alt="Image"/>
Sgurr na Lapaich from Glen Strathfarrar (Route 39)
The routes described are often the most popular ones for each hill; usually these are also the most direct and obvious ways up. Like most walkers I have a preference for circuits rather than returning by the route of ascent, and these have been given where appropriate. Some alternatives to the described route are indicated. There may be ‘better’ ways up some of the hills, but the distances involved in reaching them can be a strong disincentive to their use.
Some Munros are isolated and have to be climbed on their own, but most Munros fall naturally into distinct pairs or small groups. Sometimes, however, this natural grouping of hills can make for a very long route if done in one outing. Usually these longer routes, such as the Lochnagar circuit or the Ben Lui hills, can be broken down into shorter walks if required, and whilst several long routes are described here in full, suggestions are made (where appropriate) about how to tackle them in a number of shorter outings if preferred.
Each route is prefaced by a box containing information to help you in planning your ascents.
Mountain Names and Pronunciations
All the mountain names have been taken in the form that they appear on the current 1:50,000 OS maps, although it is clear that there could be alternative spellings for many of them. Spellings on the maps sometimes appear in their Gaelic form, for example ‘bheinn’ and ‘mhor’, and sometimes in anglicized versions of Gaelic words, such as ‘ben’ and ‘more’. For the sake of consistency I have kept faithful to the OS spellings, even where these appear to be wrong.
Suggested meanings and pronunciations have been given at the start of each route for the names of all the peaks, drawing on a variety of sources. The origin of mountain names is often complex and sometimes obscure. Whilst the majority of Scottish mountain names are of Gaelic origin, some owe more to Norse, Pictish, Scots or English influence. Some names may contain elements of more than one language - Bla Bheinn on Skye, for example, is often held to derive from ‘bla’, a Norse word meaning ‘blue’, and ‘bheinn’, the Gaelic word for mountain, although there are others who feel that Bla comes from the Gaelic ‘blath’, meaning ‘flowers’. Many Munro names have more than one possible derivation.
Pronunciations, too, are far from fixed and certain, and it would be wrong to be too dogmatic about them. I have tried to give a simple phonetic rendition of each pronunciation so that a modern English speaker can readily understand it. But this is not a simple task: many of the names may have Gaelic roots, but over time they have been corrupted into words that are no longer recognisably Gaelic. Ben Chonzie, for example, may have its origin in the Gaelic word ‘cineach’, meaning moss, but there is no letter z in the Gaelic alphabet, and the name as it appears on maps today is no more recognisable to a Gaelic speaker than it is to an English speaker.
Putting these names into phonetic spellings presents other difficulties too. Gaelic has a number of sounds which have no equivalent in English, for example the Gaelic sound ‘ch’ (as in the word ‘loch’) is always a soft sound produced in the back of the throat, not the harder English sound of ‘lock’ or the ‘ch’ sound produced in the front of the mouth (as in ‘chalk’). Moreover Gaelic has distinct regional differences in pronunciation, and in some areas where Gaelic is no longer spoken the local pronunciations of mountain names may not accord with received wisdom about the ‘correct’ pronunciation.
Ladhar Bheinn from Loch Hourn (Route 26)
Many people regard it as a form of vandalism to change old names in any way, and whilst I have a lot of sympathy with this view I am also aware that language can never be frozen in time. The historical evidence shows clearly that, like all other place names, the names of Munros have changed and evolved over time. There is nothing inherently wrong with modern usage bringing new changes to these words. There is no one period in history to which the ‘correct’ pronunciation should be attributed.
Maps
The majority of the route mapping in this edition is at a scale of 1:100,000. The maps are based on open-source material derived from publicly available data, databases and crowd-sourced data and are designed to offer quick help with routefinding. They don’t however remove the need to use the relevant OS map of 1:50,000 scale or greater when doing the walks. For a small number of routes, I have felt it necessary to include 1:50,000 OS mapping in the guide.
The box at the start of each route makes reference to the 1:50,000 OS maps. With the notable exception of one or two areas, such as the Black Cuillin on Skye, this is the scale of map that I personally prefer for climbing the Munros, and it is widely recognized as being a suitable scale of map for the hillwalker.
The relevant OS Explorer maps, which some people might prefer, are also listed. These 1:25,000 maps give much more detail, which can be advantageous at times, but it can also complicate the process of routefinding – particularly on steep ground where a lot of contours are packed very close together, or in areas where there is a lot of exposed rock. Sometimes more than one map is needed to cover the walk in question.
Beinn Tharsuinn (centre) from Bidean a’ Choire Sheasgaich (Route 41)
The ‘area maps’ referred to in the box at the start of each route correspond to those at the start of the book; these are designed to give a broad view of where each Munro lies in relation to major roads and also to neighbouring Munros. The overview map of Scotland accompanying these area maps shows the location of each area within Scotland as a whole.
The 1:100,000 maps in this guide are designed to assist in planning your route and are not intended to be a replacement for the OS maps for the purposes of navigation: it is strongly recommended that the appropriate OS map is carried at all times. Harvey also make an excellent series of maps for some of the areas described.
If you are using different maps or an older edition of the OS maps, you should bear in mind that spot heights and names may vary from those in the text.
There is also some confusing variation in Munro heights between the OS maps, the SMC official list and the Munro Society list.
Grid References
As an aid to navigation, grid references have been given for summits and for other key features and descent points on all the routes. These are all 10-figure readings taken on the walk itself with a GPS. Whilst technology can fail or be unreliable at times, GPS readings are nearly always close enough for hillwalking purposes. (In a number of recent mountain rescue exercises small canes were planted in rough ground in a mountain area of several square miles and were found without much difficulty from their grid reference using a GPS, even in poor visibility.) The latest generation of GPSs is generally very accurate and reliable. Many walkers now carry a GPS and it can be a useful navigational tool, especially if you need to establish your exact position in poor visibility. This does not obviate the need for a map and compass, however, and great care needs to be taken if you are navigating from one waypoint to another in poor visibility, as a straight line between the two may well take you over a cliff.
Distance and Ascent
The distances given in the information box at the start of each walk are always from the car park and back to the car park unless otherwise stated. The ascent for each route includes the cumulative height gained over undulating ground.
Difficulty
Climbing any Munro involves a degree of difficulty. A fair
