propelled, continuous record is held by Libby Kerr and Lisa Trollope. They completed their round on 17 September 2017, in 76 days and 10 hours.
On 18 September 2011 Alex Robinson and Tom O'Connell finished a self-propelled continuous round on Ben Hope in a time of 48 days 6 hours and 56 minutes. At the age of just 21, Alex became the youngest person to have completed a continuous round without the use of any motorised transport.

Furths

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, i.e. the Munros furth of Scotland. The first recorded Furthist is James Parker, who completed on Tryfan on 19 April 1929.

Notations