Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Summit bagging - the concept

The blog started long after I began climbing mountains in Ireland and so to catch up there is an element of looking back on mountains long since bagged in an effort to remember clearly the experience of same. Simply put I do not want to climb them again just for a fresh input for the blog.

Not long after I climbed my first mountain I came across the website MountainViews which introduced to me the list system, a system whereby all 1054 mountains in this country are represented within sub heading list. There are 8 separate lists located on the website as follows:
  • 100 local
  • County
  • 100 rated
  • 100 highest
  • 600m
  • 500m
  • 150m
Clearly there will be an overlap on some of these lists but nevertheless the format that they are laid out in allows you to focus on one at a time, a much more manageable feat than trying to plan for all 1054.

Why bother? It is a question I have asked myself many times, the simple answer is I like order, I like having a goal in life and so I answer why not. Another view I have is that I enjoy the hills and mountains of this country, I love being out exploring all that this island has to offer and ticking a summit off the list is just another perk of an already fulfilling pastime. Some people say that peak bagging devalues the whole point of hillwalking, I disagree with this outlook, I think it gives me the motivation to keep going, to get out and explore in the first place.

I am planning on completing these lists over a long period, I have no time scale in mind and I don't want to rush the experience. The easiest and probably quickest one will be the 100 local, meaning the 100 peaks nearest to my home in Dublin. But I look forward to completing the rest over my lifetime.

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