MUNRO CLIMBING

by James E. Fargo, FSA Scot

The 'Munros' are the Scottish mountains and hills that are 3,000 feet or more in height over sea level. They are named after Sir Hugh Munro (1856-1919) who defined them and published them as a category in September 1891. The original listing included 283 mountains and a total of 539 including spot heights for other peaks and summits. His first recorded climb of an over 3,000 foot peak was Ben Lawers in Perthshire in May 1879. In 1889 he was one of the founders of the Scottish Mountaineering Club and later served as President. Munro climbed all but three of the peaks before his death.

Reverend Archibald Eneas Robertson (1870-1958) is generally regarded as the first mountaineer to have climbed and "bagged" all 283 by 1901. After 1907 Reverend Robertson served as the Church of Scotland minister at the Braes of Rannoch church (near the bridge of Gaur over the river Gaur) at the west end of Loch Rannoch near the Rannoch Barracks. Schiehallion, which overlooks Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, is a 'Munro' at 3,553 feet.

After a century of improved mapping techniques, the current list of 'Munros' is 282 with a total of 509 tops. Thanks to Wikipedia, we now know that Robertson was not able to reach the summit of Ben Wyvis (at 3,432 ft. in Clan Munro territory, Easter Ross) due to bad weather on his attempt. He was also not able to reach the summit of the 'Inaccessible Pinnacle' (3,235 ft.) on the Isle of Skye which is the only 'Munro' with a peak that can only be reached by rock climbing.