Old Man of Stoer

The Old Man of Stoer from the mainland

Bill on the far side of the tyrolean with Natasha on the way across




Me......getting a good soaking by some big swell!!!

 

Bill and Natasha on a slightly damp summit

 

It was an early start yesterday for me to meet up with Bill and Natasha in Inverness before heading north to the Old Man of Stoer. We were not confident we would even get out of the car at the other end as we drove up through heavy rain and strong winds. When we arrived at the start of the walk in it had stopped raining but was still very windy, so we headed along the coast to see what conditions were like. On arrival at the stack we were glad to see a tyrolean in place as the tide was high and the swell was big.......enough for me to get a good soaking as I went across the tyrolean!

Once on the route the first pitch (the normal second pitch) passed quickly on dry rock, however it started to rain and the rest of the route was a mixture between greasy and wet! It was a bit of a fight to the top but we all got there and Natasha did brilliantly for her first time climbing outside. We then abseiled back down to the to top of our second pitch and then another short abseil back to the start of the tyrolean (that started from the end of the normal first pitch).

A great adventure although next time I think I will pick a dry day to climb it!

I now have a few days off before some Duke of Edinburgh assessments and then a weeks climbing with clients next week. It would be nice if it stopped snowing in the mountains, it is meant to be summer!