Munro
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 (1:10,560) and one-inch-to-the-mile (1:63,360) maps.
[5][6] Munro researched and produced a set of tables that were published in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal in September 1891.
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 500 feet (152.4 m).
Between April 2007 and July 2015 the Munro Society re-surveyed twenty mountains and tops that were known to be close to the 3,000 ft figure to determine their height more accurately.
[11] On 10 September 2009 the society announced that the mountain Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean, south of Glen Carron, had a height of 2,996 feet 10 inches (913.43 m).
However, walking and climbing in them can still be dangerous and difficult to navigate the recommended routes due to their latitude and exposure to Atlantic and Arctic weather systems.
[61][62] Even in summer, the weather can change quickly in the mountains[63] and conditions can be atrocious; thunderstorms, thick fog, strong winds, driving rain and freezing summit temperatures close to 0°C are not unusual.
[64] Winter ascents of some Munros are serious undertakings[65] due to the unpredictable weather, the likelihood of ice and snow, and poor visibility.
Each ascent becomes a test of skill, endurance, and determination, as trekkers navigate through snowdrifts, icy slopes, and unpredictable weather conditions.
[66] Some hikers try even unprepared for extreme weather on the exposed tops and fatalities are recorded every year,[67][65] often resulting from slips on wet rock or ice.
[75] 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.
[83] 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.
[84] In 1990, international fell runner and maths teacher Hugh Symonds of Sedbergh, Yorkshire, ran all 277 Munros starting from Ben Hope.
[85] In July 1992, Andrew Johnstone of Aberdeen and Rory Gibson of Edinburgh completed their mountain triathlon across the Munros, the 277 Scottish peaks over 3,000 ft, beating the existing record by five days.
After swimming lochs, cycling highland roads and running across some of the most desolate and dangerous terrain in Britain, they covered 1,400 miles.
[87] Campbell's record was broken by Stephen Pyke of Stone, Staffordshire, in 2010 who completed the round in 39 days, 9 hours and 6 minutes.
Pyke's round started on the Isle of Mull on 25 April 2010 and finished on Ben Hope in Sutherland on 3 June 2010.
[88] 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.
On 17 September 2017, the women's self-propelled, continuous record was broken by Libby Kerr and Lisa Trollope in 76 days and 10 hours.
He completed his round in 31 days, 23 hours and 2 minutes, starting on the Isle of Mull on 1 August 2020 and finished on Ben Hope on 2 September 2020.
Whilst ticking off Mòruisg in the cloud, he mistook the big cairn for the summit and had to head back up and so climbed the Munro twice.
