Ben Chonzie

How you pronounce this is entirely up to you - Ben Y-Hone or Honzie and there are two ways to climb the hill in a'. I recommend the one we didn't do. However, Emma (my lovely) and I decided to head up via Loch Turret, which involved a nice walk in until we started the climb up towards the main ridge. This being Emma's first Munro, I hadn't realised that she would curse, swear and generally slag me off for lulling her into coming along. I decided never to come walking with her again but once she had seen a Ptarmigan fly out of the the undergrowth and induce an MI in ME, she lightened up somewhat. A walk along the posts ultimately led to the summit and a typically Scottish day on the hill yielded a rather unfulfilling photo - Em proud after her 1st Munro. We decided to walk back along the ridge above the Loch and we saw many wild hares on our way back to the car. Apparently the other route is much more straightforward. A lot of people slag this hill off and call it boring and while it lacks character of some of the classics, it's a great wee hill to do in Winter or on a shorter spring/autumn day.

The Buachaille

Twa wiks after the An Caisteal epic, it was back for more and where more impressive than the mighty Buachaille Etive Mor - you can check out this hill via an excellent webcam at the following site - http://freespace.virgin.net/kings.house/ - sometimes a van is unhelpfully parked in the car park but the site is updated every twa oors so check again.

Anyway, I set off with wee Shaz, Dr M and a Swede who obviously didn't know the meaning of 'team' - we headed past Lagangarbh - I was ever mindful of the great Scottish climbers who had stayed here - Robin Smith as an example who had set up some cracking climbing routes on the Buachaille's face but like so many other great climbers, had perished young. As we continued up the red rock, the inclination became quite steep until we reached a 'chimney' of snow and kicked steps all the way to the top of the ridge. Once at the top, we continued towards the summit and enjoyed some luncheon. However, job half-done, we continued on to the 2nd Munro (about 7 km) of the BEM hill and it was quality. The descent via the Lairig Gartain was extremely boggy however and we were a' glad to get back to the car.

An Caisteal

In 2005, I undertook this hill with my recently-acquired friend, Shaz from the Rannoch club.
The forecast wasn't the best and there was a fair bit of snow on the top - Shaz's account of this should suffice and I recommend you check her story out on the Rannoch site -
http://www.climbrannoch.co.uk/ShazWrites/RiverDance.htm

I remember seeing a sheep on the way up, which was in the fast-flowing burn and had obviously perished but it's back legs had been caught on a branch and it was bobbing up and down - I took a photo but it didn't come out. I'm continually amazed by all the surprises you find on yer way up and down a hill.

The remaining Munro's of 2003

During the next few months I did a few Munro's on my own. These were Ben Lui and Beinn a Chleibh; Ben Vorlich (Lochearnhead) and Stuc a Chroin; I did Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers with Dr M and we encountered a wind at the top of the 2nd peak like a hurricane. We were literally haudin' on to the OS trigpoint for fear of being swept away. Magic, man! We also bagged Beinn Ime and Beinn Narnian starting out from just South of the Rest and Be Thankful - a good route if you're bagging both hills but midge-infested at first and quite a slog to get to the bealach. Notable for Alison's arse-bearing if I remember rightly. Last Munro of 2003 was Ben Wyvis with Big Al and Wee Iain - I was determined to keep up this time. I managed fine but it was onwards to the Rannoch club dinner in Ullapool that night and I was in my bed by 2300 - what a lightweight.

Ben Vorlich (Loch Lomond)

I did this back in 2003 with my good friend, Dr Alison Michie (here, shown on my left). It was a fantastic day in May and we took 6.5 hours to complete our route. You could see as far as Ailsa Craig, the visibility was that good. Upon our return to the car, we found that the owner of the Ardlui hotel wisnae best pleased we'd been parking in his parking lot and he showed us the other one across the A82 - lesson no.1. After we had vowed to drink his bar dry, we quickly learned lesson no. 2. A pint after a warm day on the hill infuses the brain with booze to the extent that one feels rather pissed. Hence it was a good hour before we got on the road again but not before some guy asked if we had found his GPS on the hill. What a foo!

Ben Lomond

Ben Lomond (view from summit shown) is situated about 22 miles North West of Glasgow and while Sauchiehall Street ends in Glasgow, you could be forgiven that it extends to the summit on a good day. However, don't let that put you off. It's a great hill and has a very good path to take you all the way to the top. The climb to the summit via the Ptarmigan direction is good and the last 200 ft to the summit provides a small degree of exposure but nothing too testing. The challenge is probably getting parked at the car park down below! I remember an English family coming up the reverse route and in order for us to get past, they moved off the path - this incurred the wrath of a Scottish man and his young son - "You'll make the path 5 feet wide, if you walk off the path!" While he had a minor point (erosion on hills is a problem), I felt embarassed for the family and later on I jokingly told them that if they wandered off the path, they could make the path 100 feet wide! Some people need to get a grip.

Cairn Gorm

This was my 3rd Munro and was done in Winter. I can't say I enjoyed this one either because the hill is fairly scarred by the ski runs but once past this and on to the summit, I enjoyed a rare sense of isolation (away from my ex-girlfriend). It is easy to see why people get lost in the Cairngorms - it is very easy to lose all sense of direction and luckily, there were some good posts all the way up to the summit - at this point my navigational skills weren't the best and i freely admit, I probably shouldn't have been up there. I recommend that anyone who considers going on the hill in Winter know how to use a map and compass. You'll hear this ad nauseum but it's so true. Again, another photo-less hill due to my lack of digital camera in 2003.

Ben Vane

This is the smallest Munro in Scotland and barely makes it at 914 m high. Don't let that fool you. Once you have parked at the Inveruglas car park on the A82 and you begin your walk past the Sloy power station, it's not even that long a walk-in to the hill. However, once on the hill you have about 1800 ft of a 45 degree angle to negotiate and it's relentless. I walked up this hill with Big Al and Wee Iain and they fairly galloped up it - as I reached the summit (bit of scrambling to be done), they began their descent and I could only follow at their pace as best possible. We got up and down in just over 3 hours and to me, while it was a great physical test, I can't say I enjoyed it. But, from then on I was hooked!

Ben Nevis

The Ben is Britain's largest hill and stands at 4,406 ft (1344 m). Many an experienced walker has perished walking off Ben Nevis' cliffs and while there is a great path which takes you on to the summit plateau, it can be treacherous while heading on the plateau, especially if you don't how to use a map and compass properly and are ill-prepared for the potentially awful weather. As with all Munro's, if you're heading on to the hill, take plenty of warm (and waterproof) clothing, food and water.

I did the Ben as my first Munro back in 2002 and I loved most of it (zig-zags aside), heading up the 'tourist' path. I wasn't prepared for what people wore on the way up. Sandals, shorts and all this in May, while there was still quite a bit of snow on the peaks. Take decent shoes and enough clothing FFS; it will take you between 5.5 and 7 hours to get up AND down this baby. It's not technically difficult but in Winter, this is a major undertaking - consider that for every 100m climbed, this equates to a 1 degree C drop in temperature - the summit will feel at least 11 C colder than the car park and add in the wind chill and you could be venturing up into very cold conditions indeed.