N Scotland

A'Chailleach

Am Bodach

Old Man of Hoy

Getting out to the Old Man of Hoy is half the problem.  Here's the way I did it. (2004)

Northlink Ferries, Scrabster to Stromness. £26 return, £5 per day for car parking at Scrabster (leave car on Scottish mainland, you don't need it).  1½ hours crossing time, 3 sailings per day.  www.northlinkferries.co.uk

Orkney Ferries, Stromness to Hoy.  MV Graemsay.  25 minute crossing, £5.50 return, 3 “official” crossings per day plus cargo crossing that’s not published. 01856 850624

Rendall’s Taxis.  01856 791262.  £5 return from Moaness (ferry) to Rackwick.  Phone up from Stromness and he'll meet you at the pier when the boat arrives.

Rackwick Hostel, £8 per night.  Bring all your own food, blankets only provided, so bring sleeping bag.  Hot showers and cooking facilities.  Sleeps 8 people.  Open May-Sept.  01856 783535.  There’s also a bothy on the beach in Rackwick Bay.  Vodafone has a good signal, T-mobile can get a signal if you walk about.  There's a phone box there as well.  No pub, no shop.

The rock is Torridonean sandstone which is generally sound however there is evidence of recent rockfall and there appears to be a very large lump missing off the SE arete.  We did the original route (E1) which is the easiest route.  There are other routes and the south face (E2 by Joe Brown on the 1967 televised ascent) looks stupendous.  The locals say that the Old Man receives about 120 ascents each year, most by the original route.  60m ropes are almost compulsory for the abseil descent.  All abseil stations are in place, however, you might want to bring your own tat/gear to back them up. 

You really need to know what you’re doing, it is not a place for inexperienced leaders and seconds.  If anything goes wrong on the 2^nd pitch then one of you will be hanging in free space.  The other needs to know how to deal with such a situation.

The descent path is to the north of the closest point on the cliffs.  It’s a bit of a scramble but not too bad.  The base is non-tidal.

450 feet

You scramble down the cliffs, dodging the skuas (known locally as bonxies), then scramble over the remains of the arch that once linked it to the mainland and gaze up at 450 feet of vertical rock (Torridonian sandstone again).  Boy is it big.  You get some idea of how big it is from the ferry when you see the tiny specks of the tourists on the cliff tops.  The first pitch actually felt little more than a scramble, however the rock was damp, loose in places and any big holds were coated in green slime.   The 2^nd pitch is just outrageous.  You down climb for 10 feet and there’s the remains of an old rope there to help if you need it, then the worlds most exposed traverse right for 15 feet (no gear yet) and then the fun begins.  Climb up to a roof, get some gear in then commit to a fist jam and pull up on it past the bulge.  There’s an old wooden chock with some tat on it if you need to aid it.  The crack continues unabated for about 15m or so at a fairly constant and overhanging 5a, however, there’s several wooden chocks in there, possibly remains from the 1^st ascent, if you need to aid it.  Protection is either these chocks (dubious) or largeish Friends.  At the 2^nd roof the crack flares to an off width, you think you might have to try a head jam when a tiny flake appears, pull up and you’re on the stance.  Ferocious  but oh so good.  If you look across left you’ll see some paving slab sized blocks hanging by God knows what right above the pitch.  At this point we were feeling good, the weather had improved, the hard bit was over, now the crap.  The next two pitches were easy but appalling.  Everything was covered in green slime and mud, fortunately the holds were all positive else we’d never had got up.  We were lucky with the fulmars which were perched, although not nesting, everywhere.  One had been playing chicken with me on the 1^st stance, boy can they fly fast but fortunately they didn’t shit or puke on us.  Another fulmar flew up to a ledge where one was already perched just a few feet away.  It was greeted by a jet of green puke.  Perhaps that was the green stuff covering the rock?  It was my lead for the top pitch and it looked superb, a big corner with a jamming crack, dry rock and plenty of gear.  I carefully removed the slime and mud off my rock shoes and set off up.  It was truly magical.  Perfect climbing on perfect rock, everything you could ever wish for in a pitch. It didn’t even feel exposed as with nothing to judge scale against you had no concept of just how high up you were.  All of sudden I could see daylight through the right hand crack, I went up a bit and a left hand crack opened up and I could see the sea through it.  Must be close to the top.  Then the belay/abseil station appeared just below the top.  I clipped it as a runner and carried on for three feet and poked my head out over the top.  Two puffins flew off.  I looked right and there were more puffins just sitting there only 5 feet away.  They were totally unconcerned.  Martin comes up and then we both clamber on to the summit for a bite to eat, some photos and wave at the ferry.  It took 3½ hours to get up. The puffins just watched us, one arrived with his beak crammed full of sand eels.  They are so pretty and friendly.  Seeing them there like that made a really good climb something special.

Getting up is only half the problem, now we had to get back down.  Even with 60m ropes it took 3 abseils, two long ones and one short one.  The last abseil from the top of the 2^nd pitch can only be done on 60m ropes as you’re free hanging for 40m.  On 50m ropes you have to leave a back rope behind on the 2^nd pitch so you can get back into contact with the rock on the abseil.

What can you say after that, the 2^nd and 5^th pitches defy words, they are amazing, 4 days later I’m still on a high.  It is truly a magnificent climb and well worth the effort in getting there. 

Latheronwheel

Roseness

To get there just head across the headland to the prominent monument, then 300m north to the strange little mound/hillock and you're there (ND526990).  We were there in June and there were hundreds of seals hauled out in Bay of Cornquoy (this is the beach that you walk along to avoid the farm).  Don't expect a quiet walk as the oyster catchers are quite vocal!

In general the routes are dead easy to find (you really need to print off the on-line guide, the SMC guidebook isn't good enough) but most are over-graded by one to two grades.  The rock is shale and is solid. Cams are useful as the strata are horizontal, you can get by with just nuts and hexes but some small cams are a big help.