Helen Rennard has set a new fastest record of 80 days and 9.5 hours for a winter round of all the Munros. She is only the fifth recorded person – and the second known woman – to complete the so-called Winter Munro Round. I spoke to the accomplished climber days after she finished her feat on Ben Nevis on March 30.
‘Daunting’: A Winter Munro Round
It takes guts, tenacity, determination and experience to set out to complete a full Munro round in one winter season.
To do so with little outside support and under the usual radar of publicity and social media, is even more courageous.
Last month, Helen Rennard’s completion of a “stealth” Winter Munro Round – during which she walked 186 of the 282 Munros solo – suddenly became news.
Not only did she become only the fifth recorded person – and the second known female – to complete the gruelling feat, but she also set a new record time of 80 days and 9.5 hours.
She faced a wide spectrum of winter weather, including Storm Éowyn, 100mph winds, many kilometres of knee-deep snow, ice and then a thaw, which left the ground soggy and slippery, especially on steep hillsides. A winter round also means days are short with much reduced daylight.
Helen, of Fort William, said: “When I set out to do the round I didn’t tell many people about it. It was a conscious decision to keep the round quiet.
“A Munro round in winter is a daunting challenge – and one I had wanted to do for years – but I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish it.
“In the first few weeks, I didn’t ask for any outside support but then I realised that a bit of help with things like lifts and retrieving my bike after a cycle to a Munro would make a big difference. I had to adjust my mindset on what I had thought would be possible on my own and what was realistic.
“It was the same with my plans for very long days, day after day. I needed to adjust my logistics to allow me to recover and plan between outings.
“The weather made things very tricky at times as well. It was all a learning curve.”
The Munros – and completing a round
The Munros, which are Scotland’s 282 tallest mountains and all at least 3000ft (914.4m) tall, are spread out across Scotland. The most southerly is Ben Lomond in Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park, while the most northerly is Ben Hope in the upper reaches of Sutherland. In Angus, Mount Keen is the furthest east, while more than a dozen of the most westerly Munros sit on several islands. A round includes a total height gain equalling around 14 ascents of Mt Everest.
According to the Scottish Mountaineering Club, which keeps a record of people who complete a Munro Round, it takes most baggers an average of 20 years to tick off all the peaks.
Few Munro baggers would contemplate a full round in one season. The record for a non-stop and self-powered summer round (that is walking, cycling or kayaking between the mountains) is held by Jamie Aarons in 31 days and 10 hours.
In winter, only four people before Helen had been recorded as completing a Munro round. The first was the late Martin Moran in 1985, before Steve Perry in 2006 and Kevin Woods in 2020. Anna Wells become the first woman to achieve the same challenge in 83 days last winter.
Helen’s round was completed with the use of a vehicle, ferries and bicycle to get to and from the Munros, just like the rounds of Moran, Woods and Wells. Only Perry did the Winter Munro Round round continuously and self-powered.
Logistics and going solo
Helen split Scotland into several mountain areas and used a number of bases, including her home, self-catering accommodation and the houses of three friends, from which to reach the Munros for each outing. She also spent more than 20 days returning to – and sleeping in – her car overnight.
She chose to do the round almost entirely self-supported including the planning, navigation and logistics.
She said: “Sometimes I did have a friend join me for a day or two but they were always happy to do so according to my pace and schedule. I enjoyed their company and it was good to get some moral support.
“In particular, Jon Gay, who was the first person to do a winter Ramsay Round, was a fantastic support. He did five big A-to-B routes with me. He agreed to whatever I suggested without question, didn’t mind plans being made at short notice and plied me with sandwiches all day.
“Also, Simon Yearsley and Neil Silver acted as my safety backup. I messaged them with my daily plans and progress updates, which meant someone knew roughly where I was.
“Additionally, Simon helped me with a long bike section and gallantly walked his bike and my bike some 16km from where I left it back to his vehicle
“The climber Dave MacLeod also kindly drove me into the middle of nowhere one morning so I could start one of my long routes.
“I am really grateful to the friends who helped me in my round.”
As well as different ways of tackling the Munro round, there have been revisions to the Munro list over the decades and Moran’s 83-day finish included the then 277 Munros. Today the tally is 282.
A late start in the season for Helen
Helen confesses that, in the end, it was something of a last-minute decision to start her round. She did not get going until relatively late in the winter, on January 9.
She said: “I was actually climbing with Dave MacLeod and Calum Muskett in the Arrochar Alps the day before and I didn’t even tell them what I was going to do the next day.
