Determined mountaineer Kevin Woods took on the mammoth task of climbing all Scotland’s 282 Munros in one winter. He chats to Gayle Ritchie ahead of screenings of his film documenting the experience.
Climbing Scotland’s 282 Munros is a big challenge – a major achievement for most people.
However, Kevin Woods tackled them all over one winter – in just 97 days.
He’s believed to be only the third person to have achieved the feat in a winter season, following in the footsteps of the late Martin Moran and Steve Perry, who both died in 2019 in separate climbing incidents.
Kevin, 31, from Glasgow, didn’t have it easy when he set out on his mission the same year.
The storms, he recalls, were both “scary” and “relentless” in the north-west Highlands, and he was battered by hailstones, buffeted by ferocious winds, and forced to seek shelter when thunder and lightning struck.
The freelance filmmaker slept in his van most nights, but also used bothies.
Expedition
He chose Ben More on Mull as the first peak of his expedition, “by virtue of it standing alone”, setting off on December 22, 2019. His last was Ben Lomond – in late March, 2020.
I caught up with Kevin when he was on Skye, climbing and gathering material for a book about the Cuillin.
He tells me he was 10 when he climbed his first Munro, Ben Lomond, and started heading off into the mountains on his own when he was 15.
Summer challenge
Kevin was 21 when he finished his first continuous round of Munros – in 98 days in the summer of 2013. It was an experience he would later turn into a film.
“That summer was a huge learning curve for me,” he muses.
“The idea of doing all the Munros in summer just popped into my head.
“I’d read about Beauly-based climber Lorraine McCall doing them in the summer of 2005 and that inspired me. The winter round felt like the natural horizon to aim for.”
But as anyone who climbs mountains will know, winter is an entirely different ballgame, with many more hazards – not least, snow and ice.
There’ll be extra gear to carry, such as ice axes and crampons, and you’ll need to go armed with a wide range of winter skills.
Extra challenges
An experienced climber, Kevin knew what he was doing, and he was aware the weather would present extra challenges.
“It’s the same level of daily endurance as summer, but you pile on darkness, stormy conditions, rain, snow, and possible avalanche conditions.
The trees were being blown flat, and there was thunder and lightning.”
“You’ve got more equipment so there’s more to carry.
“Everything is heavier, everything is slower, everything takes longer and you’re in an environment where you’ve got less time to do everything. All the constraints are tighter.”
Hairy moments
Any hairy moments? Kevin admits to a couple! “I took a little slip on the Cuillin, and stopped myself with my ice axe,” he recalls.
“At the time it didn’t seem like much but, looking back, I think that could have turned out bad.
“Ironically that happened on one of the ‘easiest’ Cuillins, Bruach na Frithe. It’s got the most gentle slopes, so I just switched off for a wee moment, which is terrible.
“It was hard snow so the conditions were quite serious.”
His mammoth mission was determined by the weather, and of course, that winter was relentlessly wet.
“There were 13 weeks of storms over the north-west coast – the weather was absolutely rotten.
“February 2020 was one of the wettest, coldest months in years.
“So some days I’d do five, six, seven or even 10 Munros – I did the Mamores range in Lochaber, which is 10 – and there were some days when I didn’t even dare attempt to climb.
“The trees were being blown flat, and there was thunder and lightning.”
Ambition
His aim was to complete his round by the end of March and, in the end, he finished a few days to spare.
While Kevin was solo most of his trip, he was accompanied by friends some days, including Lorraine McCall – and he was joined by top climber Dave MacLeod when he tackled the Cuillins.
Magical experience
It’s not just a case of bagging the Munros for Kevin. He does it for the magnificent scenery, and the magical experience of being out there in the wilderness, often in the wildest of conditions, at one with nature.
“If was a trudge, I don’t think I’d be capable of doing it,” he reflects. “It seems to me that the mountain environment is justification.
