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Celtic Radio Community > Scotland > Munro Bagging

Posted by: Catriona 20-Jul-2004, 05:48 AM

This term is used by people who attempt to climb the highest peaks in Scotland. That may not seem high to many of you, but believe me, with our weather and the sheer difficulty of climbing on some of the hills, it is high enough!

Some people become obsessed with trying to 'bag' all the Munros... Personally, I think they must be MAD

The following information was taken from www.munromagic.com which has great maps, routes etc for all 284 peaks.

Why Munro?

In 1891 Sir Hugh T. Munro, surveyed Scotland's mountains above 3000 feet (914.4 metres) and produced his "Tables" cataloging 236 peaks which he considered to be separate mountains. For this reason Scottish peaks above 3000 feet are called Munros. Sir Hugh Munro began a first revision of his tables, which was completed in 1921 after his death, and subsequent revisions were published in 1933, 1981 and 1997. At each revision peaks have been demoted from or elevated to the status of Munro.

Modern surveying methods reveal 511 peaks above 914 meters. Whilst this is clear, the number of "Munros", which does not depend on clearly defined criteria, remains uncertain. There are currently 284 peaks awarded the status of Munro, but the number of Munro's may change until clear criteria are agreed.

Posted by: Aragorn 20-Jul-2004, 07:31 AM

Very interesting, so what is the highest peak in Scotland? We have 10,000 foot peaks here in Idaho. Just wondering if people try to climb all the peaks there or do they just climb the biggest ones?

Posted by: barddas 20-Jul-2004, 07:32 AM

Very interesting, Cat. Yet something else I like to do. I have climbed two mountains that are at or slightly over the 3000ft. mark. I'm sure next time Jody and I make it over to Scotland that will be something I will be doing by myself!

Posted by: Catriona 20-Jul-2004, 08:38 AM

QUOTE (Aragorn @ 20-Jul-2004, 02:31 PM)

Very interesting, so what is the highest peak in Scotland? We have 10,000 foot peaks here in Idaho. Just wondering if people try to climb all the peaks there or do they just climb the biggest ones?

The highest peak is Ben Nevis which, from memory, is about 4,400 ft high. As I said, not high in comparison to many mountains in the USA, Canada and other countries!

However, our weather makes the climbing hazardous, 4 seasons in one day, almost every day 'on the hill' as it is called.. The Mountain Rescue service in places like Inverness and on the Isle of Skye do sterling work every year, but sadly, people die every year, too.

The whole thing about Munro Bagging is to try to climb every one of them, ie nearly 300..... as I've said, some people make it their life's ambition to do so

Posted by: dfilpus 20-Jul-2004, 09:03 AM

In the States, there is the sport of "highpointing". The objective is to get to the highpoints of every state in the US. http://americasroof.com/ Some of these highpoints are very difficult, such as Denali, Mt Whitney, and so on.

Even more extreme is county highpointing. http://www.cohp.org/ There are 3141 counties in the US.

There are numerous peak bagging targets in the US. These include the Whites in New England, the 6000'ers in the Eastern ranges, the 14'ers in Colorado.

Posted by: Iain A.D. 21-Jul-2004, 02:05 PM

An ex-work colleague of mine was obsessed with "Munro-bagging".
He even gave up his job so that he could complete the outstanding 80 or so peaks before his 60th birthday.
Was last seen hobbling along George Street in Edinburgh on 2 crutches

Posted by: Catriona 21-Jul-2004, 04:18 PM

Iain
I've got a pal who has 'bagged' just over 150 - the man is obsessed....