Munro Strategy?

[malrobb]

Great forum by the way.

I used to live in Scotland but sadly no longer and now live about 30 minutes West of London. With having to travel a fair distance to bag any Munros are there any tried and tested ways of hitting a lot at once just to get some numbers on the board? I went to Glencoe last year and did the AE ridge and a few others and returning this year for 3 more days. Are there any other Southerners that say fly to Inverness and do a weekend of it and if so any recommendations around this. The real reason for doing this is to get several ticked off and thus provide the impetus for more trips to I guess look at getting them all done.
Thanks for any ideas and suggestions.

[mrssanta]

We don't have quite so far to go as you but our favourite way to bag munros is to take a week's holiday and wild camp then finish off with a comfy night in a hotel to clean up. That way you can link lots of hills together. Last year we had a smashing expedition to the Fannaichs and the year before we did 14 munros in glenshiel. Late May or early June is good for long days and midge avoidance but if you are prepared to carry gear and camp high up the midges are less of a problem. Hostels and b&b are also a possibility but of course the costs add up.

[Sgurr]

Stay at The Kintail Lodge Hotel bunkhouse (Inverness Airport to Shiel Bridge is
1 hr 46 mins ) and do the South Cluanie Ridge

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/kintail/Glenshielridge.shtml

7 Munros.

You can split into a four and a three or do all 7 and if you are feeling super fit you can push on and do Sgurr na Sgine and the Saddle as well.

Next day, if your legs can take you, do the Five Sisters, which consists of three Munros.

If you still have a day in hand there are various combinations in the area which will see you with another two, or even three if you are super energetic.

There will also be advocates of the Cairngorms, but bagging a lot probably depends on your attitude to back-packing.

[AJNicholls]

From my experience from "down Sarf" I think it's best to go up for longer than just a few days as it means a lower percentage of your time for the trip is dedicated to travelling.

The only time I've not driven to the Munros was when I was on a minibus for Ben Nevis when doing a National Three Peaks Challenge.

WalkHighlands is a great resource for working out which summits can be done together, but always do stuff that suits your own fitness and the weather conditions you're suited to.

My theory is if you're planning to compleat, it's not really the number of Munros you've done, but the number of walks you still have to do. So anyone's actual Munro tally can end up seeming rather inflated if the walks they've done are just the ones where they can bag multiple peaks. I'm not particularly planning to finish them myself though. (Previous sentence is subject to change! )

Good luck with your trips. Have fun and be safe.

[jmarkb]

My theory is if you're planning to compleat, it's not really the number of Munros you've done, but the number of walks you still have to do. So anyone's actual Munro tally can end up seeming rather inflated if the walks they've done are just the ones where they can bag multiple peaks.

I think that's spot on: if you do all the multiple peak days to begin with, you risk getting demotivated towards the end.

[Giant Stoneater]

Last year I walked and camped from Attadale to Struy over 5 days taking in 9 Munros and 3 Corbetts, if your looking to get numbers up and happen to be a bit mad.

[Sgurr]

My theory is if you're planning to compleat, it's not really the number of Munros you've done, but the number of walks you still have to do. So anyone's actual Munro tally can end up seeming rather inflated if the walks they've done are just the ones where they can bag multiple peaks.

I think that's spot on: if you do all the multiple peak days to begin with, you risk getting demotivated towards the end.

I think that malrobb probably suspects this, but he may be the best judge of what motivates him. If he feels that initial numbers will provide a good impetus for him to carry on, then maybe he is right. By the time he is picking off singles towards the end, he will have over 200 in the bag and can kid himself that the finishing line is in sight.
I got the bit between my teeth towards the end with singles dotted about everywhere, but luckily managed to persuade friends that coming up from the south and driving from Mull via Glencoe, Skye and Torridon was exactly what they wanted to do for their summer hols. You can do a surprising amount of singles in a fortnight's holiday. Only food poisoning sabotaged the grand plan for a couple of days, and I had to compleat later.

[jmarkb]

I think that malrobb probably suspects this, but he may be the best judge of what motivates him.

Fair comment!

[Phil the Hill]

Speaking as someone who has been bagging Munros from London for over 25 years now, my approach has been to drive up to Scotland for a week's holiday every year at the end of May / beginning of June. I usually go with a friend, but if he can't make it I just go alone. I used to go for a week in the middle of February as well, but have had to give that up due to family commitments (plus having bagged most of the easier hills to do in Winter conditions). I make at least one wild camping expedition per trip (more necessary now I'm on the more remote hills) and try to vary the area visited each year. I did most of the big groups early on (though the South Cluanie ridge were bagged in 1s and 2s in winter), but still have a few ridges to do. Half the fun is planning the next trip during the rest of the year. I'm already plotting camping spots in Upper Glen Feshie for this May using Geograph.

