A mountain in Scotland over 3000 feet. There are a few other rules such as a maximum lowest point between different Munros. There are 284 altogether and many people spend far too much time trying to climb all of them and so be heralded as a 'Munroist'. One such group is the Munro Pineapple Society.
The first person to complete all the Munros was the Reverend Archibald Eneas Robertson in 1901, who is said to have revealed the priorities in his life when he reached the final summit and kissed first the cairn and then his wife. His diaries, however, have raised suspicions that he might have missed one of them out.
Until 1981, there were only 250 Munroists on record but the total is now rising at the rate of 153 a year and stands at 2,200 - plus an unknown number who have chosen not to register their feat with the SMC. The fastest circuit is 66 days, and one enthusiast finished his 10th round at the millennium!
The main concentrations of Munros are in the Cairngorms, the North-West Highlands and the area East of Fort William which includes Ben Nevis and Glencoe. Only the Inaccessible Pinnacle demands rock-climbing equipment, but there have been several fatal accidents and countless dozens of other incidents on Munros in highly exposed places where scrambling is demanding. In winter, many routes require ice axes and crampons.
Some ridges in summer are covered with Munro-baggers, ticking off their lists. In 1991, it was reported
that a new Munro had been found and dozens of obsessives climbed it the next weekend - only to hear that the report had been wrong and the extra ascent had been in vain.