2#06 Rob Woodall: the hill-bagging machine
“Taking on something when you don’t know if it’s possible or not… you get a real buzz when it’s complete.”
Episode 2#06…
… welcomes a man that may be the most prolific hillwalker in history. That’s because Rob Woodall has spent the past 40 years systematically completing every list of peaks, tops, prominences and trig points in existence. Putting to one side the popular lifetime achievements of the Munros, the Corbetts, the Wainwrights and such; he’s summited all 1,556 “Marilyns” (UK peaks with a relative prominence of 150m), touched at least 6,190 trig points, and even stood atop all 2,271 “TuMPs” on the Welsh mainland (a deeply esoteric list of raised ground with Thirty and Upward Metre Prominences).
Since recently semi-retiring his ambitions have even turned to the list of global “Ultra” peaks, which are those with a topographic prominence of 1,500m. There are 119 in Europe (not including the Matterhorn or the Eiger whose high cols preclude them), none in Britain (poor Ben Nevis), and so far at least 1,515 have been identified across the world. Nobody has come close to completing this list, and Rob doesn’t believe they are “realistically completable by anybody”. But he’s still quietly ticking them off.
His achievements haven’t gone unnoticed, and it’s likely that you will have read about him in the outdoor press… but so many questions remain:
How has he achieved such incredible hillbagging feats whilst being based in the lowland city of Peterborough?
Has his lifelong career in civil engineering given him the map-savvy skills to achieve his goals?
How does he endure so much driving?
What kit does he wear when he’s out in the hills?
Is there any moment of his spare time that isn’t spent hunting down summits?
How do you access a sea stack?
Can microspikes keep you from slipping on guano?
Is he aware of quite how bonkers the whole thing seems to those outside the hobby?
Listen, enjoy, tell your friends, subscribe to the podcast if you get and chance, and thank UKHillwalking.com for their kind support of this series!
[episode recorded on 18/11/21]
Note: as there were a number of months in-between recording and publication, the ever-thorough Rob would like to point out that…
The newly created North Northants unitary authority's top is a new hill! See Mill Hill
There's not even a Hump in East Anglia (there are none east of Northampton's Arbury Hill)
He is now 62
Elbrus, for obvious reasons, is no longer in his current climbing plans
The Africa trip mentioned near the end of the interview was not feasible due to COVID restrictions
00:00 - Introduction
02:02 - Welcome, “mind-bending achievements”
03:57 - Defining the hill-bagging lists (Rob’s done them all)
09:22 - “Anything which sticks out of the ground in Britain… you’ve stood on top of?”
10:17 - *2021
14:17 - Starting a hill-bagging career in his early 20s, opening up further ticklists (birds, botany)
18:02 - A friendly rivalry with Ken Whyte (who sadly passed away after this interview was recorded, see his obituary here: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/climber.aspx?cid=7239), the camaraderie of chartering boats with fellow baggers to reach isolated island peaks, cake, whiskey and parties on the tops
20:12 - “It’s not the sort of number that you can get to accidentally”
22:32 - The practicalities of bagging: sleeping in the car, keeping up fitness, mountain running the “Big Three” rounds
27:37 - Bagging the 6,200+ Trig Pillars (“they keep disappearing, a few get re-found which is always exciting”)
32:02 - … nuclear sub base… critical assets that are “rather well defended… 20 years ago the fences were very different”
34:02 - Coping with mammoth amounts of driving: “I’m a big fan of Radio 4”
36:32 - Favourite parts of the UK hills and “spectacularly wet days”
40:22 - Sea stacks, gannet colonies, the October “sweet spot” and microspikes
47:32 - “I’m pretty obsessive, yeah…”
48:32 - Praising the Buffalo Teclite and various phone apps
51:42 - The global “ultras” (1,500m prominence)... which aren’t “realistically completable by anybody”
56:17 - Using local guides
60:32 - “Taking on something when you don’t know if it’s possible or not… you get a real buzz when it’s complete.”
62:02 - Greatest mountain memory… Mount Odin in British Columbia “you can’t really see it from anywhere… it’s grizzly bear country”
64:32 - All the time, money, freedom… what do you do? Disappear into the Andes for a number of months
Approaching Tapuae summit, New Zealand
On Bryher, Isles of Scilly
This episode was proudly sponsored by (and first appeared on) ukhillwalking.com
Together with sister site ukclimbing.com, UKH’s stated aim is “to bring our readers both the best of hillwalking, climbing and mountaineering from around the world.”