THE QUEEN OF THE MOUNTAINS
Ex-nurse achieves hillwalkers’ holy grail of ‘Full House’, conquering all 1,073 main peaks in Scotland and UK
FOR most hillwalkers, scaling Scotland’s 282 Munros would be the achievement of a lifetime.
But for Anne Butler hiking up all the 3,000ft-plus mountains was simply not enough.
The 53-year-old went on to repeat them five more times, before becoming bored covering the same terrain and deciding to walk all the UK’s main peaks.
On Saturday, she completed the challenge after ascending 2,129ft Fiarach, in Perthshire, to become the 53rd person since 1891 to complete a Full House.
For mountaineers, this means making ascents of all the Munros, Munro tops, Furths, Corbetts, Grahams and Donalds – 1,073 summits.
To reach the target has taken detailed planning, fitness and dedication.
The retired nurse, who lives in Aviemore, Inverness-shire, with her husband Bill, does three to four walks a week, if the weather permits, accompanied by her dogs.
‘l worked out that climbing the Full House on its own is the same as climbing Mount Everest 67 times and so far l have climbed Everest 140 times with all the multiple ascents of Munros and Corbetts. No wonder my knees are trashed,’ Mrs Butler said.
Her first hill was Ben Lomond, 20 years ago this week. She said: ‘As soon as you start it becomes addictive.’ Her collie Molly, who died two years ago, who was such an experienced mountaineer she held her own record – the first dog to climb all the Corbetts.
Mrs Butler says her favourite peak is Ben Avon, in the Cairngorms, because of the ‘sense of freedom you get up there, the space and the light’.
Munro Society president David Batty, who was with her when she completed the Full House, said: ‘It’s a massive achievement.’
Despite this, she says she won’t be hanging up her walking boots, explaining: ‘It is pure relaxation and enjoyment.’