I have tried driving up for a weekend, which was fun as an experiment (I only did it because I had a new car) but involved too much travelling to repeat. I have considered catching the sleeper train for a weekend trip, but have been put off by being unable to sleep in trains. Last March I flew to the Outer Hebrides and was driving away from Benbecula airport in a hire car around midday after departing from Gatwick that morning. So flying is definitely viable and probably compares favourably in cost with driving up, but you need to book in advance for flights and car hire and the weather is of course unpredictable (which is a problem for the train too). Driving up does allow you to take more gear (bike, out of car camping kit, ultralight backpacking camping kit, ice axe just in case, etc.).

Have fun. The hills are so addictive I don't think motivation will be a problem wherever you're based.

[Moriarty]

My theory is if you're planning to compleat, it's not really the number of Munros you've done, but the number of walks you still have to do. So anyone's actual Munro tally can end up seeming rather inflated if the walks they've done are just the ones where they can bag multiple peaks.

I think that's spot on: if you do all the multiple peak days to begin with, you risk getting demotivated towards the end.

Interesting - why would someone become demotivated?

Not keeping up with others? (feeling it is a race?)

Feeling the walking is a chore to get to the reward of the list ticking?

Even the concept of "the end" is rather an interesting one.....how many people stop on compleation?

In terms of the OP - if you're planning a round it's about 120-170 days walking for most folk. Perhaps it would be best to pick some areas that you think will set your enthusiasm on fire for the project and see how it goes.

[jmarkb]

Interesting - why would someone become demotivated?

Not keeping up with others? (feeling it is a race?)

Feeling the walking is a chore to get to the reward of the list ticking?

Even the concept of "the end" is rather an interesting one.....how many people stop on compleation?

Well, as Sgurr rightly pointed out, I shouldn't be second guessing other peoples motivations (and my approach to list ticking probably isn't nearly focused enough for many peoples liking)! But I think it's maybe a good idea not to cherry-pick too much (either in terms of numbers per day or quality) in the beginning of a bagging campaign, so that it doesn't start to feel like a chore towards the end. I'm certainly glad that I still had a few classic days out to look forward to towards the end of my Munro and Corbett rounds.

It would be interesting to know what folk tend to do after compleation - I expect there's a wide variety. A friend of mine who lives down south compleated his Munros a few years ago and hasn't set foot on a Scottish hill since!
The proportion of Munroist who go on to finish the Corbetts is not that high - between 10% and 20% most likely.

To the OP: if you can afford it, flying and hiring a car is a reasonable option if you can only do shortish trips. A flight to Inverness, Glasgow, or Aberdeen plus 2 hours driving gets you to a lot of hills! If you are able to get the last flight up after work then you can get 2.5 days walking out of a 3 day trip.

[Sgurr]

Munros? Why stop? However the thought of completing my current list does worry me. There are only two people to ask what to do next...Rob Woodhall and Eddie Dealtry. Rob Woodhall seems to be collecting National High Points, but that is beyond me (as are the St. Kilda sea stacks)

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/Ticked-off-the-man-who-climbed-all-1556-Marilyns

Husband points out that there are always the Wainwrights. But they are not in Scotland. But the Donalds are.

[kaiserstein]

A long weekend in braemar / glenshee could see u bag up to 19 Munros over 4 days. Glen ey - 5; Glenshee west - 6; lochnagar & co - 5; glenshee east - 3 (for a shorter rest day although has been combined with west). The hills column on list of walk reports is useful for finding ideas of how people have previously linked hills.

[Moriarty]

Well, as Sgurr rightly pointed out, I shouldn't be second guessing other peoples motivations (and my approach to list ticking probably isn't nearly focused enough for many peoples liking)! But I think it's maybe a good idea not to cherry-pick too much (either in terms of numbers per day or quality) in the beginning of a bagging campaign, so that it doesn't start to feel like a chore towards the end. I'm certainly glad that I still had a few classic days out to look forward to towards the end of my Munro and Corbett rounds.

You sound fairly focused!

Doesn't bother me if I've done Liathach or A'Mhaighdean or Bidean nam Bian before.......I can still revisit them during any "bagging campaign".

It's not like a good day on fine hills is ever wasted.

It's one of those odd aspects of bagging that many folks view many/some of the hills as a chore rather than a pleasure. It's where it starts to stray beyond the pale for many observers.

[jmarkb]

You sound fairly focused!

Not really! Took me about 5 years to do the last couple of dozen Corbetts, in between doing loads of other hills.

You can quantify how focused you are on ticking if you calculate your "bagger quotient" - take the number of ascents which count towards completed and current rounds, and divide by your total ascents. So for my Munros it would be 511/851 = 60%. I'm sure that's well on the low side of the average.

Doesn't bother me if I've done Liathach or A'Mhaighdean or Bidean nam Bian before.......I can still revisit them during any "bagging campaign".

It's not like a good day on fine hills is ever wasted.

That's my attitude too!