Fantastic day out with Colin Nave. Avoided P1 by going round the back. All other pitches 4b. Lucky I was belayed for the attempted rock hop, as the weeds reduced friction to zero and I slipped off at the last minute. After Colin's swim and setting up the tyrolean we were all set. The 2 stage Ab down was exciting and I reckon from the other comments we could have done it in one with our 50 and 60m ropes combined. Not sure I was relieved or disappointed that mr and mrs fulmar were not at home.
Julian Lane - AltLd O/S - 28/May/13 with Mynydd Colin

A fantastic route but felt soft. Took the E1 variation at the end of the leftward traverse on P1. 50m ropes will (just!) reach the ground from the top - no need to re-belay at half way. Take lots of cams and extender draws - don't need many wires.
Tom Livingstone - AltLd O/S - 26/May/13 with Alex Hallam

Did in three and a bit pitches. I led the first (round the traverse and up to the belay ledge), Josh led the second (from the ledge to the chockstone cave belay) and I led the third (to pretty much the top) before Josh finished up the easy ramp to the top proper.
LibS - AltLd - 26/May/13 with Josh Ring, Mark Brims

max railing - Lead - 25/May/13 with nick ball, Katie-jayne

Old man of stoer As others say, path down very precarious and slippy, at bottom found no Tyrolean set up so good job bought swim shorts! - note for next time take 5 finger shoes or similar to swim in as the barnacles are sharp. First pitch very green and slippy - even in dry weather it's slimy. Remaining pitches lovely, esp 3rd pitch - beautifully exhilarating! Things to know before you go: 1. Take shoes to swim in. 2. Ensure your rack has at least 2 of each of DMM dragon cams or equivalent. 3. Only 1 set of nuts needed - cams are the order of the day. 4. 60m double ropes will make the abseil in one go. 5. All belay points are well used and easy to recognise. 6. Currently NO Tyrolean in place (as of 21 May 13)
Duncan Turner - Lead - 21/May/13 with stu

Hidden - AltLd - 08/May/13

andrew(willy)wilson - AltLd - 08/May/13

R0bbie - AltLd - 10/Jan/13 with Taba

Hidden - 2013

Hidden - 2013

Sally Hudson - AltLd - 21/Oct/12 with Jakob Rosenhahn, Mike Scott

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 21/Oct/12

awsome, nice weather, ab in the dark
NeilOMalley - AltLd O/S - 25/Sep/12 with icklejason, Adam Walker

A Walker - 2nd - 25/Sep/12 with NeilOMalley

Exciting and a bit scary, nearly retreated from the cave due to rain, but tried the traverse and found it wasn't so bad. Pitch 2 seemed hard with a rucksac and greasy holds, seemed harder than 4b.
errrrm? - AltLd O/S - 13/Aug/12 with gaz h

sparbus - AltLd - 04/Aug/12 with mike b

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 03/Aug/12

Wet worrying decent with overloaded packs after rained all morning. Tyrolean in place, rpoe good but gear at sea end looking tired. Bottom pitch green slime fest - followed break around to far side, no chance of going up, and still 5b pitch! Rest of route clean if wet in the pooring rain. Tat in place for an ab to base on 60's. Alas high spring tide meant ledge now wave swept and tyrolean only 1m out of water - tyrolean swim! Sacs now super heavy with wet ropes so slow exit up streaming face. Back for 22.30.
philhilo - AltLd O/S - 02/Aug/12 with Helen E

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 02/Aug/12

tommack - Aug/12 with J.Evans

Hidden - AltLd - 20/Jul/12

Dougbart - AltLd O/S - 17/Jul/12

subflux - AltLd O/S - 14/Jul/12 with Bill Wright

Missed first pitch, really greasy
Wadsworth - Lead O/S - 06/Jul/12 with Calum Irvine, Ruairidh Wadsworth

Approach made in drizzle. Very greasy start. Led pitches 1&4 after bailing on P3 - I'll blame the wet rock. Great day climbing and a fantastic first VS multipitch. Abbed off on 60m ropes in one go.
mikesuth - AltLd - 23/Jun/12 with Simon Hayes

