Orcadian Sea stacks.

1 : The Old man of Hoy : Needs no introduction as it is the reason why most climbers come to Orkney. Throughout the summer months it will see at least a daily ascent. (weather permitting) It is by far the best known and most documented of all Orkney's sea stacks.

2 : The Needle: Orkney's biggest adventure to be found on it's sea stacks. To date it has only one known ascent route, a well documented Mick Fowler creation from 1991.

3 : Stackabank : A little known stack on the west coast of South Ronaldsay, To date it has only one known route, which weighs in at a hefty E3 5C.

4 : The Clett of Crura : Another little known stack on the east coast of South Ronaldsay. Has routes on both the land and sea ward faces. Again it has seen very few ascents.

5 : North Gaulton Castle : One of the more spectacular Orcadian stacks, found in a very lonely stretch of the West Mainlands coastline. Due to it's isolated position it has seen has seen less than half a dozen ascents. It was featured in a car advert in the early 90's.

6 : Yesnaby Castle : A scenic stack found about a kilometer south of the Yesnaby car park on the West Mainland. Has five excellent ascent routes from E1 to E3. This stack and the cliffs that surround it are the most explored rock on the islands with over 50 routes, to date.

7 : The Stack O' Roo : An interesting remote little stack far from any regular tourist track and not marked on any map.

8 : Standard Rock : A monstrous lump of rock sitting off the northern tip of Orkney's mainland. Close enough to land not to be a separate island and far enough away to discourage swimmers.

9 : The Castle of Burrian : A good little stack on the island of Westray.

10: The Brough : A huge flat topped stack in a lonely and remote setting on the island of Stronsay.

Stack History : This is a mini guide to the first ascensionist to the routes on each stack.

Return to Home page.