Old Man of Hoy. April 2023
- Louis Kennedy
- Nov 12, 2023
- 3 min read
Tim Parkin wrote a lovely testimonial of our adventure to Old Man of Hoy with Leanne, Jim and Duncan back in April 2023. This was a climb I had been dying to do for years and I was ecstatic to have experienced in such stellar conditions!
Tim Parkin, James Miller, Leanne Trendall and Duncan Brown stood atop the Old Man of Hoy! (Photo Louis Kennedy)
Tim Parkin:
I got a phone call last Saturday, a voice on the other end saying “Do you want to climb the Old Man of Hoy!?”. Quickly rejecting the possible sea stack-related spam calls, I recognised the voice of Louis Kennedy. My snap response was supposed to be “Are you mad!” but instead, what came out of my mouth was “God yes!”. At UK tech 5b it would be harder than any outdoor climbing I’d done so far but Louis looked strong enough to pull me up by hand - what could possibly go wrong!
Four days later, I was being picked up in Fort William for a long drive up to Thurso and then a Ferry onward to Orkey and finally Hoy, arriving around 1pm. A prearranged taxi to the gorgeous looking Rackwick Bay and finally a 2 mile walk to the top of the cliff followed by a precarious scramble to the base of the now imposing tower of the Old Man and we were gearing up. Me and Lianne Trendall on Louis’ ropes and 16 year old Duncan Brown on James Millar’s ropes. James led Duncan up on his first every multi pitch climb and they both disappeared like a pair of psycho ferrets!
Me and Lianne we in a more cruisy mode and Louis got to practice some interesting ropework protecting an especially wandery second pitch. And the second pitch was the money pitch - a scarily named “Coffin Pitch” was essentially an off width chimney which you had to climb through an overhang to access via a well positioned half belay (thanks Louis) and then, as you slowly climb, the walls come to surround you completely, a sandy sepulcher that feels to safe to exit, but exit you must on gritty, slopey feet and awkward, elusive hand holds.
After giving myself the occasional good talking to, I finally managed make it to the belay, knowing that the hardest climbing was over. The only thing left was to be dive bombed by tern and puked on by fulmar. Fortunately, this early in the season they all seemed pretty chilled and the remaining and increasingly pleasurable 4b/c climbing was as uneventful as it was enjoyable. The final 15m was a delight as we could see through the cracks in the column of the Old Man to the sun setting on the other side. The mad rush of everything all paid off with the most beautiful sunset light illuminating the rich reds of the sandstone cliffs. On top with 15 minutes to go until sunset, we indulged in Henry Hippo sustenance and then started the process of corkscrew abseiling down 140m of tower in three pitches.
The final leg, up the tenuous cliff track, was made all the more enjoyable by the increasingly psychedelic colours of the twilight horizon - colours beyond anything I could manage in Photoshop. On getting to the top, the only thing left was a 2 hour walk by headtorch to the Rackwick Bothy and timely opening of Jim’s impulse purchase from the harbour of a bottle of “Creag Dubh” single malt.
Thanks to Louis, James, Duncan and Rianne for a spectacular couple of days - the return journey was made more pleasant by great cafes, cards against humanity and a second sunset over the Highlands on the car journey back. What better way to spend those ephemeral, midge-free spring dry spells in Scotland - There’s no place like home!
Tim climbing the Coffin Pitch, E1 5B. (Photo Louis Kennedy)
Sunset on our walk home to the Rackwick Bothy. (Photo Louis Kennedy)
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