Felt kinda soft for the grade... Man was it draggy tho...
sleeplessjb - 15/Jun/12 with Jamie

Hidden - AltLd - 09/Jun/12

Lead second pitch, first traverse from tyrolene a nightmare as super slimmy, but enjoyed my lead. No real problem with Fulmars. Was a warm up for Old Man of Hoy, this was a wake up call im not ready for E1 sea stacks! Weather slighty overcast and more so windy which didnt help with my nerves, also passing showers. Absailed in one descent on two 60 m ropes. Got a pinch off belay in front of 2 fulmars who were fine until I yelped and then they freaked out, argg.
Pinky - AltLd O/S - 09/Jun/12 with alec thomas, chris thomas

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 07/Jun/12

Climbed with Rob and Becca. Walked round the back to avoid the first pitch which was grotty. An absolutely brilliant day out. Climbing not too hard but engrossing, especially during the rain shower. The four highlights for me were the swim, the chimney pitch, the champagne finish and the abseil past menacing fulmars. Fantastic
Bart Shaw - AltLd O/S - 06/Jun/12 with Tim

Rob84 - Lead O/S - 06/Jun/12 with Becca Jury

Callum T - AltLd O/S - 02/Jun/12 with Kyle Flegg, Marcus Peabody

MarcusP - AltLd O/S - 02/Jun/12 with Kyle, Callum

I'm not convinced the first pitch is 5a felt standard 4c fair to me.
CurlyStevo - AltLd - Jun/12 with Kenny

victorhearnyeates - Jun/12

Jonnie swam and led the traversy 5a pitch to the start of the route. I led Pitch 2, the end of 3 (after Magnus had some difficulty route finding) and Magnus finished the route. Great climbing with the main difficulty being the chimney-like crack on P2. Good weather, slight breeze so good photos on top. A seagull threw up on me on the way down leaving me with a lingering fishy smell to remember the route.
Carol Goodall - AltLd O/S - 29/May/12 with Emily Suddes, Magnus Woods, Jonnie Williams

jonnie3430 - AltLd O/S - 29/May/12 with Emily

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 24/May/12

Easier when you go the right way!
Tom Baird - AltLd O/S - 22/May/12 with Jonno

Managed to get off route and abseiled off. An adventure anyway, but need to go back and finish it! No tyrolean in place at present, but anchor on far side was sound enough. Rock hopping looked 'exciting' even with low tide, so we avoided it and got wet instead. Scramble down to shelf is a bit loose in places - not a place you'd want to take a slip.
isi_o - Lead - 19/May/12 with Roddy Murray

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 18/May/12

Chris Hind - AltLd - 18/May/12 with Bry

Zoe Cockburn - 2nd - May/12

Hot + sunny, fantastic route, climbing doesn't get better.
radioshed - AltLd O/S - 31/Mar/12 with Reuben

crookachili - AltLd - 31/Mar/12 with Matt Craig

David Stevens - AltLd O/S - 31/Mar/12 with Rob Chase

alan moore - 2012

alan moore - 2012

Callum Anderson - 2012

goadventure1 - 2012

JonG - 2012

Narked4fun - 2012 with Paul Richmond, George Wright, Keith Bell

Patzl - 2012

Patzl - 2012

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 28/Sep/11

First ever multi pitch climb very good
Jessie675 - 2nd O/S - 27/Aug/11

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 19/Aug/11

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 17/Aug/11

Hidden - AltLd - 26/Jul/11

nia - 2nd - 26/Jul/11 with harry

Pete Barker - AltLd O/S - 21/Jul/11 with Steve

steev - AltLd rpt - 21/Jul/11 with Pete Barker, Kimball

JonnyPetrie - Lead O/S - 09/Jul/11 with Roddy, Ally

unbezonking - AltLd O/S - 09/Jul/11 with roddie, wee johno

Epic, Wee joony lead most of it!
rodders24 - AltLd O/S - 09/Jul/11 with Wee Jonny, Alistair Gray

