Crags, Sea Stacks & Mountains of NW Scotland, 21 – 28 May 2018

After some late changes, eight members and guests arrived on a wet Monday at the SMC’s Naismith Hut at Elphin in Sutherland full of optimism, as the Met Office was forecasting a dry week to come. Billed as a great venue for climbing and mountaineering before the first midges hatched, the week turned out perhaps even better than hoped, with long days of sunshine and fantastic views of Sutherland’s majestic and ancient landscape. The weather was so exceptional that the “wet weather alternative” of having to go walking wasn’t needed, but on the final day Mike and Maddy couldn’t resist Suilven, well seen from the hut windows, which provided a long and memorable mountain day.

Most activity revolved around cragging, with the grades on the sandstone of Ardmair being pretty stiff, while the sea cliffs of Reiff were more amenable and worth several visits by most parties. The road to Reiff goes past Stac Pollaidh, where the mountain’s crenelated ridge offers several south- facing buttresses and most teams had a good day here, with Peri accelerating the erosion by removing a sizeable block, and herself, when off-route…fortunately the gear and Steve held tight. Classic routes done here included Jack the Ripper (E1 5b) and November Grooves (VS 4c), with Alice and Geoff succeeding on Expecting to Fly (E4 6a). Inspired by one of the photos in the hut, David and Colin drove up to the north coast to Loch Eribol and walked in to Creag Shomhairle and climbed The Roost (VS 4c) and later, a clutch of VS’s at Shiegra.

A visit to the Northwest though wouldn’t be complete without an attempt on at least one of the sea stacks, and Steve Jenkins takes up the story of The Old Man of Stoer.

The Old Man stands proudly, forming Stoer Point, about an hour’s walk north of the Stoer Lighthouse. Access to it is guarded by a band of rotten cliffs and a narrow inlet of heaving sea. We used a 60m rope to abseil down the steep grot to safe ground to access the platform at the cliff bottom. I made a recci the previous day with Smiler and Peri but didn’t sus out the fact that the Tyrolean would need so much rope. We used Peri’s 60m static rope which came in two unequal halves. The longer ‘half’ was ok but the other ‘half’ was just too short causing some consternation. I swam across to the right of the tower where the channel was wider but the entry and exit were easier. Even so I did get gashed by the barnacles. A wet suit would have been a good idea, not so much for the cold but for protection from the barnacles. In fact it was a very warm day so I dried off and warmed up straight away. After fixing the rope in place Alice and Geoff zipped across quickly. Our team of three was now complete. At this point the tide was out but don’t believe any stories about hopping across on boulders.

The climbing looked excellent. All the rock was good. It was clean, sound Torridonian Sandstone and very like grit. In the recci we had noticed four Fulmars nests on the normal route and didn’t fancy our chances. To the left is the Diamond Face Route which was E1 and looked immaculate so we chose to do that. The 3 pitches were 5a, 5a and 5b. The first pitch, the 5a hand traverse is shared with the normal route and gets a poor write up in the guide book but it was fine. Geoff then led the middle 5a pitch which started with some swinging about on hand jams and followed cracks and chimneys to a cave belay. The exposure and atmosphere was fantastic. Alice then took the lead and dispatched the 5b pitch quickly and efficiently. We couldn’t see what she was doing from our cave but soon found out when we poked our heads out into space. Exposed climbing up a wall led to a corner and then the top. Good lead Alice.

A substantial belay ledge allowed us a view of the Fulmars nests and stunning coast. The base of the Old Man was undercut to the extent that we could see the sea heaving up and down in the channel but not the landing point for the abseil. As I fixed the abseil I could see the Fulmars watching. Geoff had a special plan for the Fulmars but I couldn’t see it working. I was more concerned that the ropes reached the bottom. The abseil was free most of the way and quite awe inspiring. We managed not to upset the Fulmars even though we abseiled past them. They clearly just couldn’t be bothered. Our 60m ropes landed us back on the platform next to the tyrolean traverse with just a bit of rope to spare.

Back at the platform the day wasn’t over. Getting back across the Tyrolean was hard work. Luckily I had some cloggers and Geoff had a tibloc. We trailed a rope for Alice and pulled her across easily. Geoff and I got our bums wet because the tide was higher by then and the waves just high enough to catch us. Alice had seen this and clipped her harness directly to the rope without a sling thus keeping her out of the water.

The walk back was probably the hardest part. It was seriously hot, we were tired and thirsty and our sacks were full of wet gear but what a day. Recommend it to anyone.

David Myatt