The First Fifty: Munro-Bagging without a Beard

by Muriel Gray

In this hilarious, irreverent and frequently controversial book she explains the real joy of hill-walking and climbing the Munros.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Scotland, Walking

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Nick]

Muriel is at times both funny and dead serious.There are times she is almost like AW in her comments about the Hills and the use and abuse of them. Once I had finished the book I revisited my Munro show DVD. More books on the Hills like this please Muriel!

[Alex]

A great and funny book about hill-walking. Companion to the TV series "The Munro Show" - if only that could be repeated on a satellite channel.

[Guido]

Muriel Gray is an absolute scream as she doggedly proceeds to climb munros (mountains over 3,000 feet in Scotland), although she hasn't got a beard.

[Lorraine Reid]

I loved this book, Muriel Gray clearly knows and loves her hills. Informative, humorous and very entertaining read.

[Jacqueline Gallacher]

loved Muriels hill stories, her love of the hills comes across well, and this book really made me laugh

[Freya McKenzie]

This book is almost nearly a 5. It falls short simply because although I adore the tone of the author, it’s a lot to handle for 250 pages, and because occasionally she mentions with disdain something that I either never considered a problem or have myself thought or done, much to my own embarrassment.

That being said, and my shame aside, this book is excellent. I cannot think of a better, more realistic description of Scotland’s peaks unless you climb them for yourself.

Muriel Gray’s writing is hilarious, sarcastic, and so unbelievably relatable that it makes me think perhaps I, too, could scale those vast summits.

If you’re a walker, I’d recommend it for a few laughs. If you’re not, I’d recommend it anyway: it might inspire you. It inspired me, for sure.

I just might need to learn Gaelic before I attempt to read it aloud…

[Alex]

I remember reading this as a child, presumably when my mum got it out from the library soon after it was published.
It hasn't survived the intervening 20+ years as well as it could have.
There are some very entertaining and funny sections, but I also found myself getting quite annoyed with the extreme views at times - the outdoor world might still have an equality issue, but actually this book helped to highlight the long way things have moved forward and felt really out of touch with the modern scene.
There wasn't as much about the mountains themselves, the book centres on why to climb them, or rather a commentary upon who climbs them (or who was climbing them in the 1980s).
Still it was a reasonably enjoyable and quire quick blast from the past.

[Helen Futty]

Left my book at Callum’s so picked this up off my parent’s shelf to keep me going til I could reclaim Resurrection. I love any book to do with Munro’s, climbing, the outdoors etc and this did not disappoint! Not only does Muriel Gray describe thrilling days out in the Scottish Highlands, she does it with such an amusing style of writing. Each anecdote was an entertaining read, and I enjoyed the way she poked fun at anything and everything ‘too extreme’. Also a massive fan of her disdain for those who just want to tick off the Munro’s (these people are the worst). Made me itch to get back out there and go walking.

[Ali Mac]

Disappointed by an error on p.140 where she is discussing Cairn Gorm but displays a map of Carn Gorm (Glen Lyon) which is 80 miles away. The book is quite outdated now and Muriel comes across as a ‘pick me’ for thinking she’s the only female climber. Also some very dangerous decisions made in the book, putting lots of lives at danger. I enjoyed the photographs and the commentary of the absurd culture around hillwalking and climbing.

[Emily]

Gutted this book is out of print. Such an inspiring, informative, funny and entertaining book about Munros. Published in 1993 it takes me back to the days of shell suits, terrestrial telly and tupperware parties. Also quite poignant reading it now and thinking just how far we've come in terms of women taking to the hills. If only there were more light hearted book about hills like this.

[Fiona English]

Probably the best book I’ve ever read on hill walking although it deserves to lose a point for making me look like a lunatic as I roared with laughter on quiet buses, coffee shops and sitting on a hillside devouring it.

[Theo Landman]

If like a book about rock climbing in Scotland and sentences such as: “If Ben Nevis was a boy I would have tackled him and pulled his trousers down” then this is the book for you.

[Kate]

A laugh out loud book

[Ruth]

Hilarious. Helped me be in the hills though trapped in lockdown.

[lauren mackenzie]

thanks rhona for lending me the first read of this year which frankly took me way too long to start. i've never climbed a munro but this book actually made me want to do so which is quite an achievement. muriel gray is a very entertaining writer so i really enjoyed reading this even though i had no idea how to pronounce any of the hill names. (seriously. gaelic is insane. the only one i knew was schiehallion.)

[Mike]

Witty and irreverent, you won't learn how to climb mountains, but you will learn how much fun it can be!

[North North-West]

A funny observation that all Munroist's will recognise

[Simon]

Really enjoyable.

[Megan Hodgkinson]

3.25*