UKH

As per the thread title. Many Munros are climbed as part of ridge walks, with multiple ticks in a day.

Has anyone done them one at a time, each one being climbed in isolation from a recognised/traditional low level starting point? 

Bonus question: Which Munro do you think receives the least ascents as a day's sole objective? 

 

 

In reply to Chris Harris:

Re the bonus- probably something about half way along the south cluanie ridge? Would need a fair degree of perversity not to do them as part of a longer circuit...

In reply to Chris Harris:

Alleyways best to stand on just one top at a time ????

In reply to Chris Harris:

About 20 years ago we stayed up near Loch Morlich for a few days and met somebody who siad he was trying to do them all individually in height order.

The logistics of it were crazy, don't know if he ever finished it.

In reply to Andrew Lodge:

I have to assume he was on week number 1 around the Lairig Ghru and it was still a good idea!

I have heard people mention this before, but never in serious tones.

In reply to Chris Harris:

Maybe something like the Mullardoch Beinn Fhionnlaidh?

 

In reply to petestack:

I think we have a winner!

In reply to kwoods:

Yes, he was rather upset about the number of times he was having to cross the Lairig Ghru.

In reply to kwoods:

Cue a host of 'I did it on its own' posts? Though we've got a few more in there that probably rarely get done alone!

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

I've done Druim Shionnnach on its own after an aborted winter climbing trip in the coire. No-one would carry onto Creag a' Mhaim with me.

In reply to Chris Harris:

Yes it’s going to be something on a ridge where the return trip makes much less sense than doing the other/s on the ridge. Aonach Eagach Munros, lots in Glen Shiel, Grey Corries, Fannichs, etc. Must be loads on the west. 

In reply to petestack:

Hi Pete, just to make your prediction come true, I did Fhionnlaidh on its own first time round, and I know 4 others for whom this is true. My suggestion would be Sgurr na Carnach on the Five Sisters, as it would be a total pain to do it without at least one other Sister.

(I've done most of the Cluanie ones individually as I really like their northern ridges, and they're handy for getting less fit clients up a Munro)

In reply to Iain Thow:

 

I wondered about the Five Sisters. Must be a contender or two on the Skye ridge. 

 

In reply to Removed UserStuart en Écosse:

The two Aonach Eagach munros are possibly quite popular split into two due to the terrain in between them. I know a few folk who've done that.

In reply to Chris Harris:

What about Beinn Ghlas at Loch Tay, a minor bump on the way to Lawers?

where is Dave Hewitt when you need him?

In reply to petestack:

Towards the end of my Munros round I camped at Iron Lodge in Glen Elchaig to tick of two stragglers that had eluded me on previous outings. Beinn Fhionnlaidh on day one, and An Socach in the Sgurr na Lapaich group the next day. 

In reply to Chris Harris:

I suspect the Cuillin ones get climbed individually quite often by people whose main objective is a particular climb or scramble rather than the peak. Another contender might be Carn nan Gobhar on the Farrar ridge, the least interesting of a group usually done together.and only "the nearest munro" if you happen to be based in Glen Orrin, which isn't common.

In reply to Removed UserStuart en Écosse:

I'd guess that the Aonach Eagach ones get done individually relatively frequently by people who get up and think better of the conditions or don't like the look of the scramble.

Sgurr Fiona, the southern one on An Teallach might be a shout though - you'd presumably only do that on its own if you came in the longer and harder way and then turned around to go back the same way without getting the other munro. Which would seem cussed.

In reply to Chris Harris:

In reply to the bonus question, how about Meall Gorm in the Fannichs?  You'd never do the big walk in and not climb An Coileachan next to it!

In reply to Ramblin dave:

The people who would do Sgurr Fiona on its own would be those doing a winter climb on the RH part of the face (Hayfork Gully, say) who prefer to finish by traversing the pinnacles rather than the main munro.

In reply to Jamie Hageman:

Hi Jamie,

Or go the other way and do Sgurr Mor. Good shout.

In reply to Chris Harris:

Hijacking it
Hows about the greatest number of failed, actual attempts on a single munro, before finally managing it?

