The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide

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The Munros were first listed by Sir Hugh Munro (1856 - 1919) in his 'Munros Tables', published in the Journal of the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) in 1891. Sir Hugh divided the summits into 283 seperate mountains (now known as the Munros), whilst 255 further summits over 3000 feet were considered to be only subsidiary 'Tops'. His list caused quite a stir at the time, as it had previously been thought that there were only around 30 mountains of that height.

The Munros are generally recognized by the classification set out by Sir Hugh Munro which detailed over 500 separate hills in Scotland over 3,000 foot high. He separated his list in to main and subsidiary summits so in effect there are 2 lists now commonly referred to as the Munros and the Tops. In 2017 over 6,000 people have completed the Munro main summits. Database of British and Irish Hills - not just Munros, Munro Tops and Murdos, but lots of hill-lists throughout the UK and Ireland. The books give numerous routes for the hills and also grade the scrambling and climbing routes too.What do others have these days? Is the "The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide" the holy bible? SMC Corbetts too? What about Ralph Storer volumes? or the cicerone guides? We hired a guide for Day 2 over the Inaccessible Pinnacle to Sgurr Alasdair. After the midge JP and myself then climbed Blaven Day 1

Just now, when so many people can’t reach the Munros due to the Covid pandemic restrictions, it’s a book that will be longingly lingered over and browsed through.The mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914.4 metres) in height are called the Munros. Named after Hugh Munro, the first person to compile a list of them in 1891, there were were originally 283 Munros. The list has grown and shrunk over the years - in 1984 it was 277, in 1997 it grew to 284 and in September 2009 it returned to 283 after Sgurr nan Ceannaichean was re-measured and found to miss the magic height by 1 metre. Sir Hugh had been planning to revise his list of Munros, and after his death the SMC took over the job of keeping the list upto date. The first revised edition was publised in 1921, and several further changes were made - the most recent revision being in 2012. There are currently 282 Munros and 226 Tops.

Alistair introduced to the Munros on ‘the Sea’ near Glencoe but two long days on the Aonachs and over Ben Avon were the main features of the visit. It was becoming very difficult to stay in one basic venue as the remaining Munros were becoming spread out. Day 1 The descriptions of the routes are much clearer than I recall from the previous edition and also give the total distance, height gain and estimated time for the full route. The Munros book was previously criticised for giving only the time to the summit and not the return or the whole route. A long day over the Grey Corries in cloudy weather. The ridge twisted and turned which I lengthened by taking in the westerley top. We also drove to the 3 near Loch Quoich which involved the only time I returned to the car for lunch and started again. Day 1 I too prefer the Cicerone/Steve Kew guides. Concise and informative but timings are lively! I've been 20-25% out on times . But maybe he's younger than me . Too heavy for a day on the hills though. When I first started walking Munros with my (now) husband, it was Gordie that showed me the routes in his 3rd edition (revised in 2006) of the SMC’s The Munros book. He would plan every walk after poring over the routes and descriptions. (The book is now quite tatty but it looks great because it is obviously well-used.)I would surmise that such ample compensation would struggle to exert itself on his Beinn a’ Ghlò traverse of 1891! Having found myself with some spare work time (!) I naturally travelled up for a few days in Scotland, the culmination being a long day on the big hills of Affric. The weather was poor throughout and I did not have a tent so the options I had were a little limited. Affric is a lovely spot but always seems a little midge friendly to stay. The midge are without doubt the hidden menace of Scotland. You have to have suffered at their hands to understand the misery they inflict and it is impossible to explain to others who have not experienced them how evil they are. A late start ensured a high camp on the Fannichs. The ridge is probably achievable in a day but it was good to split the ridge up and similar to the Cairngorms camp high on the hillside. The longest tour undertaken, 6 days in the hills. Day 1