Trip Report
Old Man of Stoer sea stack in Scotland

by Bald Eagle
Monday October 10, 2016 8:01am
top left corner top right corner
An Aerial view of the Old Man of Stoer
An Aerial view of the Old Man of Stoer
Credit: Bald Eagle
bottom left corner bottom right corner
Warm greetings to you all on a sunny day from Bristol in the UK!

For anyone interested here's a short video I made about a recent trip to climb and film the super-classic Old Man of Stoer in the Far North West of Scotland. One of the "Big 3" sea stacks in Scotland, along with Am Buchaille and the Old Man of Hoy, this Old Man is reputed by many to be the finest of them all. And often with sea stacks you can sacrifice a bit of quality of climbing what with the associated guano, vegetation plus loose rock for the sake of adventure, but this is certainly not the case with this sandstone-tastic Torridonian beauty and it is absolute angel delight to climb. So with an "exciting scramble" just to get to the base of the stack, followed by a tasty Tyrolean Traverse for maximum adrenaline flow, the classic VS 5a Original Route comprises 5 magical pitches of superbly rough grained climbing nirvana to the top of this 60 metre high behemoth. Anyway the entertainment was duly recorded so if interested in viewing a short video featuring Tyrolean Traverses, time lapses, seals, sandstone shenanigans, eye-popping exposure plus some aerial drone footage then the following embedded video is the story of our day.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

All constructive feedback welcome, please feel free to share and hopefully it will inspire a few folks to head to the beautiful Sutherland region of Scotland and climb on one of the great sea stacks of the UK!

Happy climbing! :-)

Dave

  Trip Report Views: 2,987
Bald Eagle 		About the Author
Bald Eagle is a trad climber from the UK

Comments
WBraun

climber
  Oct 10, 2016 - 08:13am PT
Wow, nice weather you had.

When I was in Scottland on old man of Hoy it wasn't warm like your trip.

Nice video too reminded me of the place.

How come no trees there I ask.

Did they all cut em down to make golf courses?

They laughed ......
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Oct 10, 2016 - 10:06am PT
Good thing earthquakes are a rarity there, eh? Nicely done vid!
A pity I only enjoyed a winter in Scotland. Who knew it ever got warm and sunny?
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  Oct 10, 2016 - 05:52pm PT
To cool for school
And send the politards to face their lack of what matters
Excellent climbing.! Thnx for sharing, how about the same treatment
If something on the Isle of Skye?
Marlow

Sport climber
OSLO
  Oct 10, 2016 - 12:14pm PT

What an atmosphere... climbing a dream...
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
  Oct 10, 2016 - 12:16pm PT
Fantastic TR! Bump for climbing material.
lars johansen

Trad climber
West Marin, CA
  Oct 10, 2016 - 12:34pm PT
Loved it! thanks-lars
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
  Oct 10, 2016 - 01:06pm PT
Wonderful!

John
The Lisa

Trad climber
Da Bronx, NY
  Oct 10, 2016 - 01:51pm PT
The rock looks so clean and dry! Nicely edited video and music.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
  Oct 10, 2016 - 02:09pm PT
Lovely!
i-b-goB

Big Wall climber
Nutty
  Oct 10, 2016 - 02:50pm PT
Really good!
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
  Oct 10, 2016 - 03:14pm PT
hey there say, ... bald eagle... WOW... love it!!

thank you so very very much, for sharing this!
:)
moacman

Trad climber
Montuckyian Via Canada Eh!
  Oct 10, 2016 - 05:00pm PT
Very nice. My bro and his wife were up in that area last year and loved it...Thanx for sharing......

Stevo
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 11, 2016 - 01:10am PT
Good morning all from a foggy, grey day in Bristol and I have just tuned in and "Wowser" thanks a million W Braun, Reilly, Gnome, Tami, Marlow, fear, lars, JEleazarian, The Lisa, Mungeclimber, i-d-goB, neebee and moacman for taking the time to post all your kind words as it is muchly appreciated and makes all those long hours of editing worthwhile!

So just to answer of few questions:

Gnome - I have climbed on the amazing Isle of Skye a few times before on and around the Cioch and also did the mega Cuillin Ridge in a oner years ago. However it would be really cool to go back and film something again, with Arnie the Drone. Maybe Integrity in Corrie Lagan, the Inn Pinn or even the whole ridge again... :-)

Tami - We were having a lovely 2 week Scottish road trip using our Vee-Dub campervan so quite a straightforward drive from Bristol to Scotty and then driving around chasing the weather whilst being chased by the Scottish midges! Anyway I stupidly left my 60M ropes in our van and we used 2 x 50's for the climb instead, meaning we had to do 2 raps whereas we could have just made it to the ground in a oner with my 60's. The tat was pretty good but we backed it up with a bit of new cord!

Anyway I better get to work so thanks once again and I'll try and pop back later today if anyone wants to know any more details!

Happy Tuesday! :-)

Dave
ydpl8s

Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
  Oct 11, 2016 - 11:10am PT
Definitely no "glass ceilings" on that route. Nice!
looking sketchy there...

Social climber
Lassitude 33
  Oct 11, 2016 - 11:28am PT
Really enjoyed that a lot. Makes you appreciate how fun climbing can be and how you can go amazing places. Thanks for putting this video together.
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
  Oct 11, 2016 - 11:49am PT
A really, really great video! Thanks for putting that up for us!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana, on the Divide and around.
  Oct 11, 2016 - 12:12pm PT
Thank you for a superb entertaining TR.
It brought back a lot of memories.
Thank you and I hope you will do more TRs of this genre.

feralfae
clode

Trad climber
portland, or
  Oct 11, 2016 - 12:21pm PT
TOTALLY PSYCHED!!! Now that's an understatement! Could not have been better conditions, eh? BEP knows what they're doing! Oh no, wait, what have I done? I've watched climbing porn, and have enjoyed it! Me bad! But seriously, keep up the good work. I'd like to see more from BEP!

