The Scottish Mountaineering Club was formed in Glasgow in 1889, as a result of correspondence in the Glasgow Herald initiated by William W. Naismith. Although other Scottish clubs existed at this time, such as the Cairngorm Club, these had only local membership and limited technical aspirations. By contrast, the founder members of the SMC included a good number who already had Alpine experience and wished to use their skills in their native country.
In the early 1960s the SMC formed a charitable trust, the Scottish Mountaineering Trust. Part funded by revenue from the SMC's guidebooks, the Trust has given support to many projects over the years, including to the National Trust for Scotland and of the John Muir Trust and to footpath maintenance projects generally. The Trust also supports Mountaineering Scotland.
Publisher's website 2018
This revision of the Scottish Mountaineering Club's definitive hillwalkers' guidebook to the Munros reflects the recent demotion of Beinn a' Chlaidheim in the Fisherfield Hills, reducing the total number of Munros to 282. In addition, descriptions and maps throughout the book have been comprehensively revised to reflect changes to routes and access points. Since its first publication in 1985, all profits from this best selling guidebook have been donated to the Scottish Mountaineering Trust, a charity created to promote the enjoyment, appreciation and conservation of mountains and the mountain environment.
