UKC

off for a sneaky raid on the 3 stacks of Hoy, Am Bucahille, and Stoer (prob in that order)...apart from the well documented advice on approaches, fulmars and the like was wondering about
-gear...Hoy main pitch (original route) off width ...no super massive cams so any tips on what is needed. I undertand there are still wooden wedges ...do they work with a normal rack up 5" cam?
-Any recc wild camps/dosses near the Stromness?
-current tips for taxi/bus to Rackwick?
-Rope of 3 -so probably simul climb seconds ?
-best route to do on Am Buchaille?
Cheers
S

In reply to simondgee:


I can't remember what we took cam wise, they were MArk's, there are wedges which you can sling but if I recall it would be tight with 60cm slings so maybe 90s would be better. Bigger normal cams were helpful and we did have a massive cam but kept trying to place it as soon as possible to avoid carrying it.


Ring the ferry company, it's a small community and they can put you in touch with a local who does lifts/taxiing.


I wouldn't on Pitch two of Hoy but it depends on how well they climb. The crux pitch is quite three dimensional and as a belayer you are out of sight and communication could be difficult. I didn't know Mrak had come off on the crux.

Have a brilliant time and post back here your thoughts.

In reply to simondgee: I think I remember reading about someone last year who fell on one of the chocks and it came out. I think I had done it a few weeks before and one of them definitely wobbled.

I took one BD Camalot size4 and would definitely have placed more. The crux pitch was pretty run out in the end. The rest of the climb is easy and well protected (not from fulmars). I didn't have hexes but I reckon some big ones would be pretty useful. The rock on the crux is very soft and sandy in that sort of way that makes chocks feel better than cams.

In reply to craggyjim: I should add that I'm talking about Hoy!

In reply to simondgee:

I'd say up to a no.5 cam should be fine, definitely double/triple up on 3-4 though. There is lots of very old in-situ, personally I'd place stuff rather than clipping that!

In reply to simondgee:

Hi,

Did all three last week http://gwilymstarks.blogspot.co.uk/

Stoer - Don't bother with tyrollean. Just get all parties to swim over with gear in a dry bag. Quick and easy.

Hoy - Dragon 4's and 5's are good. Think this is WC Size 4. 4 of these would lace the route. 3 would be suffcient with wedges used in between.

Call 01856 791263 for the taxi from ferry to Rackwick. 4 of use cost £2.50 each

Am Buchaille - is not the most secure route. The Original route with the 5b move above the first belay goes through some poor quality rock after the crux. It did not feel secure.

Do not get the tides wrong on this one!!

Let me know if you need any more info

In reply to 9WS9c3jps92HFTEp:

Long wait on the stack?

In reply to Michael Gordon:

No. We got it right but didn't have much to play with. We did get attacked by midges on the boulder field though.

One swims over and fixes a tyrolean.

Useful to tension back dry, abbing the last 40m to shore.

When we did it, the sea was full of jellyfish by the afternoon.

What if a storm brews up when you are climbing?

In reply to simondgee:

I was glad for a massive cam on Hoy. Take all the big gear you have, I remember making a pretty big runout on the top crack section. It would have been nice to have 1/2 more of the blue camalot size cams.
Try not to get sicked on!

Enjoy

In reply to simondgee:
2 cams size 4 are what we used for main pitch on Hoy, take a knife and some ab tat. simul climb seconds will be fine if all competent. We got early ferry from Stromness and stayed at the bothy at Rackwick, (best bothy ever, with flushing toilet!) The boatman can sort you out a taxi.

Original route on Am Buchaille can be done in 2 pitches, and is probably safer that way, allow extra time to find the descent and get the tides right, enjoy. I live in Kirkby so if you want advice over a pint drop me an email.

Dave

Thanks All
consensus...
Hoy
Mr Thompson taxi sorted for us from Moaness. Bothy best.
100mm Cams ease the angst...3 ideal
Am Buchaille
suspect rock on original, swim back mandatory...and dont dither.
Stoer
Swim and Tyrolean makes for the classic adventure
extra rope for the descent worth while

routes dry quick (being sandstone)

One is wondering if taking a dry suit for swims is unethical?

In reply to simondgee: Oh and I left some of my quickdraws behind on Hoy to save weight and could have placed more gear to be happier. Was absolutely at my limit when I did it but I was upset to have scrimped on extenders.

In reply to simondgee: Also, take headtorches for if you end up waiting for hours on stoer like we did for a group who spent hours to get across the water then not climb and come back you'll be abbing down in the dark. Tyroleen was the most fun part of the route though so if it's set up properly already i'd use it.

Best advice I can offer for hoy is: if you get the first ferry over in the morning from stromness, don't forget to buy your bevies the night before as the shops don't serve that early in the morning and you could end up being stuck in the bothy for days waiting for a break in the weather.

Don't remember needing any big cams, or any wooden blocks for that matter, pretty sure a number 4 was used under the roof pull round at the top of teh offwidth crack.

In reply to simondgee:

I was on the blunt end on the Old Man of Hoy so I can't remember much about the gear. But the SMC website has some info here to update the section on Hoy in Scottish Rock Climbs

http://www.smc.org.uk/Downloads/Scottish%20Rock%20Comments%20July%202011.pd...