I forgot to ask, is that the easiest route up the Old Man? What's the YDS grade equivalent?
Mighty Hiker

climber
Outside the Asylum
  Oct 11, 2016 - 03:32pm PT
That's one tower that sleazy promoter won't get his name on!

First ascent in 1966 by Brian Henderson, Paul Nunn, Tom Patey and Brian Robertson, wittily reported by Patey in his One Man's Mountains.

I wonder what the origins of the name are? There's also an Old Man of Storr in Skye. Both areas saw considerable Norse settlement - and "stor" means "big" in that language.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
  Oct 11, 2016 - 05:28pm PT
Nice video.
My friend Doug Pearson lives near there. He said the climb was a lot of fun, now I can see why.
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 12, 2016 - 01:43am PT
Warm greetings from the UK again and a maa-hoosive thanks to ydpl8s, looking sketchy, skcreidc, feralfae, clode and mighty hiker for taking the time to post your kind words!

To answer clode's question the classic Original Route which goes at Very Severe 5a (or YDS around 5.7 to 5.8 I think) is the easiest route up this Old Man. However you can avoid the burly crux 5a first pitch and scramble around the back of the stack if the tide is low enough and thus reduce the grade to around HS 4b or around 5.6... :-)

For anyone interested in seeing more BEP climbing vids of this type I'll dig out another recent outing climbing on the amazing chalk Skeleton Ridge at the iconic Needles on the Isle of Wight soon when I get a bit more time!



Happy climbing!

Dave
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
  Oct 12, 2016 - 12:39pm PT
Smooth, like 'Ladies' Whisky.'

Perhaps Un-Scot but I approve.

Could have been improved by a turf-stake rappel but not every climb can be everything to everyone.

Andy Cairns
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 13, 2016 - 07:36am PT
Hey Timid TopRope and MH2 many thanks once again for taking the time to post your kind words and I really appreciate your appreciation!
Happy Climbing!
Dave
Ps and yes the sun does occasionally shine in Scotland... :-)
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
  Oct 13, 2016 - 08:02am PT
Awesome!! I've climbed a lot of desert spires and going to Scotland and Ireland to climb sea stacks is a dream trip for me. Thanks!!!
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 13, 2016 - 11:16am PT
Hey ontheedge thanks a million for the positive vibes and glad you enjoyed my wee video! Dream the dream and go climb some of those sea stacks... :-) Cheers Dave
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
  Oct 13, 2016 - 02:53pm PT
Just watched your Skeleton Ridge video. I should say your matron needs
to keep a closer eye on your unsupervised outings, lad. That sort of
thing will not bring you to a better grasp of reality, trust me. But
it was another nicely done video, if somewhat sphincter-tightening!
Oh, and those rusty pegs? Who put them in, Aleister Crowley?

edit:
Your video brought up one on the old tunnels there. They look to be
from the 1930's. Not sure you'd catch me in them, neither, especially
seeing all the rock, or whatever that stuff is, that has caved in!
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
  Oct 13, 2016 - 05:32pm PT
Thanks Bald Eagle for sharing your adventure with your friends . . . way to deploy the rope gun women!
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 14, 2016 - 03:02am PT
Hey Reilly
I'm glad you enjoyed my Skeleton Ridge vid and I'll dig the film out and post it on here for anyone interested in some chalky shenanigans when I have a spare mo! The rusty pegs may date back to the legendary Brit Mick Fowler who was the first ascensionist back in November 1984! :-)
Cheers
Dave
Ps I hope your sphincter has recovered and relaxed a bit now... ;-)
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 14, 2016 - 03:04am PT
Thanks Kalimon for the positive words and the Divine Miss Em (aka Pug) who led all the pitches on the route has some serious ninja warrior climbing skills! :-) Cheers Dave
moacman

Trad climber
Montuckyian Via Canada Eh!
  Oct 18, 2016 - 03:44pm PT
Bump......Because it's good.
Fossil climber

Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
  Oct 18, 2016 - 04:44pm PT
Beautiful! Colour me green with envy. Great work, Dave!
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Oct 19, 2016 - 12:54am PT
Thanks a million Stevo + Fossil man and your kind words are muchly appreciated! :-) Cheers Dave
Rustie

climber
Coeur d\\\\\\\'Alene
  Nov 1, 2016 - 01:29pm PT
Nice video. Spooky feeling-- that sea gull's view.
Can't believe the weather.....and no one was swatting at midges! I'm always amazed that those things haven't fallen down by now. But that climbing looked really good.
Might have to nip back across The Pond and check it out.........and the beer is certainly outstanding.
Bald Eagle

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Nov 2, 2016 - 03:32am PT
Nice video. Spooky feeling-- that sea gull's view.
Can't believe the weather.....and no one was swatting at midges! I'm always amazed that those things haven't fallen down by now. But that climbing looked really good.
Might have to nip back across The Pond and check it out.........and the beer is certainly outstanding.

Hey Rustie a big old thanks for taking the time to post and glad you enjoyed my wee video! The climbing on the Old Man is superb and the roughly grained sandstone is immaculate so well worth a visit if you are ever in the UK! And the single malts in Scotland are pretty darn good too... :-)
Cheers
Dave
Go
Recent Trip Reports