Trailblazer Guide Books

Trailblazer Guides are produced by people who know exactly what information is needed - not just to get from A to B but to be entertaining as well as informative.
 — The Great Outdoors

Our propensity to list and categorize things is not just a modern trait. The Victorians started it. In 1891 Sir Hugh T Munro produced a list of all the Scottish mountains of 3000ft (914m) or higher. The number of mountains on the list has changed over the years, not due to sudden tectonic activity causing the collapse or growth of peaks, but because of the debate over when a peak is a peak in its own right or just an outlying top of a higher summit. Sir Hugh's desire to list all these peaks sparked the interest of like-minded people all over Scotland and beyond.

Today the popularity of ‘bagging’ all the summits on the list, which currently stands at 284, just grows and grows. In 1901, Rev A E Robertson kissed the top of Meall Dearg on the Aonach Eagach ridge to become the first munroist (someone who has completed ‘the round�). It took 22 years for the achievement to be repeated (curiously by another member of the clergy, perhaps looking for heaven) and it was not until 1970 that the list reached 100 munroists. From then on the obsession really took off. Today over 3000 hillwalkers are on the list.

Munro-bagging certainly beats stamp collecting and to finish the round is a great personal achievement. it's important, however, to remember the real reason for climbing hills. There are a few munro-baggers who get so caught up in the ticking off of unpronounceable mountain names on a list that they forget that being in the mountains is about appreciating the wind and the wild, the solitude and the ever changing sky. Some even refuse to contemplate going up anything below that magical 3000ft mark so miss out on sweet gems such as Suilven, the Rum Cuillins and Ben Loyal, all of which are like foie gras to the mushy-pea munros that are Mount Keen and The Cairnwell.

The key is to keep a balance. The munro-bagging should not be the driving factor for a walk in the hills but an added pleasure. Enjoy the munro-bagging but above all else enjoy the hills. In this book there are munros, corbetts – mountains between 2500ft (762m) and 3000ft (914m) – and even unfashionable lumpy bits barely deserving of the title hill. What they all have in common is a wild beauty and views that make the long climb more than worth the effort.

Latest tweets

• Our twitter feed is unavailable right now. Follow us on Twitter