“I had been quite indecisive about the round and then I suddenly thought, ‘I just need to get started on this.’
“I was aware I was not getting any younger and I didn’t want to leave it another year. I was keen to do a fairly fast round and I thought I felt fit enough.
“But, even as I began to tick off the summits in the first weeks, I still had doubts about if I could do it. I had many times when I just wanted to stop and give up.”
Winter round: Mental challenges
Anxiety was to become a constant for Helen throughout the round. She said: “It was a lack of sleep that started to get to me, even early on in the round, and an inability to get going in the mornings.
“I need a lot of sleep and usually get a solid eight to 10 hours a night. But it proved impossible to get that much sleep when I was out in the mountains all day and then, afterwards, I needed to eat, sort my kit and logistics and think about the next day.
“I was doing everything on my own and there just wasn’t enough time each day, so my sleep was affected.
“Because I started late in the day, sometimes as late as 10.30am, I often ended up walking into dusk and then darkness. I only actually saw one sunrise on the round but I saw plenty of sunsets.
“The problem for me is that I feel very anxious being out at dusk. It’s a time of day when I am thinking, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t be here; this could be hazardous.
“I felt very alone and vulnerable and these were difficult feelings to deal with on such a regular basis.”
Helen’s physical strength
Despite her worries, Helen reports that she felt physically strong throughout, although an injury some five weeks in almost ended her bid. She said: “At no point did my legs feel tired and I felt capable of all the long distance outings and day after day. I am well conditioned for the hills thanks to many years of walking and climbing.
“Annoyingly, though, in mid-February I tripped over on ridge while on my own between two Munros, Mullach Fraoch-choire and A’ Chralaig, and a spike of rock went into the top of my shin.
“I could see through flesh and tissue, there was a lot of blood and it was agony. I thought it was the end. It was sore and I had to get myself eight kilometres back to my car.
“I went to hospital and they stitched the wound but for days afterwards I worried I’d broken my leg and also I was concerned about infection.
“In the end, a doctor friend assured me I hadn’t broken anything and I should be fine to carry on. I strapped it up and it was still sore but it was manageable. I just got on with it.”
Impressively, Helen “just got on with” some very long routes, some between 42km and 65km distance with around 3500m to 5000m of total ascent.
They included the Rigby Round – an 18-Munro Cairngorm classic – over two days with 66km and 3983m ascent on day one and 55km and 3014m on day two; a 48km route with 3243m of ascent to bag the Fisherfield five Munros; and an epic Lochaber Traverse over the Grey Corries, Aonachs, Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis to finish. The final push tallied 38km and 3250m of ascent.
Nicky Spinks: I am in awe
Nicky is an ultra running legend and she joined Helen for a version of the Rigby Round. Nicky said: “In February I messaged Helen to ask if she fancied a mountain day and she said she was halfway through a winter Munro Round. I didn’t know – and I was gobsmacked.
“The amount of distance and ascent for a Munro round is mind-boggling – and then there is winter with limited daylight hours and the potential of bad weather. Plus she was doing all the planning and logistics night day after day.
“She had only a few people helping her with and she had set off not knowing if it would be possible.
“I helped her on the Rigby Round and she was so strong. I was better able to cope with the lack of sleep and I could see how mentally tired she was but her legs just powered on beneath her.
“There are no words to describe the toughness of Helen. I am in awe of her.”
Fastest winter Munro round: Pride, joy and relief
Helen felt a rush of emotions as she reached the final summit, Ben Nevis at 1345m elevation. She said: “I cried as I finally finished and I wasn’t expecting that. It was a combination of sleep deprivation, reflection on the previous three months and relief that it was done.
“Now, as it sinks in, I feel very proud of what I achieved and how I managed to keep it together and stay safe in all types of weather for 80 days in the Scottish mountains in winter.”
However, while Helen’s winter Munro round is the fastest on record, she believes it’s difficult to make direct comparisons with previous completions.
She said: “Weather conditions vary hugely from one winter to the next and also we now have much better access to technology, such as weather reports and GPS, compared to decades past. I think back to Martin Moran’s round in the 1980s and reflect on how tough it must have been.
“Winter Munro rounds are still a rarity, though, and they can never be considered easy but my round was different to all the others – and it had its own challenges.
“Overall, my round has changed my perspective of what I can manage by myself in the mountains. I am sure the memories will stay with me for a very long time.”