Great to get this done after three years of trying, a superb adventure! I did the HS route according to the description above. There is a taught tyrolean setup to the start of the original route at the moment but I can't comment on its quality.
Mark Collins - Solo O/S - 24/Jun/11

HS route according to the description above.
Mark Collins - TR rpt - 24/Jun/11

Hidden - 2nd - 10/Jun/11

Shaw Brown - 2nd - 10/Jun/11 with Judith Neaves, peter metcalfe

Birthday (+1 day) celebratory climb. Good weather and sea state after the problematic northerly swell mid-week. Arrived soon after low tide at an in-situ and apparently brand-new Tyrolean, and then found that we could just about scramble around the back of the stack to avoid the first pitch. Climbing much better than expected - felt like solid, unpolished, gritstone. The hardest part of the whole endeavour turned out to be abbing off, past several irate fulmars and thence into space, apparently heading straight for the boiling sea far below! 60m ropes highly recommended.
Peter Metcalfe - Lead - 10/Jun/11 with Judith Neaves, Cath Sullivan, Shaw Brown

Pat-H - Lead - 27/May/11 with mhairi

My first sea stack. Absolutely amazing day! Didn't brave the very frayed in situ rope and the next party removed it as it looked so unsafe.
Mhairi G - 2nd - 27/May/11 with Patrick

Mike Turner - Lead O/S - 19/May/11 with Keith Fisher

Hidden - 2nd - 05/May/11

Neil Adams - Lead O/S - 01/May/11 with Elizabeth

Hidden - 2nd - 30/Apr/11

My first sea stack. Awesome:) Led pitch 3
sophiecb - AltLd O/S - 29/Apr/11 with Rob

First 2 pitches felt jolly hard, must get better at jamming.
ablackett - AltLd - 29/Apr/11 with Jonny

Found the first pitch very tough indeed as all the holds were soaking wet. Later pitches were a lot of fun - just like being on Yorkshire grit! Tyrolean/bolt in situ.
jonny taylor - AltLd O/S - 28/Apr/11 with Andy B

Fixed rope in place so no need to swim. Climbed 5a pitch due to high swell around base of stack. Guide book description of where it goes is rubbish. Just go up and immediately left from the middle-left side of the platform. Excellent route. Had a bit of route finding difficulty due to poor guidebook description but managed to stay on route. Only 2 or 3 technical moves the rest not hard. Amazing views from the top. Abseil down in 2 pitches was interesting. Michael ended up hanging in space and had to throw a nut key attached to the rope to catch the tat on the stance to pull himself in towards it.
climberuk - AltLd O/S - 27/Apr/11 with Waneata

Did p1 traverse and wall to first belay, then took a R slanting flake crack (off-route, original goes up from here) diaganal across to a small belay stance. then up to the wide ledge of NW corner route! Then came the fun 5b ramp pitch (used a wee bit of aid on the initial move using an ancient rusty peg, with a nut wire), then up the final chimney (excellent fun). Not the original route we intended but an excellent variation.. 60m abseil to the floor, ropes got seriously wound together so after 2 hours struggle managed to retrieve from the lanward side and excape, overall amazing exposure and adventure.
simon_D - AltLd O/S - 10/Apr/11 with Alex

adie84 - 2011

Hidden - 2011

Safety Monkey - Lead - 2011

Hidden - 2011

Hidden - 2011

Awesome adventure! Very slimy traverse at the start, had to aid one bit. rest of route was great.
tallthinmonkey - Lead O/S - 12/Oct/10 with Ewan Paterson

Ommuff - AltLd - 28/Sep/10 with Mike Brian

weather was A-mazing
chrism225 - Lead O/S - 26/Sep/10 with Jen Trendall, polly, dave

Hidden - AltLd - 25/Sep/10

nowler - 12/Sep/10

cmars89 - 2nd - 09/Sep/10

Hidden - 2nd - 09/Sep/10

Mark Fairhurst - Lead O/S - 09/Sep/10

Robert93 - AltLd O/S - 18/Aug/10

Hidden - 2nd - 15/Aug/10

Amazingly lucky with the weather but in-situ tyrolean appreciated as water was pretty nippy. Bit lost on third pitch but no real hassle. Buzzed by Tornado at top.
Joemanglerocks - Lead O/S - 10/Aug/10 with Andy Harding

