Outdoor Adventures in the Highlands for all
Climb the Old Man of Hoy, the Old Man of Stoer, and of course Am Buachaille: the three classic UK sea stack climbing adventures on this odyssey. These are the big three stacks, true adventure climbing at it’s finest and steeped in Scottish climbing history!
£1200 For 1 & £1600 For 2
Sea Stacks Odyssey
| Duration | 4 days |
| Group Size | 1-2 |
| Difficulty | e1 5b |
| Season Of The Year | Spring, Summer, Autumn |
| Minimum Age | 8 |
| Meeting Place | Stoer Lighthouse Car Park 09:00 |
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Sea Stacks Odyssey Climbing Course Information
Sea Stacks Climbing Odyssey
Embark on a thrilling four-day climbing tour of the North of Scotland with us, as we climb the iconic sea stacks of the Old Man of Stoer, Am Buachaille and Old Man of Hoy.
Our experienced guides will take you up some of the most stunning and famous climbs of Scotland weather permitting. The East Face Route (Original Route) on the Old Man of Hoy is the most challenging climb on this tour, graded at E1 5b sitting at 137m high, with the remaining two climbs ranging from VS to HVS at 60m high. You should be comfortable with seconding routes at VS or HVS level. A 10m sea channel swim to reach Am Buachaille adds an exciting twist to the adventure! All the stacks you have to walk to and they involve short scrambles down to reach the bases.
Sea Stacks Climbing Odyssey Itinerary
Day 1: The group will meet at the Old Man of Stoer car park at 10am (although this might change according to tides and weather). A short walk and scramble down leads us to either a swim or a tyrollean traverse to get across. We will climb up the 5 pitch original route at VS 5a and take a single abseil off back to the ground. After the climb, the group will then drive to Sheigra and set up camp for the night – depending on the time we may manage some late evening climbing at Sheigra as well.
Day 2: The group will head in along the track to Sandwood Bay and branch off to scramble down and swim across to Am Buachaille . We will then climb Am Buachaille located near Sandwood Bay. We will climb up the Landward face at VS 4c and then abseil back down and swim back to shore. We then drive over to Scrabster to be prepared to get the ferry to Orkney and then Hoy first thing in the morning the next day or if we are very lucky we may manage a ferry today instead.
Day 3: We will get the first ferry across to orkney and then the next available ferry to Hoy. From there we will have a taxi to take us to Rackwick where we will ditch any kit we do not need and walk to the Old Man Of Hoy to climb it likely finishing with a stunning sunset abseil back down. We will then spend a night in the bothy or camping outside depending on space.
Day 4: We will take a more relaxing day where we wake up in Rackick Bothy, we could go for a quick dip in the sea then get a taxi back to the ferry and take the two ferries back to the mainland If yesterdays weather looks less favourable that today we may get up very early and climb Hoy today instead. From here we will part our ways.
Accommodation on the trip will be wild camping or staying in bothies depending on how busy they are.
We are proud to recommend local accommodation options within our normal local area for people when you are up either pre or post your Sea Stacks Odyssey Course and we can arrange transportation from these venues to the stacks if you choose to stay at them the night before the course:
Aviemore:
Youth Hostel A budget friendly option for people.
Coylumbridge Hotel Aviemroe – good for groups and families alike.
Premier Inn – always a good shout.
Rothiemurchus Campsite – situated in the stunning forest, this is a beautiful budget friendly option.
Glenmore Campsite – situated at Scotland’s highest beach, Loch Morlich has phenomenal views across to Cairngorm Mountain.
Newtonmore & Surrounding Areas:
https://www.wherestagsroar.co.uk/ award winning accommodation in the Highlands – perfect to stay at while up on an outdoor adventure.
Invernahavon Caravan Park – a bit quieter than the others as it is a little further away from the hustle and bustle of Aviemore.
Dalraddy Holiday Park – a family and dog friendly campsite.
The sea stack odyssey climbs are steeped in history in Scotland and the three Scottish sea stack climbs are very popular amongst climbers.
The old man of Stoer (the first of our sea stack odyssey course) is a 60m high pillar of torridonian sandstone separated from the mainland via a small channel. It is popular amongst climbers and the photos alone can tell you why, but it was first climbed in 1966 by a party of 4 consisting of on of the Uk’s most famous ever climbers, Tom Patey. There are now various routes up the stack, but we will of course climb the original route which is also still probably the best of the lot. This consists of 5 pitches of climbing and an impressive abseil of 60m back down to just above the sea. In order to get across you will need to either swim or do a tyrollean (a fancy version of a very low angled zipline which you pull yourself across on).
