There are 282 mountain peaks in Scotland that sit 3,000ft or higher above sea level. Known as “Munros,” the mountains are so named for Sir Hugh Munro, who first cataloged the lofty peaks in 1891. Ever since then, adventurers — known as Completists — have been drawn to the challenge of summiting all 282. Biking them is another matter altogether.
“I had always walked Munros, even as a child,” Sean Green told me over email. “I remember when I was a kid and we were out walking in the hills, I would always pretend I was holding handlebars as I ran down.”
Late last month, Green became just the second known person to bike all 282 Munros, a journey that took more than eight years and involved countless hours of hike-a-bike. It all began when Green decided he was tired of building trails in the woods and just wanted to go for a fast, wide-open ride. So he took his bike out to a nearby Munro.
“It was an amazing day and ticked every box for me,” he said. “I started to wonder how many other Munros near me I could ride. After around 20 or so, I wondered if this was some kind of untapped source, and thought, I may as well try ride all of them and see what hidden singletrack my country had to offer.”
Green has documented his journey in the Grizzly Munro Diaries, an Instagram page dedicated to the adventure. Several bike brands, including Zerode, Pinion, Gates, and 7Mesh, are listed as sponsors of the project. In July, Green completed Munro number 282.
But riding even a single Munro is easier said than done. Green told me he only rode his bike up two out of the 282 mountains, choosing to ascend on foot to save his energy for the descents. “That’s what I ride my bike for, that’s where the love is.” He reckons maybe 30% of the Munros are even rideable from the summit to sea level due to the technical nature of the terrain.
Actually, the word “technical” doesn’t do justice to what Green encountered. Getting to the top of many of the peaks required two to three hours of hike-a-bike, and some — like Sgurr Alasdair in the Cullin — required the use of climbing ropes to reach the summit. Another peak in the Cullin — known as Inaccessible Pinnacle — put up a fight, but actually yielded some decent riding on the way down, according to Green.
“Possibly the single hardest trip of the project was for the Mullardoch Round,” Green said. “That is 12 Munros around Loch Mullardoch, spanning 56km and 16,000ft of ascent.” He rode the Munros in this zone over the course of a few days with bikepacking gear, and the weather was miserable, pushing Green to his breaking point.
“On the final day, exhausted, starving, and disoriented in the clag, I dropped down too early into the wrong gully, which resulted in me having a rifle pointed in my face with a very angry Ghillie, who insisted on frog marching me down to the Loch to get on his boat and out of his Glen.”
Green says his favorite Munro rides involve high consequence, exposed ridges. After bagging his final two peaks on July 20, 2025 — Sgreamhach and Bidean — Green was sad for the adventure to end.
“I didn’t want the project to end. I have absolutely loved the whole thing, complete with all of its ups and downs. It had felt like a life’s work was completed, but I wasn’t finished yet. Like I have a lot more exploring to do and a lot more to give.”
Shortly after completing the final Munro, Green suffered a serious injury
With his Munro odyssey complete, Green planned to compete in four downhill mountain bike races over the summer. During his final practice run ahead of the first race, he crashed and felt an immediate tingling pain in his fingers. After a medical check, he was told his injury wasn’t too serious and was advised to go to the hospital just to make sure. Four hours later, after driving to a medical facility closer to his home, doctors told him he had broken his C7 vertebrae and fractured his C3, C4, and C5 vertebrae as well. Green is still recovering from the injury today.
“I’m incredibly lucky the injury is stable and that I can still walk,” he said. “Recovery is looking long. I’m to be in this neck brace for 12 weeks yet. I’m still struggling with the loss of feeling in my right hand, but hoping that comes back with physio and time.”
Though he’s still in quite a bit of pain, Green’s spirit of adventure continues to burn strong.
“My mind thinks I’m perfectly capable, so the hardest thing is going to be making sure I don’t rush recovery.”
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