Recorded due to quality adventure of a day! Abbed off a third of the way up due to lack of psyche and less than ideal conditions, will definitly be back!
MaxR - 2nd dnf - 07/Aug/10 with Toby

tobyk - Lead dnf - 07/Aug/10 with Max Rayner

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 01/Aug/10

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 01/Aug/10

Graham Westbrook - AltLd - Aug/10

Theeni - AltLd - Aug/10

james very graciously did the swim across and back allowing me to retrieve the tyrolean rope even though i was happy to leave it behind..good man !
luckyjim - AltLd - Aug/10 with J Kinnaird

Hidden - AltLd - 11/Jul/10

Led pitch 1 then 4 & 5 together. Route as described in the SMC guide. 60m ropes give one abseil off the stack. Care required for the descent from the landward side down.
John Roe - AltLd - 03/Jul/10 with Adam Davis, Iain (Jocky) Marr

done on my 30th birthday :)
Chris M - Lead - 23/Jun/10 with Tommy B

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 23/Jun/10

vincentvega - AltLd - 19/Jun/10 with kevin k, danny robb

Lead P1 & 3, Johnno P2 & 4. Best climbing trip up to date!
mark88 - AltLd - 19/Jun/10 with Andy Johnson

i took 1st and 3rd pitches
gareth scott borthwick - AltLd O/S - 09/Jun/10 with mat

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 07/Jun/10

started climbing at 4am, was epic! really slimy bottom traverse, rest is awesome.
johnrc - 2nd O/S - 05/Jun/10 with pete a

start at 4am great route. felt quite hard maybe from lack of sleep
pete87abs - Lead O/S - 05/Jun/10 with john

Got lost on a massive ledge about 20m up. Abbed of north side of here on poor pegs. Tyrolean traverse in situ with a bolt land side. Will be returning to finish!
bigdrew - AltLd dnf - 03/Jun/10 with Chris

JEP - AltLd - 01/Jun/10 with Kirstin

Steve Perry - AltLd - Jun/10 with Mike Martin

Steve Waters, Mynydd - AltLd - 31/May/10 with Mike Tempest

Hidden - AltLd - 31/May/10

Barry D - Lead - 31/May/10 with Trish, Chris M

Hidden - Lead O/S - 30/May/10

What an adventure! We didn't tension the tyrolean enough and almost ended up swimming, we also got a bit lost on pitch two and steve ended up getting attcked by a fulmar then we topped out in the sunshine with an audience watching from the cliff top. Sensational abseil back down, top day.
mikemartin - AltLd - 19/May/10

Hidden - Lead - 17/May/10

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 17/May/10

Hidden - 2010

Hidden - 2010

Hidden - 2010

creag - 2010

Hidden - 2010

Johann - AltLd O/S - 2010 with Martyn Stott, Alex Wheeldon

Johann - 2010

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 13/Sep/09

Led pitch 1, 3 and 4. A great day out
Andrew Lodge - AltLd - 12/Sep/09 with Adrian, Pete, Steve

Went slightly off route which involves climbing some 5b sections of the E2 route next door and dealing with vomiting seagull. Got caught by high tide on the way back had to hang for 3 hours before it was possible to do the tyrolean crossing above the very choppy sea.
jamestheyip - Lead O/S - 21/Aug/09 with Alejandro Garcia

Hidden - AltLd O/S - Aug/09

Hidden - Lead O/S - 25/Jul/09

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 08/Jul/09

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 19/Jun/09

Led 1st, 3rd and 5th pitches with Alex leading the others after bravely swimming across to set up the Tyrolean. Paul Nurse seconded all pitches with us.
teflonpete - AltLd O/S - 06/Jun/09 with Alex

freudy_love - 2nd O/S - 06/Jun/09 with Ruairidh Mackenzie

Lead pitches 1 & 2, Paul Nurse, Alex, & Peter were following on second rope. Alex swam the channel to setup the trilean traverse.
Paul-Michael - AltLd O/S - 06/Jun/09 with Diccon Proctor

