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| The Grey Corries before the blizzard |
The Ramsay Round
is by far the most popular classic round in Scotland, conceived and
first completed by Charlie Ramsay. It extends the 18 Munro Tranter
Round to make it comparable in terms of effort with the Bob Graham and
Paddy Buckley Rounds. However, in my opinion, what it gains in distance
and ascent over the Tranter Round, it loses in quality, as the route
necessitates a long and somewhat tedious valley section and the rather
lump-like hills of Chno Dearg and Beinn na Lap. Nevertheless, it makes
for a great 24 hour challenge with the magnificent spines of the Mamores
and Grey Corries, and the fjord like Loch Treig. In full winter
conditions, its a different proposition altogether which is much more
akin to winter mountaineering.
The first time I tried it, I ran out of
gas in the long valley at night, but scraped home the second time going
anticlockwise. However, it is my winter completion that I really
remember, with deep snow the whole way round and finishing in a full on
blizzard on Ben Nevis at 3am in the morning. You don't forget things
like that!
Tranter's Round might be shorter than the Ramsay Round, but in my opinion, its is one of the very best mountain challenges in the UK. It's not overly long at a tad under 40 miles, but its a very pure and logical route taking in some very fine crests and rocky ridges. It also packs in just over 20,000 feet of ascent in to those 38 miles, and takes in the highest mountains in Britain. In terms of quality, there's not a lot to beat it, Winter or Summer. I've done it three times - once in the Summer, once at Easter with virtually no snow, and once in the depths of winter - and I can see me doing it again. My quickest time is 14 hours and 40 minutes, quite a bit longer than the record of 12 hours 50 minutes.
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