WHY THESE SUMMITS ARE JUST THE CHERRY ON TOPS

ONE of the great plusses of a more leisurely second round of Corbetts is the opportunity to explore different routes and add in more outlying and often ignored summits.

Just as many Munros have subsidiary summits listed as Munro Tops, it makes sense that the extra appendages on Corbetts are known as Corbett Tops. Except that the term is rarely used now and many hillwalkers remain unaware of it.

As with all mountain lists, nothing is straightforward or set in stone, so here is an explanation that may either give a bit of clarity or muddy the waters even more. Corbetts are summits of between 914m (2999ft) and 762m (2500ft) in height with an all-round drop of 152m (500ft). There are currently 222 listed. A Corbett Top is a subsidiary summit with a drop of at least 30 metres all round (98.4 feet) and at the last count there were 453. That makes a grand total of 675 summits which are either Corbetts or Tops. The slight complication comes with the fact that Corbett tops can also be subsidiaries of Munros. Therefore of the 453, only 188 are attached to Corbetts with 265 being outlying summits of Munros.

And to further stir the pot, the term Corbett Tops has vanished with all these peaks being swallowed up as an imperial subset of the 2531 British Simms (summits over 600 metres with a 30m drop).

I still get blank looks from many contemporaries when I mention Corbett Tops but old habits die hard. I have persisted with the old name based on a list of these subsidiaries I downloaded many years ago and still work my way through them. I have no intention (or chance) of finishing the list but it has provided valuable information in pointing the way to more interesting – and quieter – circuits.

It's easy to disappear down a never-ending rabbit hole when it comes to mountain listings, and I have tried to keep them mostly at arm's length. On days after climbing a less prominent hill, I will sometimes receive a message from a friend saying: “Ah, I see you're doing the so-and-sos now.” But I'm not – I wouldn't know a Hump from a Dodd and long may it remain that way.

There's an endless supply of hills out there, a list out there for everyone if they are so inclined. For instance, there are Simms, Subsimms, Marilyns and SubMarilyns (not submariners, though I'm sure that is still to come), Dodds and subDodds and Yeamans.

There are Donalds, Deweys and Donald Deweys, New Donalds and Donald Tops – the roll call reads like the family tree of the Scrooge McDuck family. And of course, there are also the deleted summits of all the above.

I'm just not interested in Humps or Tumps or Flumps. Actually, scratch that last one – I don't think we have a Flumps listing (yet), but I do sometimes enjoy one when out on a walk.

It's calming to have a list of hills that you know you can never finish and the Corbetts Tops fit the bill perfectly. I have managed to tick off around 170 during days on the Munros and Corbetts and even as standalones but that still leaves 280-plus untrodden.

To do all of these would require an energy, commitment and time scale that I simply don't have at this time of life. It would mean days spent in the empty moorland of the Monadh Liath – there are 17 summits attached to Geal Charn for instance while Leathad an Taobhain in Glen Feshie has 12 subsidiaries, none of which set the heart racing. And the thought of wandering the heather-clad, rounded pathless multiples of the dreary Carn an Saobhaide is enough to bring on nightmares.

But as with all hill lists, there's enough good to negate the not so good, superb peaks which more than equal their higher kin, prized ascents even if climbed for their own sake. Sgurr Thionail, which sits off the Munro Sgurr a' Mhaoraich is one, Beinn Gharbh an outlier of the Corryhully Horseshoe pair another.

Knight's Peak, briefly but wrongly re-classified as a Munro Top for a short period, is a formidable target on Sgurr nan Gillean's Pinnacle Ridge while the impressively steep pyramid of Faochag in Glen Shiel is never forgotten by the knees once descended.

The North Peak of The Cobbler, Stob Dubh's partner in Glen Etive, Beinn Ceitlin, and Streap's twin Streap Comlaidh, are fine examples of peaks that complement their parent Corbett Tops.

Every so often, it's reassuring to have a reminder that the list will forever remain unfinished. A recent brief weather window tempted me back to the Tarmachan Ridge, but instead of taking the heavily scarred path up from the Ben Lawers car park I tackled this old favourite from the north side, a horseshoe circuit of Coire Riadhailt.

Apart from providing a different perspective of Meall nan Tarmachan and its associated heights, this route was also done with the intention of ticking off two outlying Corbett Tops, Creag an Lochain and Meall Ton Eich. The former was a grassy bump on the way to the main summit, but the latter required a detour out to the north-west of the main circuit and then backtracking to drop along the western arm of the corrie.

Creag an Lochain looks craggy and impressive when looking up from Lochan na Lairige but from this ascent it was a mere grassy lump reached by a short push from the road. The continuation on to the main peak was short and sharp and I was soon standing at the small cairn in beautiful conditions looking along the full stretch of the ridge.

The best summit, Meall Garbh, and the many lumps of Beinn nan Eachan followed in quick succession before I dropped down to the next col. On the trade route, this is the turning point: you either go up and over Beinn an Caillich or take the path which immediately heads down.

To reach Meall Ton Eich however means going over the side of Beinn na Caillich. There was a path of sorts but it soon fizzled out and although my target peak was now only a kilometre or so distant the terrain didn't look particularly inviting. Coupled with that was the sudden and fast-moving sea of grey rolling in from the west smothering all in its wake. Within minutes, the blue sky and sunshine had disappeared and the landscape had disappeared along with the pleasant temperature and my enthusiasm for this final summit. Pushing on would have simply ruined what had been a fine day, so I made my excuses and left. It's highly likely this hill will be one that remains forever on the unticked list but I won't lose any sleep over it: the Corbett Tops – or whatever you wish to call them – are a luxury rather than a necessity.