In reply to Jack Frost:

Here I am. Re the person mentioned upthread who was doing them in reverse order of height (Dave Purser), I don't think he further limited himself by being required to do them one at a time. I'll check back when I get chance but there are certainly places where you can do two or even three together, eg Aonach Mor and Beag are consecutive in terms of height, Sgor an Lochain Uaine / Cairn Toul / Braeriach is a day that only requires a bit of triangulation, and if same-height hills can be juggled then Tom Buidhe and Tolmount are consecutive (the SMC list has Carn Ghlusaid in between but it's the same height, 957m, as Tom Buidhe). Dave P had a few ridiculous days that sounded quite fun, eg I'm pretty sure he climbed the eastern Vorlich (985m) and the In Pinn (986m) on the same day. He finished on the Ben (of course) on 30 September 1995, a particularly foul day.

On the general  question of Munros that aren't often climbed as the sole objective, Ben Oss is one - I've been up it as a first Munro (again not often done) via its north ridge but came back over Beinn Dubhchraig. BCCB in the middle of the three-Munro Beinn a'Ghlo round is another - linking it just with Carn Liath is commonplace but almost everyone seems to do Carn Liath first. Elsewhere, I know of at least one person who was working on (and I think completed) a round of Wainwrights where each had to be tackled as a first hill of the day - although I think subsequent add-ons were allowed, as with Dave P's Munros effort.

Funnily enough I've done that, on a fierce winter day when the plan was to add Ben Lawers but just getting up Beinn Ghlas felt like quite an achievement. I've several times done Ghlas without Lawers but linked with other Munros, eg Tarmachan-Corranaich-Ghlas is a decent half-day.

On lower stuff, Tarmangie in the Ochils is tucked away just awkwardly enough that it's hardly ever climbed as a sole hill in terms of the adjacent Donalds. I've done this precisely once in 127 ascents although even then I went on to add something else - Steele's Knowe across Glen Devon on a Tillicoultry-Auchterarder crossing.

In reply to Andrew Lodge:

Sets idiot challenge to self.

Moans about idiocy of challenge.

Eh?

In reply to Deadeye:

Once asked Paul Tat why he did the munros on a bike. The answer was "lack of knowledge of what lay ahead". 

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

Same here. I did it with some non-hillwalking friends. We had planned to continue but the weather turned rather violent on the ascent so we hit the summit and retreated along the path under the north face and went to Aberfeldy distillery instead. I wonder if Beinn Ghlas as a sole objective might be popular with families/children?

 

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Yes, we took our niece and her friend up Beinn Ghlas as their first Munro. It was quite cold and windy so we didn’t carry on to Lawers. 

In reply to Mike-W-99:

Ah, I didn’t consider that...

sgurr na Carnach looks a good suggestion 

 

what about the mounth munros, behind lochnagar or the ones east of  glenshee? Inconspicuous bumps in the plateau, I suppose there may be some ‘tidying up’ from previous incomplete bagging trips but hard to see any single one being the sole objective of a day and would almost have to make a point of wilfully avoiding others to only do one

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Same here got to the summit on hands and knees two other walkers joined me behind a bolder. We could hardly talk to one another due to the roar. We got there though then retreated.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Yeah, I wondered about those. Also the Aonach Beag near Ben Alder - surely no-one's going to schlep in from the road just for the middle hill of a ridge of three?

 

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

 

 

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=66401

In reply to Ramblin dave:

I have, but it was for work (botanical survey of one of the corries & we visited the summit quickly once we'd finished, we also had permission to drive along the estate roads so not quite so much walking/cycling)

In reply to Iain Thow:

Hmm, I, cough, know of a person, cough, whose rather peculiar view is that if your main objective of the day is to do a climb then the fact that you may inadvertantly strayed to the top of a Munro means it doesnt count - you have to have the Munro as your main objective 

eg - doing the Cullin ridge, cant count the munros, climb on Liathach then along ridge to descend cant count 

They are regretting it as it does mean return trips to both Skye and Liathach for example (although how can one regeret having to return to these areas) - we each have our own peculiar rules for munro bashing  

In reply to russellcampbell:

Ta - good find, That wasn't the person I was thinking of, though - and as he says "it's a more popular challenge than you might think among Wainwright baggers". Pretty sure I've seen mention of at least one other such round on the Wainwright forum, and I'll need to check with my regular Lakes sidekick Gordon Ingall - he's coming up to 12k Wainwrights in total and I've a vague memory of him having mentioned chipping away at a direct-ascent agenda at some stage.

