Ben More on Mull, Ben Fleetwood's final tick on the list. Photo: George Hopkins CC-BY-SA-2.0

Ben More on Mull, Ben Fleetwood's final tick on the list. Photo: George Hopkins CC-BY-SA-2.0

A 10-year-old boy is tomorrow due to become the youngest to complete the ascent of all of Scotland’s munros.

Ben Fleetwood and his father John aim to summit Ben More on Mull on Sunday as the final tick on the Kendal schoolboy’s 283-strong list of Scottish 3,000-footers.

Ben’s ascent of the 966m (3,169ft) Hebridean peak will again put him in the record books – at the age of six he became the youngest completer of all the Wainwrights, the 214 Lake District fells described by Alfred Wainwright in his Pictorial Guides – a record since bettered by even younger fellwalkers.

But the Cumbrian boy’s latest achievement is in a different league. He has already topped out on the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Skye Cuillin and has completed many of his ascents in snow and ice, including successfully summiting Ben Lui via an ice-climb up its Central Gully.

The youngest person so far to have ascended all the munros is Lynn Batty, who was 11 when she finished her round in 1995.

Ben’s father John, an accomplished fellrunner and climber, has accompanied the 10-year old on all his munro ascents, and his mum Alison has joined her husband and son on about half the walks.

Ben’s munro round began at the age of six with Beinn na Lap and two further mountains, Chno Dearg and Stob Coire Sgrìodain, all east of Corrour station, ticked off the same day.

He told the Caledonian Mercury’s outdoors correspondent Dave Hewitt the In Pinn – only accessible by a rock-climb – is among his favourites. There’s an interview with Ben and his dad John, along with a discussion of the ethical questions posed by encouraging such young challengers on the CalMerc website.

Some articles the site thinks might be related:

  1. Murmuring, muttering and mood music – a change to the munros is almost upon us