Product Description

'The Ultimate Guide to The Munros' is a guidebook with a difference. Rather than telling the reader which are the 'best' routes, it describes all practicable ascent routes up all the Munros, and rates them in terms of difficulty and quality (using comprehensive grading systems). This enables the reader to make his/her own choices from a range of route options. Providing everything a prospective hill walker could want, 'The Ultimate Guide to the Munros' also makes extensive use of annotated digital photographs and OS maps and includes everything about a route from the amount of effort required to local history, weather conditions and the best tea-rooms in the vicinity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103140 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
The Ultimate Guide to The Munros picks up where the others including my own leave off, with lots of nitty gritty information on alternative routes, levels of difficulty and aids to navigation, all in a very up-beat style... I look forward to seeing the rest of his fun-packed Munro series. --Cameron McNeish, THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Fabulously illustrated... Entertaining as well as informative... One of the definitive guides to the Munros. --Press & Journal

This is a truly indispensable guide for the Munro-bagger. --Waterstone's George Street, Edinburgh

WINNER of the HIGHLY COMMENDED Award for Excellence by the Outdoor Writers and Photographics Guild in November 2009. The Ultimate Guide to the Munros was described by the judges as Irresistibly funny and useful; an innovatively thought-through guidebook that makes an appetising broth of its wit, experience and visual and literary tools. Brilliant. Ran the winner fag-paper close. --Outdoor Writers and Photographics Guild

This is a truly indispensable guide for the Munro-bagger. --Waterstone's George Street, Edinburgh

About the Author
Despite being a Sassenach by accident of birth, Ralph has lived in Scotland since studying psychology at Dundee University. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked in the field of commercial and educational computing, initially as a computer programmer and more recently as a lecturer at Napier University of Edinburgh. He is an experienced hillwalker who has hiked and backpacked extensively around the world. His series of guidebooks to the Scottish Highlands, which includes best-selling 100 Best Routes on Scottish Mountains, has become one of the standard reference works on the subject.

Customer Reviews

I love this book!
I love this book! At last someone has written a guidebook to the Scottish mountains that is FUN. All the information you could ever want is here, with bang up to date route descriptions of all kinds, from simple walks to hard scrambles. Also, unlike many guides, it doesn't confuse a scramble with something you need a rope on. The attention to detail is impressive, but what makes this particular guide special is the way it is presented.

It's in full colour and has tons of photos overlaid with the names of the mountains and other features so you don't have to check the map to work out what is what. I haven't seen this done since Poucher's old books and it really is a useful feature in a rucksack-friendly guide that you can carry. Best of all, the book `pretends' to have been written by the Go Take A Hike mountaineering club, whose members all have their bit to say about a route. For instance, Needlepoint points out any routefinding problems if cloud should fall, Chilly Willy tells you about winter route conditions. My favourite is Baffies, who is `allergic to exertion' and is a fund of knowledge about nearby tea rooms.

One drawback is that, being chock full of stuff, the book only has room to cover the Southern Highlands, but it is called Volume 1 so I assume more are on their way. Ralph Storer has written a number of guidebooks but this is by far his best one yet. Can't wait to see what Baffies makes of Glen Coe!

Forget the rest of the books, this is an all round winner!
I've got all books going and i'd say that this is my favourite all rounder. Some of the others will provider a better read at home by the fireside but for sticking in your pocket as a reference guide on the hills, this one just hits the spot.

I've got Ralph Storer's "100 Best Scottish Mountain Routes" and i'd agree with Weedavie in that it is an excellent read with all the info you need to plan things from home but out on the hills you gladly sacrafice this info for the OS map routes and photos with simple hill names superimposed on them (a simple idea that no one else seems to do that much?).

OK, the purists out there aren't going to like the little sub-characters in the book like "F-Shot" who tells you about the views or "Chilly Willy" who'll tell you what the winter conditions are like but I think it just adds to the whole charm of the thing.

I like to think of my self as one of the younger generation of hill walkers (just...) and though I love the hills I just find some of the other books a bit dry and bland. The ultimate guide is great, it has all the visuals you'll need for route finding under normal conditions (remembering though that you should always carry a map!), spotting other hills from the top and it makes a good guide along with some of the others for planning your trips. Most of all, it fits in your pocket which is something that many of the others won't.

Roll on the next few volumes...

Happy walking!

Ambitious but flawed
Ralph Storer wrote "100 Best Scottish Mountain Routes". That book is close to perfection. Unfortunately he pretty much said it all in that book.

It's hard to see who this current book is aimed at. For the inexperienced, it's got too much information and a lot of it's highly subjective. For the experienced, his judgements and omissions will irritate.

He doesn't rate the Glenartney approach to Ben Vorlich. Well that route gives a great perspective on Ben Vorlich / Stuc a Chroin on the walk in and also allows combination with Meall na Fearna.

He's far from comprehensive. The Ben Lomond approach via Comer, the only one you'll have to yourself isn't mentioned. The Cairn Mairg group is inevitably treated as four hills which must be done from Invervar - you can have more fun and privacy doing them in pairs from Fortingall and Camusvrachan (from where you can throw in Beinn Dearg.)

Go on, treat yourself buy "100 Routes" then start working out your own way round the hills.