Btw it's crazy weather here on the eastern edge of Stirling. We're open to the flatlands and the fields to the east and snow is just blowing through constantly, has been for a day and a half now. Our car is parked in the street facing E-W and it's acquired a cornice!

In reply to Chris Harris:

At what point does 'climbed in isolation' begin? 
In many cases you're going to have to replicate some part of a previous self propelled journey past  the typical layby/carpark start- and that part will likely include some uppy-downy of a previous ascent.
Taken to extreme, it's consciously belly -crawling past the summit cairns of previous 'ticks'.



 

 

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

 

Almost as bad where I live. Paper boy unable to deliver the "I" newspaper. Would give him a big tip if he had managed. Stuck at home with no puzzles to keep me occupied.

Watch you don't fall through the cornice on the car!

 

In reply to Jamie Hageman:> In reply to the bonus question, how about Meall Gorm in the Fannichs?  You'd never do the big walk in and not climb An Coileachan next to it!

Been there, done that! Biked in with partner one winter day to do Meall Gorm then An Coileachan, but weather was so unpleasant on top of MG that partner cried off the continuation. So I biked in again the following winter to do An Coileachain.  

 

In reply to llechwedd: > Hows about the greatest number of failed, actual attempts on a single munro, before finally managing it?

I can bid two failures on Sgurr a' Chaorachain.

Attempt 1: walked in from Craig, deep fresh snow almost down to the road, intending to do Sg a'C then Sgurr Choinnich. MWIS predicted light winds but there was a howling easterly when I finally reached the N shoulder of Sg a'C. Surface was scoured and I had to put my crampons on while semi-reclining on the ground, rucksack anchored by axe pick. Staggered on up towards the top for a while, until blown over when gave up and retreated the way I'd come.

Attempt 2: another winter, snow almost down to road and even deeper. Forecast was for light west wind this time so planned Sg Choinnich first. Paths were invisible beneath snow above about 400m but I pressed on into the mist up Sg C and along its near-horizontal summit ridge. Knew there should be a ridge dropping steeply off left (ENE) towards the second Munro but the rim was corniced and I couldn't spot it. Found myself descending SSE and realised I'd overshot, so plugged back up to the summit ridge (where I still couldn't see the commecting ridge) and all the way back via Bealach Bhearnais, reaching car after dark and totally knackered.

Eventual success: summer conditions, biked in to Glenuag Lodge, up the shoulder to Sgurr a' Chaorachain where I found that attempt (1) had failed just 3 minutes short of the top! Rest of day was a lovely wander out to Bidean an Eoin Dearg, steeply down, and back over Maoile Lunndaidh.     

In reply to Chris Harris:

I was also once in Braemar with the snow to ground level and snow gates shut. Wandered off up Glen Callater in the morning and came away with Carn an t-Sagairt Mor in isolation. (And a long walk back to Braemar)

In reply to kwoods:

Snow down to ground level. Hmmm.   

 

 

In reply to kwoods:

That was my second-ever Munro, done in isolation from Loch Muick on a murky day in Oct 1982.

Re the mentions of Meall Gorm in the Fannaichs, there'll be correlation between Munros climbed in isolation and Munros that have seen no known completions. There are 12 of the latter at present and although Meall Gorm isn't one of them it's only hosted one known finish (by Dennis Gower, no.2402 in the list, on the penultimate day of July 2000).

Another related theme that's interested me for a while is ascents of unlikely pairs of Munros on the same day by self-propelled means. Mount Keen is almost always climbed alone but occasionally someone yomps across the in-between bit and adds the Clova Munros or something else in those parts. Two things I'd like to do of that sort are climbing both Vorlichs on the same day having walked between, and (easier, I think, but very rarely done) a circuit of Beinn a'Chleibh and Beinn Bhuidhe.