So in short you climb one of Scotlands famous climbs first climbed by one of the Uk’s best climbers ever in a truly stunning location – alas you may have to share it with the odd bird or two but i’m sure we can manage that!
Am Buachaille (the second stack on our sea stack odyssey course), one of Scotland’s classic sea stack climbs is often called the Herdsman as it translates to from the Gaelic. It towers an impressive 65m high above the sea and was first climbed by the famous Tom Patey in 1966 when he climbed the other two main stacks as well. This stack is regarded as the most serious of the three due to its location meaning the seas can be rough and you have to swim to it whereas the others you do not have to swim to. It is formed of Torridonian Sandstone and sits almost on the very Northwestern part of the country making for an impressive view out to the sea.
This is normally the second stack we climb in the list of the three but sometimes change things around as we have to time this one with the tides and weather
The Old Man of Hoy normally our finishing stack on the odyssey course and the last of the three is indeed an incredible experience that will stay with you for a lifetime being the UK’s tallest sea stack.
The Old Man of Hoy is steeped in climbing history having been first climbed in 1966 by Chris Bonnington and Tom Patey – two of the Uk’s finest ever climbers. This was actually filmed live on the BBC as well with 15 million viewers 1 year later in a repeat ascent. Catherine Destivelle climbed the route in 1997 solo while pregnant (not a recommended choice) and it has also been climbed by blind and deaf individuals as well. It has been climbed by a 7 year old as well so it is doable for extremely adventurous strong kids. People have set up slack lines off the top across to the mainland and also base jumped off the top. So it is steeped in a lot of adventurous history.
The Old Man itself is 137m high making it the UK’s highest sea stack and is believed to be no more than around 250 years old which is quite short in the lifespan of stacks. But because of the high seas and exposed position on the coast it will likely not see out our own lifetimes and will collapse at some point. The 40m long crack we climb at the top on the last pitch only appeared in 1992. It is made up of two different types of sandstone and sits on basalt which gives it its stength to stand up as high as it does. Unlike many sea stacks it is actually not separated from the mainland as when it’s second leg collapsed some 100 years or so ago it created a walkways to the mainland that always stays out of the sea. The wind here on average is 18mph and the sea an impressive 60m deep either side of it which makes for the coastlines very speedy erosion.
So why not climb the three stacks on the sea stack odyssey course and follow in the steps of legendary climbers!
We pride ourselves on providing as much kit as possible for you. However, the list below is what we recommend you should bring to your Sea Stacks Odyssey Course:
- Travel insurance. (We are insured for all our trips, but we recommend everyone has their own travel insurance as well.)
- Lunch, water.
- Personal medication
- Sun cream, midge net
- Waterproofs (it is Scotland after all)
- Sturdy footwear.
- Transport between venues (ferries are included in the cost)
- Food
- Tent, Roll mat, sleeping bag, stove and all camping equipment.
- Swimming equipment – we have to swim to a couple of the stacks (not far 10m or so).
- climbing shoes, harness, helmet (if you prefer to use your own as opposed to what we supply).
Here at Highland Outdoor Adventures, we pride ourselves on providing as much as we can but you are welcome to bring your own equipment if you do prefer. The list below is what we provide you with on the day.
- All instruction.
- Ferry Tickets
- Helmets (if you don’t have your own with you)
- Ropes
- Harness (if you don’t have your own with you)
- Climbing shoes (if you don’t have your own with you)
- All Technical Climbing Gear
- All first aid and safety equipment.
- Transportation for 2 people. Pickup can be arranged from elsewhere if needed.
- Photographs of the day provided for you at no extra cost!
Meeting Place
Please familiarise yourself with the sea stacks odyssey itinerary, we will meet for day one at the Stoer Lighthouse car park for 09:00.
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Scottish Sea Stack Locations
- Rock Climbing in Aviemore, Cairngorms, Scotland
The above is just the three main classics that you will do on this course. We will always get there early and be parked up prominently with our logo’ed van so you can see us.
Sea Stack Videos
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Guided Multi-Pitch
Fancy being guided up a multi-pitch climb? Then we can tailor this session to climb a route of your choice or we can pick a classic.