Went the wrong way on the last pitch :( Still ok but quite run out and involved vomit dodging.
CalumC - AltLd O/S - 02/Jun/09 with Ferdia Earle

mctinkno - AltLd O/S - 02/Jun/09 with Calum

Andy Moles - AltLd O/S - 01/Jun/09 with Dan Currie, Tom Wallbank

lyndseymackay - Jun/09

JdotP - AltLd O/S - 30/May/09 with Lyndsey Mackay

Wet and cold. Grabbed one piece of gear on the 1st pitch.
HIGHTOWER - Lead - 24/May/09 with Liz

liz-264 - 2nd - 24/May/09 with Hightower

Hidden - Lead - 10/May/09

Awesome day out, superb climb. Windy and cold tho
mhmiller - AltLd O/S - May/09 with scott hewitt

bullybones - AltLd - May/09

Hidden - AltLd - May/09

chedder - 2nd - 31/Jan/09 with chris thorne

Hidden - 2nd - 01/Jan/09

brockers - AltLd O/S - 2009 with CarlZ

jess - AltLd O/S - 2009 with martin

Hidden - AltLd - 12/Sep/08

Finally, got a chance to visit this place! There was little magic in the air though; the stack was too busy (more than 15 climbers on this route). 1st pitch was a nightmare, failed to commit to the damp and mossy crux in front of a large group of spectators, but seconded it thanks to Pete. 2nd and 3rd pitches were great.
duzinga - AltLd O/S - 12/Sep/08 with Pete and Gary

A great adventure on a fantastic sunny day. A Tyrolean traverse, great climbing in a superb situation, an audience on the mainland cliffs, and best of all, climbing partners Jim Woodley and John Wilson made the day. A true **** route.
Richard_Lowe - AltLd O/S - 05/Sep/08 with James Woodley

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 28/Aug/08

mol - 2nd - 14/Aug/08 with Jesse

Jesse Dufton - Lead - 14/Aug/08 with Molly Thompson

Hidden - AltLd - 25/Jul/08

Attempted it in wet conditions hoping for improvemnt in weather. I swam across, set up tyrolene. Sea state rose, weather got worse, turned back on first pitch.
bridget143 - AltLd dnf - 29/Jun/08 with Brown

Hidden - 2nd - 05/Jun/08

Hidden - Lead - Jun/08

Hidden - Lead O/S - Jun/08

gaz.marshall - AltLd O/S - 31/May/08 with Steev

sgl - AltLd - 19/May/08 with Susie

sneaks - AltLd O/S - 16/May/08 with Gibby

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 14/May/08

This time i managed the traverse although the start was pretty damp, the second pitch was easy, the third pitch was pretty terrifying and i suffered terribly from rope drag. The fourth pitch scuppered me, i could edge round the corner but was then faced with getting onto a ledge with no protection and a 5 metre run out, pretty easy climbing but i bottled it. in the words of terminator "I'll be back"
R0bbie - Lead dnf - 26/Apr/08 with Leign Chambers, Lucy Byrne

Luci - 2nd dnf - 26/Apr/08 with Leighn, Robbie

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 17/Apr/08

R0bbie - Lead dnf - 22/Mar/08 with Leign Chambers, Lucy Byrne, Johnny Miller

Jim Walton - 2008

Hidden - 2008

Sandy Simpson - AltLd - 2008

reg_measures - AltLd O/S - 2008 with henry and steve

Hoyes - AltLd O/S - 10/Sep/07 with Jon R

Hidden - Lead O/S - 12/May/07

snave29 - 2007

Hidden - 2007

barney_edin - AltLd - 2007 with Simon G

Chris L Hill - AltLd O/S - Sep/06 with Simon Pearce

Hidden - 2nd O/S - 12/Aug/06

nice route
centurion05 - AltLd O/S - Aug/06 with lee wales

Hidden - AltLd - Jul/06

joe king - 2nd O/S - 15/Jun/06 with steve petit

steveP - Lead O/S - 11/Jun/06 with Paul Rowlands

Hidden - AltLd - 01/Aug/05

Hidden - AltLd - Jun/05

Hidden - AltLd O/S - Jun/05

chapmand - AltLd - Jun/05 with Matt Balmer, Dan Stickland

My first sea stack: scary but good all at the same time. Had trouble route finding.
ross1983 - AltLd - 01/Apr/05 with JD

