In 1964, Philip Tranter set the 24-hour Munro record at 19 Munros – linking the Mamores, the Grey Corries, the Aonachs, Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis. In some senses “Tranter’s Round” can be thought to have been superseded by Ramsay’s Round, the goal of which is to complete 24 Munros in 24 hours and is hence a tougher challenge. However, Tranter’s Round has more elevation per distance and avoids the tedious track section of the Ramsay, and is proportionally more ‘mountainous’. These attributes mean it has remained an attractive challenge for fell runners and walkers alike.
As with all rounds, the total length and ascent values vary since they depend on the exact route taken between the Munros, which is up to the runner. I measured the round as 64km with 6,200m ascent (for the more traditional amongst us, this is 40 miles and 20,300 feet).
The ever-important weather forecast provided a possible weather window in between two days of torrential rain (typical British August) and I set off at 5am on a humid Sunday morning. The direction is also up to the runner – I chose anti-clockwise to provide some variation from the Ramsay Round last year and this had the benefit of getting the first section of road and forest track out of the way near the start. I only needed a torch for the first half an hour, and I was just out of the forest to witness some sunlight peeking out over the mountains before I ascended into the early morning mist, where I stayed for the first couple of hours.
Most of the first half passed without incident. The out-and-backs ridges seem more precipitous than when I’ve attempted them before, but probably just because I haven’t done them solo on prior occasions and I was a bit more aware of the danger. For the first seven hours I saw just three people.
After the second of the two ridges, I didn’t enjoy the ascent of the scree to Binnein Beag (pictured in the centre of the image below). It would have been more pleasant to head just left of the furthest tarn and then ascend on the same route as the descent. One for the next person to try!
The link between the Mamores and Grey Corries was new ground for me, so I’d looked in advance at Finlay Wild’s record-breaking Strava track from earlier in the year. Whilst I’m sure he found a nice line down to the river, I didn’t! I had been worrying about the river crossing for most of the morning, due to the volume of rain over the last couple of days, but thankfully it was only knee deep and didn’t present much of an obstacle.
I found the next climb to Stob Ban a real challenge both physically and mentally – physically because this is no-path, heathery, tussocky terrain; mentally because by the time I reached this summit, Finlay would have finished the whole round which shows how superhuman he is!
Once at the top though, it did feel like I was on the home straight. There are some of the nicest sections on the round in this section; glorious views, narrow technical ridges and scree descents. Getting very near the end there is a key route choice – climbing up below a massive overhanging boulder or the slightly longer but technically easier Spinks’ Ridge? I’d come down the ridge on the Ramsay Round but I thought the overhang would be fine to ascend – a bad call because the shadow cast by the rock means it doesn’t dry underneath very quickly after rain, and so there were some dicey sections near the top. It’s a tough ask for your legs to push yourself up wet slippery inclined rocks after 5000m ascent, and it was a relief to make it to the top unscathed.
Another hour or so and it was down to the section which makes it undesirable to do the round in this direction: the CMD Arete and the climb to Ben Nevis.
In this direction, there are sections of the CMD which feel quite exposed (although most of the exposure can be avoided by trods down to the sides – not all of it!), especially in the strengthening wind and gathering darkness. Given the forecast of ‘widely deteriorating conditions by dusk’, I was keen not to hang around too long on this section, but tried to balance this with safety considerations too.
At the top of Ben Nevis it seemed like it might be possible to get back to the Youth Hostel under 15 hours – and I just managed this with 10 seconds to spare.
This is a great route and if you fancy a Scottish challenge to take in all the “best bits” of the Ramsay Round, I’d highly recommend it.
Mark Burley