In reply to Chris Harris:

How about Sail Chaorain? To get to it from the south you need some careful planning to avoid going over Sgurr nan Conbhairean on the way there. There's a logical route from the east, but with a very long approach to even get to the hill. Otherwise I can;t see a logical single-hill option for it, though I guess people staying at Strawberry Cottage might start off doing the round of 4 Munros and back off after the first one due to bad weather.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

Hi Dave,

Wainwright spent so long exploring each hill it's surely probable that he did all of them individually at least once?

 Our car is parked in the street facing E-W and it's acquired a cornice!

I live up at nearly 400m and my car has now completely disappeared under white stuff. Don't think I'm going to be using it for a day or two!

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I once backpacked through Glen Doe and did Sail Chaoruinn as an add on to the col over into Affric, mainly for the pleasure of not being a tortoise for a while (the last time I ever carried a Vango Force Ten over munro summits!)

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

If you begin from the  side glen, West of Beinglas, you can link all four Cononish Munros to an ascent of Beinn Bhuidhe in a day.

In reply to Chris Harris: Bonus question: Which Munro do you think receives the least ascents as a day's sole objective? 

Another candidate might be Beinn a'Chaorainn (the one above Glen Derry, not the Moy one). I imagine it's nearly always paired with Beinn Bhreac.

But just to be perverse, I once did it on its own from the Cairn Gorm ski road: up Fiaicall ridge, round plateau to Cairn Etchachan, skirted S of the top of Beinn Mheadhoin, and returned via Fords of Avon and Ciste Mhearad. Of course I now have to do Beinn Bhreac on its own some time, or more likely combine it with Carn Bhac. 

In reply to llechwedd:

Sounds good - years ago I had a couple of days on various of the Lui-group Munros from that side using the hydro track. For the Chleibh/Bhuidhe thing, as/when I ever get round to it the idea is to start from the other side, the Succoth Lodge glen. I've been up Chleibh from there before and it's pleasant - and avoids all the river/railway/bog problems that confront those people who endlessly seem keen to tackle Chleibh and Lui together from the Glen Lochy side.

Re Beinn a'Chaorainn, it can also be readily linked with Beinn a'Bhuird - I've done that (without Bhreac) and it's a good outing.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

Re the linking of hills in unrelated groups. Not self propelled but I once came across someone who had finished a munro round by doing Ben Lomond and Ben Hope the same day. Struck me as more of a test for the driving than the walks.

Re B a' Chaoruinn, I've also linked it with B Mheadhoin (as well as with Bhreac & Bhuird), but still not done it on its own.

Btw. What do reckon is the least visited munro? (I'm betting you have data on this)

In reply to Iain Thow:

Indeed. On a similar theme Hazel Strachan completed her third round of Donalds on East Mount Lowther and her fourth round of Munros on Ben Wyvis on the same day, 30 June 2012.

In reply to Iain Thow:

Table here: Lurg Mhor apparently.

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/munros/most-climbed

 

In reply to Chris Harris:

Ha - I'm quite pleased that despite being well short of halfway through The List overall, I've done seven of their bottom ten!

In reply to Chris Harris:

That would be insane! 

In reply to Chris Harris:

Also Lurg Mhor in the UKH list (with a somewhat smaller sample size)

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/set.php?sort=t&id=11

In reply to rif:

How about Mullach nan Dheiragain as a Munro unlikely to be climbed on its own?
I did Beinn a'Chaorainn paired with Bynack Mor, having previously done Beinn Bhreac on its own in poor winter weather in the company of someone who'd already done Beinn a'Chaorainn...

In reply to fimm:

Think it's similar to the Mullardoch Beinn Fhionnlaidh in that you might well go back for it as an outlier. I did, but as a round from Iron Lodge to clean up its Tops and deleted Top along with those of Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan when I'd already got the twin summits of the latter from a traverse extended from the Carn Eige range. If I hadn't been after the Tops, I'd have done (or at least considered) Mullach na Dheiragain alone.