victim of mathematics - 2nd O/S - 29/Jul/04 with crossdressingrodney

crossdressingrodney - Lead O/S - 29/Jul/04 with victim of mathematics

Another great sea stack - swim included! 240ft VS 5a 4 pitch
Mike Lee - 2nd - 10/Jun/04 with Liz

Hidden - AltLd O/S - Jun/04

Peter Smith - 2nd - 2004 with Steve Simpson, Tom Harmer, Martin

Tenko - AltLd - 2004

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 23/Aug/03

Ken Applegate - AltLd - Aug/03 with Andy Barker

Hidden - May/03

Hidden - AltLd - 2003

12 on summit for my stag (stack) do. Is this a record?
Dave Kerr - Lead - 17/Aug/02 with Simon Reid, Dave Cashman

James B - AltLd - Jun/02 with Nigel

Led the 4th pitch.
dycotiles - AltLd O/S - Sep/01 with Pascal

Captain Solo - 2nd - 05/May/01 with Colin

brianrunner - 2001

Hidden - AltLd O/S - 21/Oct/00

Excellent rock, naked swim and tyrolean traverse.....
Chad123 - AltLd O/S - May/00 with Muppet

Darragh - AltLd - 2000 with Adrian et al.

bullybones - 2000

BRUCESTRAC - 1999 with GRANT CAMBELL

BRUCESTRAC - 1999 with GRANT CAMBELL

Climbed mostly with Matt Munro, though also with Pete Watson, Sam Williams and Ben Hirst. Turned into an epic with the last pitch climbed in the dark with two head torches!
andrewbooth1000 - AltLd - Oct/98 with Matt Munro

Hidden - Lead O/S - 1998

dangates - AltLd - 1998 with Nick Tarmey/ Kirk Watson

Hidden - AltLd - 19/Aug/97

Hidden - Lead - 07/Aug/97

Beautiful sunny day. Wet Tyrolean back due to sea foam. Don't let go of the ropes after the abseil back down!
tracyclimber - Lead O/S - Jul/97 with

Alt leads, I took the pitches I hadn't led with Phil B on my 1st visit. Another memorable day.
TrollJester - AltLd O/S - 1997 with Bruce A Strachan

Great adventure with Mr Green!! Paul eccles and Neil Rice were also on the trip up north, in my old Astra.
wadey1973 - 2nd - 18/Aug/95 with Ivan Green

Jim; after a few beers agreed to do the swim ;-)
craig h - AltLd - Aug/95 with Janet Hannah, Jim Mellor

My first sea stack and my first Tyrolean traverse.
jim_randell - AltLd O/S - 25/May/94 with MB

Hidden - 1994

malc - Lead - 14/Aug/92

Hammy - 09/Sep/91 with Rob Lawson

Ghastly Rubberfeet - Lead - Aug/90 with Therry Cooper

Tom Phillips - Lead - 20/Jun/90 with bruce

Sea rather rough, but after doing battle with the sea, rock and fulmars, one old sea dog, a very fit pup, and a young lady finally sat on the top all grinning from ear to ear. Abseils interesting (short ropes!) and as tide was now high and I was the heaviest, I was sent across first to see if the others would get wet! Great adventure not to be missed.
rogerskews - AltLd O/S - Jun/90 with Bryn Roberts & Jan Campbell

TrollJester - AltLd O/S - 1990 with Phil Blackwood

mark mcgowan01 - 1990

Richard Weller - Solo - Aug/88

Richard Weller - Solo - Aug/88

Hidden - Lead - Jun/86

babymoac - AltLd - Sep/83 with MTW

Jumped over (dry) tyrolleaned back
arduff - AltLd - 1980 with Andy Callingham

Chris Craggs - 1980

Steve Lenartowicz - 1978 with Dylan