Highland rock climbing instructor taking on winter Munro challenge
A determined rock climbing instructor is on her way to bagging all 282 of Scotland's Munros after embarking on the challenge just before Christmas.
Anna Wells is the founder of Rocks and Trails which provides rock climbing and mountain adventures with guiding and instruction.
She is currently attempting to scale all 282 Scottish Munros (mountains over 3000 feet high) over the course of the Astronimical Winter,which began on December 22 and runs until March 20.
"I've taken three months off work, and I'm unbelievably excited to immerse myself completely in the mountains," she said.
"I think those who know me would not be surprised that I would like to attempt such a challenge, it is very aligned with my enthusiasm for just blasting about in the mountains!
"I suspect the next three months will involve a lot of metaphorical ups and downs along with the 282 physical ones, but I'm ready to be happy, sad, elated, exhausted and joyous!"
Day one saw her complete four Munros in the Strathfarrar area near Loch Ness in the face of "50mph winds and a whole lot of hail blasting".
On day two she took on Conival and Ben Mor Assynt in Sutherland.
Summarising her adventure on social media she said: "Total saturation on the walk in made for comically solid-frozen clothing (and heads) on the summits!! Quite surprising given the rapid thaw and very soft slippy snow we had to wade and stumble through!
"We arrived back at the car like drowned rats.
Despite a storming start Christmas Eve, day three, proved more challenging as Anna admitted having "a totally rubbish day...for a multitude of reasons, massively precipitated by several nights of minimal sleep, and I was a total emotional wreck and had a total crisis of confidence."
She added: Ultimately, I bailed on two sets of plans and decided to take a rest day, which kind of felt like a disaster on day 3!"
However she continued: "In retrospect , I think it was an excellent decision. Now I feel like a brand new person, and that I can maximise on some great weather days coming up."
Not even the arrival of Christmas Day stopped her as she took on Slioch in Wester Ross.
"Jogging along the shores of Loch Marie by headtorch this morning ,I felt filled with joy, delighted by the wild beauty all around me," she said. "Such a rugged landscape! I got my white Christmas with some pretty heavy snowfall on the summit – the beautiful type of snow that just flutters around feeling magic.
"Honestly needed this day so much!!"
She has now taken on just over 40 Munros in total, On day nine – December 30 – she had to take an "unwanted" rest day due to "excruciating" foot pain.
Though this was followed by some "excellent fun" taking on the two Laggan Munros on Hogmanay, she was then "almost brought to tears during descent (both from the pain and the potential impact of this)".
Thankfully physio treatment helped sort that out and she continues to plough on, having conquered around 40 Munros so far.
You can follow Anna's progress on Facebook and Instgram.
