CLIMBING every one of Scotland’s 282 Munros – mountains over 2000 feet – is described by Lonely Planet as a badge of honour.
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Malcolm Waterston’s father achieved the feat 10 years ago at the age of 80, and the Launceston retiree is on a quest to do the same.
But Mr Waterston also plans to climb Tasmania’s equivalent, the Abels, which are lesser in number but much more arduous.
‘‘I think I might be the only person on the planet to have done both,’’ Mr Waterston said.
The Abels are a set of 158 mountains more than 1100 metres high, however Mr Waterston said the total number changed as more peaks were measured.
Mr Waterston started ‘‘bagging Munros’’ with his father when he was a boy living in the Scottish Highlands.
When Mr Waterston moved to Tasmania he took to climbing Abels, and a few years ago he retired with a view to finish every Munro and every Abel.
‘‘I was in a decision where if I retired I thought, ‘I can do this’, whereas if I waited another five years I probably couldn’t do it.’’
He has completed 158 Abels, with 14 to go, and 233 Munros, with 49 to go, and thinks he thinks he should finish the Abels by the end of next summer.
‘‘There’s a few other people getting close like me, but I reckon I will be in the first 10 to complete them,’’ he said.
Mr Waterston said climbing Abels offered a true wilderness experience, and sometimes he would travel only 500 metres in two hours through dense bushland.
‘‘There’s big mountains in Tasmania that nobody has really heard of,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s brilliant just looking out over a scene of wilderness, and you know there is nobody else around you and you are completely alone.’’
Mr Waterston said climbing was one of Scotland’s biggest participation sports, but far fewer people were involved in Tasmania.
‘‘It’s just such a great, cheap pastime for Tasmania, and it can be as easy or as hard as you like.’’