A Scottish mountain has lost about 5 feet in height and thus its status as a Munro, or peak topping 3,000 feet, the Munro Society says.
ADVERTISEMENT
The society recently surveyed Beinn a'Chlaidheimh or Hill of the Sword in Wester Ross, using the most advanced satellite technology, The Scotsman reported Tuesday. Its height was determined to be 2,997.7 feet, just under the magic number, while a 1974 survey found it was 3,004 feet.
The peak is now classified as a Corbett or hill between 2,500 and 3,000 feet.
Munros got their name from Sir Hugh Munro, who compiled a list of all peaks above 3,000 feet in 1891. There are now 282 Munros, with an additional 227 secondary summits known as Munro tops.
The Corbetts got their name from John Rooke Corbett, a climber who compiled his own list of peaks from 2,500 to 3,000 feet in the 1920s.
More than 4,000 people have registered with the Scottish Mountaineering Club as having climbed all the Munros.
"It seems unlikely that the thousands who enjoy the Scottish mountains will be in any way deterred from climbing them if and when their status in the tables changes," a Munro Society spokesman said. "All remain fine mountains in their own right and the experience enjoyed in ascending their slopes is in no way diminished."