Editing Munro (section)

== History ==
[[File:Sir Hugh Munro (Scotland).jpg|thumb|[[Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet]], creator of ''Munro's Tables'']]

Before the publication of ''Munro's Tables'' in 1891, there was much uncertainty about the number of Scottish peaks over 3,000 feet. Estimates ranged from 31 (in M.J.B. Baddeley's guides) to 236 (listed in Robert Hall's third edition of ''The Highland Sportsman and Tourist'', published in 1884). When the Scottish Mountaineering Club was formed in 1889, one of its aims was to remedy this by accurately documenting all of Scotland's mountains over 3,000 feet. [[Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet|Sir Hugh Munro]], a founding member of the club, took on the task using his own experience as a mountaineer, as well as detailed study of the [[Ordnance Survey]] six-inch-to-the-mile (1:10,560) and one-inch-to-the-mile (1:63,360) maps.<ref>Bennet (ed.), ''The Munros: Scottish Mountaineering Club Hillwalkers' Guide'', p.&nbsp;1</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=About the Scottish Mountaineering Club|url=http://www.smc.org.uk/AboutUs.php|publisher=The Scottish Mountaineering Club|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=4 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704113147/http://www.smc.org.uk/AboutUs.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Munro researched and produced a set of tables that were published in the [[Scottish Mountaineering Club]] Journal in September 1891. The tables listed 538 summits over 3,000 feet, 282 of which were regarded as "separate mountains". The term ''Munro'' applies to separate mountains, while the lesser summits are known as ''Munro Tops''. Munro did not set any measure of [[topographic prominence]] by which a peak qualified as a separate mountain, so there has been much debate about how distinct two hills must be if they are to be counted as two separate Munros.

The Scottish Mountaineering Club has revised the tables, both in response to new height data on [[Ordnance Survey]] maps and to address the perceived inconsistency as to which peaks qualify for Munro status. In 1992, the publication of Alan Dawson's book ''Relative Hills of Britain'', showed that three Munro Tops not already considered summits, had a prominence of more than {{convert|500|ft|m|1}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Relative Hills of Britain (1992 book) |url=https://www.rhb.org.uk/marilyns/rhb199200.htm |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=www.rhb.org.uk}}</ref> Given this they would have qualified as [[Corbett (hill)|Corbett]] summits had they been under 3,000 feet. In the 1997 tables these three Munro Tops, on [[Beinn Alligin]], [[Beinn Eighe]] and [[Buachaille Etive Beag]], gained full Munro summit status. Dawson's book also highlighted a number of significant Munro Tops with as much as {{convert|60|m|ft|0|order=flip}} of prominence which were not listed as Munro Tops. The 1997 tables promoted five of these to full Munro status.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=idnEOw_Ml8IC&pg=PR8|title=Munro Almanac|last=McNeish|first=Cameron|date=2011-12-14|publisher=Neil Wilson Publishing|isbn=9781906476946|pages=VIII of 'Introduction'|language=en}}</ref>

A total of 197 Munros have a [[topographic prominence]] of over {{convert|150|m|0|abbr=on}} and are regarded by [[Peakbagging|peakbaggers]] as Real Munros.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=-926010| title=Real Munros| publisher=Peakbaggers| access-date=9 January 2018}}</ref> 130 Scottish mountains over 1000m, with a [[topographic prominence]] of over {{convert|100|m|0|abbr=on}} have been termed Metric Munros.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=-926548| title=Metric Munros| publisher=Peakbaggers| access-date=9 January 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109181452/https://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=-926548| archive-date=9 January 2018| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Other classification schemes in Scotland, such as the Corbetts {{convert|2500|to(-)|3000|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} and [[Graham (hill)|Grahams]] {{convert|2000|to(-)|2500|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}, require a peak to have a prominence of at least {{convert|500|ft|m|0}} for inclusion. The Munros, however, lack a rigid set of criteria for inclusion, with many summits of lesser prominence listed, principally because their summits are hard to reach.

Between April 2007 and July 2015 the [[Munro Society]] re-surveyed twenty mountains and tops that were known to be close to the 3,000&nbsp;ft figure to determine their height more accurately.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Scaling the Heights: Measuring Scotland's Mountains |publisher=The Munro Society |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-9996293-0-4 |pages=139}}</ref> On 10 September 2009 the society announced that the mountain [[Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean]], south of [[Glen Carron]], had a height of {{convert|913.43|m|ftin|0|order=flip}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/mountaindetails.php?rf=900|title=Hill Bagging:Sgurr nan Ceannaichean |publisher=HillBagging |access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> Therefore, the Scottish Mountaineering Club removed the Munro status of Sgùrr nan Ceannaichean and this mountain is now a [[Corbett (hill)|Corbett]].<ref>{{cite web|title=SMC confirm new Munro Table 10th Sept 09|url=http://www.smc.org.uk/Munros/Munros.php|date=10 September 2009|access-date=10 September 2009|publisher=The Scottish Mountaineering Club|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827193834/http://www.smc.org.uk/Munros/Munros.php|archive-date=27 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a Summer 2011 height survey by The Munro Society, [[Beinn a' Chlaidheimh]] was found to be {{convert|914|m|ftin|0|order=flip}} and thus short of the Munro mark. On 6 September 2012, the Scottish Mountaineering Club demoted it from Munro to Corbett status.<ref>{{cite news| title=Fisherfield Munro demoted to Corbett status after coming up short in survey| url=http://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/189113-fisherfield-munro-demoted-to-corbett-status-after-coming-up-short-in-survey/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054721/http://news.stv.tv/highlands-islands/189113-fisherfield-munro-demoted-to-corbett-status-after-coming-up-short-in-survey/| url-status=dead| archive-date=21 September 2013| date=7 September 2012| access-date=10 September 2012| publisher=STV News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Beinn a'Chlaidheimh: the Munro Society surveyors respond| url=http://caledonianmercury.com/2011/08/29/beinn-achlaidheimh-the-munro-society-surveyors-respond/002473|date=29 August 2011|access-date=20 September 2013|publisher=Caledonian Mercury}}</ref> On 26 August 2020, the SMC confirmed that Beinn a' Chroin West Top at 938m was deleted as a Munro Top and Beinn a' Chroin East Top became the new Munro Top at 940.1m. The summit height of [[Beinn a' Chroin]] was also changed to 941.4m.<ref>{{cite news| title=The Database of British and Irish Hills – Beinn a' Chroin (2925, 1C), Beinn a' Chroin East Top (36, 1C) and Beinn a' Chroin West Top (37, 1C)| url=http://www.hills-database.co.uk/database_notes.html#beinn_a_chroin| date=26 August 2020| access-date=31 August 2020| publisher=The Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH)}}</ref> As of 10 December 2020, there were 226 Scottish Munro Tops after [[Stob Coire na Cloiche]], a Munro Top to Parent Peak [[Sgùrr nan Ceathramhnan]], was surveyed at 912.5m and was deleted as a Munro Top and downgraded to a Corbett Top.<ref>{{cite news| title=The Database of British and Irish Hills – Stob Coire na Cloiche (850, 11A)| url=http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/changelog.php?cg=13735| date=10 December 2020| access-date=7 December 2021| publisher=The Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH)| archive-date=7 December 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207102254/http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/changelog.php?cg=13735| url-status=dead}}</ref>

As of 10 December 2020, the Scottish Mountaineering Club lists [[List of Munros|282 Munros]] and 226 Munro Tops. The current SMC list; totals 508 summits.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scottish Mountaineering Club |url=https://www.smc.org.uk/hills |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.smc.org.uk}}</ref>