“I’d never put that effort into a pavement-pounding environment. You just get carried away doing the Munros, whether you’ve done 10, 20 or 50. You get caught up in enjoying it.”
Before he set out, Kevin had spent years letting the idea stew, and obsessively studied weather patterns and avalanche forecasts.
“I built this picture of what weather in the mountains does, understanding how wind distributes snow across the hill, and being able to visualise that without actually being there – that’s very powerful when it comes to real-time planning on a winter round.
“I also had to build skills of winter climbing, ice climbing, moving in winter terrain, being able to be on the go for 24 hours.
“The act of finally doing it was like cashing in on all the experience I’d gained.”
Visceral joy
While buoyed up with the tactical, conscious act of planning – and completing – the Munro challenge, Kevin felt a sense of visceral joy in certain moments.
The moonlit nights on summits; the rare “sparkling” days following days of rain and wind; the ethereal, misty walks in the dark, and the twist in his gut at the prospect of an approaching storm.
It’s more than three years since he completed his mission, so why is his film documenting the experience – Winter 282 – only being released now? In short – Covid.
The world was in lockdown as he finished up on Ben Lomond in March 2020 and he was whisked off by his family into isolation.
With cinemas closed, he decided to bide his time and make a “proper” film, building connections and working relationships with many people who had joined him.
“They helped make the film something far more than just my personal winter round, or anything I would have made alone,” he says.
“Some connections were just amazing coincidences. I met musician Jarlath Henderson at Celtic Connections in Glasgow last January, and while I’m a huge fan, he’s into hillwalking. We got chatting and he offered his catalogue of music for the film.”
Award-winning filmmaker
While Kevin had filmed his entire journey himself, he teamed up with award-winning Dundee filmmaker Lindsay Hill to edit it.
“I’m so deep in tactics and techniques and geographical awareness, so Lindsay really helped me to identify the ‘human’ side and to explore the stories of those who’d climbed the Munros before me, those who came with me,” he says.
“It’s been a chance to talk about relationships.”
Lindsay says her biggest challenge was choosing what footage to leave out!
“Kevin had amassed many days and nights’ worth of film footage, but the goal was to end up with a cracking final film lasting no more than 90 minutes,” she says.
“This meant many hours poring through footage to select specific scenes and events we both felt best encapsulated the drama, delights and difficulties of the round.”
With Lindsay’s extensive scriptwriting and production experience, and Kevin’s detailed knowledge of the mountaineering aspects, a finely-crafted feature film took shape.
“At the finishing stages, it helped to know other industry professionals among friends and family,” she adds.
“Kevin’s cousin Phil Bearman created maps and graphics of Kevin’s route, his dad David’s colleague Paul Wilson provided sound design and dubbing, and Jarlath was happy to permit use of his music.
“Kevin’s brother Steve filmed some of the aerial drone footage, and his dad did the finishing and colour-grading on the pictures.”
Film will appeal to all
The film, says Lindsay, will appeal to anyone vaguely interested in the outdoors – from regular climbers to those who’ve never been up a Munro in their life.
“It will bring you a new-found awareness of the majesty and rugged challenges of Scotland’s magnificent mountains in winter.
“Kevin has captured views very few people get to see, in some of the most inaccessible spots, and in the harshest of weather.
“We both hope audiences will gain a deeper appreciation of the need to treasure and preserve this mind-blowing landscape.
“Climbing nearly 300 Munros in the middle of a harsh Scottish winter is a unique achievement, but it’s not a venture for the faint-hearted or inexperienced.
“Even as a long-time mountain guide, Kevin spent many months and years practising and preparing for his winter round.
“Those who’ve seen the film so far have said they’ve taken away a better understanding of how essential that preparation is, and just how much willpower the human psyche can drum up, when the going gets tough.”
- Kevin’s film, Winter 282, screens at the DCA in Dundee on May 17, Eden Court in Inverness on May 23, and the Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy on September 7. kevinwoods.co.uk
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