The Last Corbett Party

 

This was a truely unique and wonderful experience: Along wife my wife Jane and seventy odd other guests  we were invited to climb John Young's last Corbett with him.  He had already climbed all the Munros with his late wife Elizabeth.

The background to the Corbetts is  described by John below:

"The Corbetts are second rank of Scottish mountains in height after the better known Monroes they are the 222 summits with the height of 2500 feet [762 m] or more but lower than 300 [914 m]

Unlike the 282 Munros, who is categorisation as separate mountains over 3000 feet is in entirely       judgemental the Corbetts are precisely defined as having a drop of at least 500 feet between the summit and any higher land.

This difference in approach derives from the different origins of the two list of mountains the Munros are named after a Scottish landowner who researched and produced his tables in the latter part of the 19th century with publish materials  limited by the  rudimentary ordnance survey mapping of the time he surveyed many of the summits personally during long and unsupported expeditions on foot through the highlands his list was first published in the Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) in 1891.

It revolutionised contemporary understanding of the extent of Scotland's mountain country with many commentators having previously believed that they were as fewer than 30 mountains topping the 3000 feet. Approximately 8000 people have now climed all the Munro's.

 The Corbetts are named after John Roark Corbett who was born in 1876 in Handforth Cheshire after attending both the Manchester Grammar School and then St John's College Cambridge, he first worked in Manchester as a surveyor in a private practice before becoming a district valuer in the Inland Revenue valuation department initially in Manchester and subsequently in Bristol.

Although based in England he became a keen member of the SMC in the years between the two world wars.

Corbett was the first person to climb all the Munros concluding his round in 1930 and worked privately  in subsequent years to compile the first list of the peaks that were later named after him. He never published his list during his own life time but sister passed it to the SMC following his death in 1949. The list first appeared in the 1953 edition of Munros tables and has subsequently been maintained and when necessary updated by the SMC.  205 Corbits are on the mainland of the Scottish highlands seven are in the lowlands not far north of the English border, the remaining 10 on the Isles of Arran, Harris, Jura, Mull, Rum and Skye."

Now the remarakble thing is that; more people have climbed Everest than have completed all the Corbetts. It is also likely that the people who have completed the Corbetts have a better understanding about what it is to spend time in wild places than the vast majority of Everest summitters...

The Last Corbett walk.

John had asked us all to be at the car park for a 10.30am start.  We arrived early to be delighted to see my great friend and memtor Mountain Guide Alan Kimber was already there having camped the night. Gradually more cars arrived and at the perscribed time everyone set of along the track which traverseres the Loch with the aim of climbing Auchnafree Hill.  It is one of the southernmost Corbetts lying in extensive moorlands on the east side of Loch Turret.  At 2588ft (789m} it is the 176th highest of the 222 Corbetts.

The expedition had been a long time in the planning, but no amount of planning could guaranteed perfect stellar weather.  It was difficult to imagine what better weather could have looked like and the hills and views were breath taking.

At the head of Loch Turret everyone re grouped before making the ascent up the track towards the top..  Everyone stopped at a cairn about a 100 meters before summit so that John could actually reach the summit first.  Thus completeing all the 222 Corbetts.

John& Madeleine taking the final few steps.

John on the top.

John then pulled a bottle of Glen Turrets finest malt from his rucksack, which along with a bottle of Bollinger  he passed around.

Me & Alan Kimber the UK longest serving Mountain Guide.

After about half an hour we all started back down the track, intermingling and chatting to lots of differnt interesting people.  Back at the car park Jane and I made a detour to pick up a bottle of the Glen Turret that John had introducced us to, before heading to the Crieff Hydro for the evenings celebrations.

The evening commencenced with a 7 O'clock with a champagne reception followed by wonderful meal where I made a short speech and my wife and I presented John with a hand made engraved Ice Axe produced by the mythical blacksmith "Bhend of Grindlewald" Switzerland.

The dinner was concluded by a wonderful piper bringing a truely great experince to a finale.