Can I 'claim it' dilemma?!

[Old Bill]

Agh!

Having just got back from Arrochar, I realise now that I didn't quite make it to the summit of Ben Ime!
Looks like I had another 200m and 25m of ascent to go.


The conditions were awful, it was a white-out, I could barely stand up and the wind was grit-blasting my face with whatever precipitation it was carrying. And with the snow there was no sign of any path at all anywhere.
Indeed on the way up Ben Narnain I'd had to shelter behind a boulder for nearly an hour, and the trig point for 20mins, because the wind just made it impossible to walk.


I guess that knowing I was nearly there just fell for (literally) a big cairn and thought that was that - I certainly couldn't see anything that was any higher around. If I'd seen the path or the summit I clearly would've gone on.

I am moritified as I doubt I'll be back that way any time soon.
But am I just cheating myself and everyone else by claiming it? Or can I be forgiven given my honest belief and the horrible conditions if I promise to do it properly if I'm back there - along with the Cobbler?

(I kinda know the answer, but I am gutted!)

Anyone else been in a similar Munro-moral predicament...?

Cheers,
OB

[Coop]

Hehe - it's all up to you

Did Cruach Ardrain and Beinn Tulaichean and wasnt sure of Beinn Tulaichean' summit, although I kept telling myself it must have been the summit.
It kept gnawing and gnawing until I went back and did them again.
Same summit same mist same no views!!

[Sgurr]

Maybe time to invest in a GPS, or download a Grid reference app to a smart phone if you have one. Better to have retreated than ended up a mortality statistic though. None of the Munro summits are in military zones, and none are on private premises. These are the two factors which cause the most angst about whether or not you can count it as bagging the summit in lower hills.

[Old Bill]

Hehe - it's all up to you

Did Cruach Ardrain and Beinn Tulaichean and wasnt sure of Beinn Tulaichean' summit, although I kept telling myself it must have been the summit.
It kept gnawing and gnawing until I went back and did them again.
Same summit same mist same no views!!

I think you're right! I think I'll claim it for now, but with the 'backstop' that I promise to go back and do it properly next time. Thinking about I could easily be passing through heading further north.
But although I might end up at a different summit I bet like you I'll get the same mist and same no views!

[Old Bill]

Maybe time to invest in a GPS, or download a Grid reference app to a smart phone if you have one. Better to have retreated than ended up a mortality statistic though. None of the Munro summits are in military zones, and none are on private premises. These are the two factors which cause the most angst about whether or not you can count it as bagging the summit in lower hills.

I'd followed my GPS that far, but with my gloves on I could press the buttons to zoom in, and with the all the water being blown on the screen it looked like I was there.
I'm pretty sure I could've carried on another 200m, bearing in mind I still had to get back down!

[jmarkb]

I think I'll claim it for now, but with the 'backstop' that I promise to go back and do it properly next time. Thinking about I could easily be passing through heading further north.

Up to you, of course, but that's not really a logically consistent position!!

Think of it as an opportunity to explore other routes: as well as Ime + Cobbler, I can recommend Luibhean + Ime + Chorranach from Butterbridge, and the E ridge from Inveruglas (some scrambling, add Vane on the way back if you are keen!)

[Old Bill]

I think I'll claim it for now, but with the 'backstop' that I promise to go back and do it properly next time. Thinking about I could easily be passing through heading further north.

Up to you, of course, but that's not really a logically consistent position!!

Think of it as an opportunity to explore other routes: as well as Ime + Cobbler, I can recommend Luibhean + Ime + Chorranach from Butterbridge, and the E ridge from Inveruglas (some scrambling, add Vane on the way back if you are keen!)

I think that will be the plan - I couldn't face the Cobbler on the way down on this occasion!

[nigheandonn]

I know I haven't been to the true summit of Plover Hill in the Dales, although we're possibly talking inches rather than feet or metres - I looked over the wall it's on the other side of, couldn't see anything higher (although I couldn't see anything, really), and turned back. I've claimed it for now - I have certainly thoroughly experienced the hill! - but (like the Cobbler, where I've done the walk but not the scramble), I'll have to go back before claiming a completion, if it ever comes to that.

I don't *feel* inconsistent Although I suppose if either of them came down to being my last hill I'd have to untick them at that point...

[Old Bill]

I know I haven't been to the true summit of Plover Hill in the Dales, although we're possibly talking inches rather than feet or metres - I looked over the wall it's on the other side of, couldn't see anything higher (although I couldn't see anything, really), and turned back. I've claimed it for now - I have certainly thoroughly experienced the hill! - but (like the Cobbler, where I've done the walk but not the scramble), I'll have to go back before claiming a completion, if it ever comes to that.

I don't *feel* inconsistent Although I suppose if either of them came down to being my last hill I'd have to untick them at that point...

Yes, I know I was quite some way off - but I'm on the same wavelength. Will do it properly when I'm back, and it won't count in a final tally until then!
I wonder how many people claim the Cobbler without doing the scramble...??

[dav2930]

But am I just cheating myself and everyone else by claiming it? Or can I be forgiven given my honest belief and the horrible conditions if I promise to do it properly if I'm back there - along with the Cobbler?

(I kinda know the answer, but I am gutted!)

Anyone else been in a similar Munro-moral predicament...?

As you say, you know the answer really. The fact is you didn't reach the summit on that occasion. Harsh conditions, forgiveness and promises don't alter that inconvenient fact! The name of the Munro bagging game is reaching the summits and there'll be many occasions in any bagger's career when conditions prevent a summit from being reached. I once got as far as Mad Meg's cairn on Creag Meagaidh in conditions similar to those you experenced on Ben Ime, (wishfully) thinking it was the summit. It was only when I checked the map after getting back down that I realised I hadn't reached the summit. It never occurred to me to claim the tick, so I went back a couple of years later and bagged it (in similar conditions). Facts are facts, however you dress them up.

[CharlesT]

once got as far as Mad Meg's cairn on Creag Meagaidh in conditions similar to those you experenced on Ben Ime, (wishfully) thinking it was the summit. It was only when I checked the map after getting back down that I realised I hadn't reached the summit. It never occurred to me to claim the tick, so I went back a couple of years later and bagged it (in similar conditions). Facts are facts, however you dress them up.

Me too on Meagaidh, but it took me twenty years before I bagged it for sure. 'tempus fugit".

[WalkWithWallace]

There are no rules, it's entirely up to yourself.

However me personally, I'd have to back and obtain the true summit.

[prog99]

When Finlay wild first set the record for the Cuillin ridge he wasn't sure he touched a summit so discounted it and reran it a week later. Just saying..

[Pastychomper]

It makes sense for the more hardened baggers to be more fussy about what they'll count, if nothing else they're more likely than some of us to be back in the area another time.

Personally I had a similar dilemma regarding Ben More Assynt: four of us went there in fog and, as it all seems to be broken stones piled along a ridge, couldn't be sure the big lump we got onto was the lump. We had a good navigator so the balance of probability is that we got it, so I do count it but I intend to go back and check.

[Lightfoot2017]

There are no rules, it's entirely up to yourself.

However me personally, I'd have to back and obtain the true summit.

This.