When is enough... enough?

[loki]

Why in mountaineering/hillwalking are we so fascinated by lists - years ago people used to look at maps and work out their own varied ways (work out how many different walking routes you can find for an ascent of Ben Nevis). Yes Munro's table existed back then, but few people before the mid 1970s bothered with it. Now there are well worn paths up all the 'Munro Routes'.

You may be harking back to an era that never existed. The SMC was publishing route details in journals and regional guides all the way back to the beginning of last century.

What changed in the 70s was an increase in the volume of footfall and probably a drop in the average experience and skillset of participants leading to a greater herd effect.

Just a side effect of the popularisation of hillwalking.

[Ann65]

loki
I was commenting on lists - but yes there were, mainly, SMC Journals and Area Guides which were/are not as detailed as say a Munro guide, leaving much to the imagination - and yes I must agree with your other comments.

RTC
"...the number of people hillwalking nowadays makes this inevitable." You are probably correct.

[goth_angel]

I must admit I do like a good path.. nothing wrong with it particularly if coming off late. That said some of the erosion is getting pretty bad on the more popular munros.

[hailiamdigby]

Why in mountaineering/hillwalking are we so fascinated by lists - years ago people used to look at maps and work out their own varied ways

Just because a hill's on a list, doesn't mean you have to stick to the well-known paths. As you and others have said, you can always find your own way of getting up a hill. A list is just a good way of finding which summits to visit. How you choose to get to the top is up to you.

[mattcymru]

Actually the tumps have a prominence of 30 METRES (90 feet). and there are some excellent ones near me!