This says
'Two 4 Friends are not useful, as the relevant cracks are slightly narrower or wider than a 4. Those wanting close protection will need to take a 5, but normally two 3.5 Friends is enough. The top wedge, which was often used for aid to reduce the grade to HVS, has gone, so there is no escape from E1.'

To get to Am Buachaille, there is a channel of deep water (about 8 m wide) which you have to swim, even at low tide. On the landward side of the channel there is a tidal rock platform that is about 30 m wide. We arrived 3 hours before low tide and this platform was already dry, so it looks as if you would have at least 6 hours to get across and climb the stack - loads of time even for a rope of three.

Allow plenty of time for the walk-in and approach, as the way down the cliff behind the stack is not obvious - it took us almost 2 hours from the Sandwood Bay car park.

We took the Landward Face route. Pitch grades felt like 4b,4c,4c. The rock is a bit crumbly and does not inspire confidence, but the two 4c sections are well protected. The first pitch was a bit worrying though...

Stoer will feel like a doddle after Hoy and Am Buachaille. Solid rock, good gear and the best climbing of the three.

In reply to Bob M:

That does assume a Friend 5, which was in-situ with the wires broken, is still there. Otherwise take a 5.

In reply to Andy Nisbet:

A jammed cam will probably be seized up and no longer a cam but a passive nut. It should be treated as a corroded nut that can contract as well as possibly expand.

Take a 5 if you think you may need it.

In reply to Bob M:

Did you use a tyrolean for Am Buachaille? How long does the rope have to be?

In reply to Michael Gordon: The rocks either side of the channel are too low to fix up a tyrolean that would keep you out of the briny. The compulsory swim is all part of the experience. Though we did take a spare rope to haul the gear across in dry bags.

In reply to Rick Graham:
Why did ya go an say that Rick? I'm now gonna climb up to it WD40 it climb down and come back the next day to finish it.
Biggest cam I have is a Needlesports bargain bin DMM 4CU No. 4 which goes up to 100mm. I might just have to carry some short lengths of floor board and shim my Friend 1.5 and 2 to fit. Please don't tell me that wont work as well.
I cant justify buying a 5 no matter how good the route.

In reply to simondgee:

Just man up and do it.

I have seen you on the crag and you should not have much trouble.

In reply to Rick Graham:
There we go...fecking kiss of death that is...but thanks Rick will call in sometime when I get back, I'm still suffering with that old rock 5 OCD stuff.

In reply to Bob M:

Ah ok, so you just swim out and back again?

In reply to Michael Gordon:

Indeed. Gwilym Starks' blog (link near the top of this thread) has some photos of the swim.

There is a bolt in place on either side of the channel - I recall a lot of fuss a while back about visiting slackliners placing bolts here and at Stoer. I thought that the perpetrators had agreed to remove them, but obviously not.

So slacklining would be an option if you were totally averse to swimming...

In reply to Bob M:

I didn't realise they'd placed bolts near Am Buachaille also! A disgrace. The Stoer ones were removed last year (but not by them).

In reply to simondgee: contrary to what you might read the taxi to call on hoy is terry Thomson of bu farm not Mr Williams. He'll meet the ferry from stromness or Houton. You can get away with a 5 but two would be useful for pitch two of old man.

In reply to simondgee: Hey Simon, i wouldn't stress too much about big cams for Hoy - don't think i had more than a standard rack (single and half size friends up to 4) and possibly a couple i hexes (7 & 9?) - though i realise I am showing my age here as i gather hexes are not 'cool for cats' anymore (though very good at dispatching wildlife...!).

Enjoy

Oh, and watch the initial traverse on Stoer - it was a desperate slime-fest when we did it - way harder than the rest ofthe route or anything on Hoy..!

Si C

In reply to Pinch'a'salt:
Hex 9 definitely doesn't quite fit in the crack for a fair way above the second roof on P2 (close, but no cigar), so something slightly bigger, cam or mega-hex, will make a big difference.

I second your comment about the initial traverse, one of the most terrifying bits of climbing I've done, being convinced the whole way across that I was going to ping off with no warning.

In reply to jonny taylor:
On a loosely related topic, does anyone know the current state of the firebox in the Rackwick bothy? It was a mess when I was there (not climbing) over easter and was billowing smoke into the room whenever you opened the door, instead of drawing properly. I think I worked out what the problem was just as we were leaving, but didn't have the confidence to follow through with the fix (left a note in the visitor book). Anyone know if it is any better now?

In reply to Pinch'a'salt:

If you mean Fulmars I can conclusively say that this isn't the case!


I don't know about Hoy (found pitch 2 desperate) but agree - it was certainly harder in that state than anything on Diamond Face (Stoer)!

In reply to simondgee:
ta to all off on the wee trip the morrow.

In reply to simondgee: good luck. I look forward to hearing about it.

In reply to simondgee:

Good luck. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

In reply to 9WS9c3jps92HFTEp:
Ta all. A great outing Hoy went ahead of plan ...walkin and start with fine sunshine though we topped out in the rain day after leaving cumbria. Thoughts...its very impressive looking up at it, not great climbing but a great climb. Mountaineering in nature, memorable. P2 was (as suggested) very 3 dimensional...big gear was very handy at size 4 ish. I thought the crux was moving off the ledge after getting out the chimney. Sandiness didnt really bother, and limited fulmar interaction
Weather/sea state bombed for am buchaille and stoerr. So a return visit planned. If its not on your list don't fret...if it is and you have good mates up for an adventure you need to get on it.Ta