Global InformationList of Graham mountains information
| Graham | |
|---|---|
 Sgurr na Coinnich in Skye, the 33rd highest Graham, and the Graham with the greatest prominence. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | between 600 and 762 metres |
| Prominence | at least 150 metres (492 feet) |
| Listing | 231 |
| Geography | |
| Location | Scotland |
This is an overview of the Grahams and a list of them by height. Grahams are defined as Scottish hills between 600 and 762 metres in height, with a minimum prominence, or drop, of 150 metres. The final list of Grahams, with this definition, was published by Alan Dawson in 2022 in the booklet Ten Tables of Grahams: The Official List [1] and in the book Tales from the Grahams: 231 medium-sized hills of Scotland.[2]
Scottish hills between 2,000 and 2,500 feet (609.6 and 762.0 metres) were referred to as "Elsies" (short for Lesser Corbetts, being "LCs") in April 1992 by British researcher Alan Dawson in his book The Relative Hills of Britain.[3] In November 1992, Fiona Torbet (née Graham) published her own list which did not include the Southern Uplands and had several omissions and inaccuracies. Dawson and Torbet met to discuss the issue and agreed to use Dawson's list but to apply the name Grahams, which they both preferred to Elsies.[4][5] By definition, all Grahams, given their prominence, are also Marilyns.[6] Alan Dawson devised and compiled the original list of Marilyns, including the hills now known as Grahams, and continues to maintain the official lists. The Scottish Mountaineering Club ("SMC") also uses the list, with permission, including it in the 1997 edition of Munro's Tables and in the subsequent guidebook The Grahams & the Donalds.
When first published in 1992, there were 222 Elsies in Scotland, but this soon increased to 224 with the addition of Beinn Talaidh on Mull (after research by Fiona Torbet) and Ladylea Hill. The revised list of hills known as Grahams was formally published in 1995 and 1999 [7] as part of the TACit Tables series. The list of Grahams remained stable for almost twenty years until Alan Dawson began a programme of accurate hill surveying using GNSS equipment. As a result, in 2014, three Grahams were removed as they were only 609 m high (Ben Aslak, Corwharn and Ladylea Hill) and Creag na h-Eararuidh near Glen Artney became a new Graham, replacing Beinn Dearg, which was found to be 1.7 m lower. In 2015 a survey showed that Stob na Boine Druim-fhinn has a drop of only 149.5 m so was no longer a Marilyn or a Graham, then in 2016 Cnoc Coinnich was found to be 763.5 m and therefore too high to be a Graham.
From 2016 to 2022 there were 219 Grahams, until the revised lower threshold of 600 metres resulted in Ben Aslak, Corwharn and Ladylea Hill being reinstated as Grahams, and nine new Grahams added. All but two of the 231 Grahams have been surveyed using GNSS equipment and therefore summit heights are given to the nearest 0.1 m in the official list.
The highest Graham, Beinn Talaidh on the Isle of Mull, is 761.6 metres (2,499 ft) and ranks as the 1285th highest mountain in the British Isles, on the Simms classification. The Graham with the greatest prominence is Sgurr na Coinnich at 714 metres (2,343 ft), which ranks it as the 54th most prominent mountain in the British Isles.
Climbers who climb all of the Grahams are referred to as Grahamists. There is some uncertainty over the first, but it is thought to have been Colin Dodgson in July 1984, followed by Andrew Dempster in June 1997. People who have climbed the 219 Grahams over 2000 feet are still classed as Grahamists, even though the number of Grahams was increased to 231 in November 2022.
- ^ Alan Dawson (November 2022). "Ten Tables of Grahams: The Official List". Pedantic Press (pedantic.org.uk).
- ^ Alan Dawson and Ann Bowker (December 2022). "Tales from the Grahams: 231 medium-sized hills of Scotland". Pedantic Press (pedantic.org.uk).
- ^ Dawson, Alan (1992). The Relative Hills of Britain. Cicerone Press. ISBN 1-85284-068-4.
- ^ Alan Dawson (February 2015). "The Story of the Grahams".
- ^ Alan Dawson (May 2016). "Grahams through the looking glass".
- ^ "Marilyns". HillBaggingUK. 2018.
A Marilyn is a hill of any height with a drop of 150 metres or more on all sides". The Grahams are therefore a subset of the Marilyns.
- ^ Alan Dawson (February 1999). "The Grahams and the New Donalds". TACit Press.