Welcome to my latest post about mountain classifications in the United Kingdom. This week I’m focusing on the mountains in Scotland that are known as Corbetts.
This is one of the older lists of summits when compared to some of the ones documented in England and Wales. The list was originally created by John Rooke Corbett a Bristol based mountaineer who spent a lot of time in the Scottish highlands in 1920. It wasn’t until his sister passed it over to the SMC (Scottish Mountaineering Club) who published it in 1953 as part of the Munro’s Tables.
Definition of a Corbett?
A Corbett is a Scottish mountain that has a height of 2,500 – 3,000 feet and they also have a prominence of 500 feet. This does mean that all Corbetts are also a Marilyn by definition.
This mountain classification covers the summits that are not quite over the 3000 feet threshold of the Munros.
How many Corbett summits are there?
There are 222 Corbett summits, quite a nice round number! 21 of the summits are also in the list of P600 due to them having a prominence of over 600 meters. These summits often referred to as the Major Corbett tops. This is similar to the way Munros are categorised as Minor and Major summits.
The highest of the Corbett summits, Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh stands at 2,999 feet just a single foot short of being a Munro! Some newer surveys, which have used modern recording technology have suggested that it might be slightly shorter than that though.
How many have I ticked off
Not a lot is the short answer!
So far I have summited 3 of the summits on the list Merrick, Ben Ledi and Meall a’Bhuachaille. I summited all of these during my first trip to Scotland in the spring of 2023.
I do hope to bag more of these on my next trip. This list becomes more tempting since many of the mountains will be good hikes for days when the weather might not allow for heading up to over 3000 feet.
Grogu (baby Yoda) has also joined me on all my Corbett bagging hikes! He particularly liked the view from Meall a’ Bhuachaille of the snowy Cairngorms mountain range.
A you a Corbetteer?
Are you ticking off the Corbett summits I would love to hear from you. Get in touch to let me know your favourite summits and routes. The more obscure the better.
A whole lot of mountains
Are working through any bagging lists? Below you will find a spreadsheet that I have compiled that can be used as a ticket list for many of the mountain classification across the United Kingdom.
This includes ticks lists for;
- The Peak District Ethels
- The Nuttalls of England and Wales
- Hewitts
- P600s
- Marilyns
- Munros
- Corbetts