A good year for milestones -finishing the Grahams, visiting St Kilda again, mum finishing the Munros. Funnily enough, I wouldn't count the Munro or Graham completions (Slioch and Suilven) as particular highlights. Both were on fairly poor weather days and would have scarcely rated a mention otherwise. I've never really thought of completions as the end of anything so got much more enjoyment out of unexpectedly good hill days.
Best of the year were:
Not many poor days, but the pits was a November day on the easternmost Beinn Tarsuinn (15B) in atrocious conditions. This is the worst hill in Scotland (especially if you do the tops too) and I hope never to climb it again. Driving rain and mist on An Sgarsoch and Carn Ealar (6A) was no fun either. Bottom of the heap was a foul day on Stob an Eas (19C) and Beinn an t-Seilich. Barbara contrived to poke herself in the eye with a sitka branch resulting in a scratched eyeball. We found this out the next day at Ninewells Hospital -mind you it allowed Breac and I to nip up Craigowl Hill (26) while she was waiting.
Sharp-eyed followers of the list will note a rather poor showing of new Marilyns (48, of which 26 were Grahams). Attention has firmly switched to 2000-3000ft tops, so new Marilyns are now rarer than Scottish teams still being in Europe after Christmas.
