Tyrolean Traverse on the Old Man Of Stoer

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 THE.WALRUS 17 Sep 2021

Does anyone know if the Tyrolean Traverse is in place on Stoer, or will I have to set up my own?

11
 Franco Cookson 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Wasn't in place in June. It's possibly easiest to just swim across and then pull your gear over on a rope. Getting sufficient tension etc takes a while and the insitu gear on the stack side isn't amazing. 

 Robert Durran 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Franco Cookson:

> Wasn't in place in June. It's possibly easiest to just swim across and then pull your gear over on a rope. 

Or, even simpler, if you have them, put your stuff in dry bags and swim them there and back.

1
 Andrew Lodge 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Robert Durran:

> Or, even simpler, if you have them, put your stuff in dry bags and swim them there and back.

You could do but the Tyrolean, including someone swimming and setting it up is part of the adventure on the Old Man.

5
 Robert Durran 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Andrew Lodge:

> You could do but the Tyrolean, including someone swimming and setting it up is part of the adventure on the Old Man.

For me it is the swimming that makes such stacks special. Anyway, what certainly dumbs them down is if you just use an in situ tyrolean - remove it, whether you set it up or whether it is somebody else's litter.

1
 Trangia 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Why are you so concerned, surely you are n your element in the sea?

 Geras 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

To be honest I would not trust a Tyrolean that's been rigged by someone unknown and been in place for some unknown time. As others have said, swimming over and setting up are all part of the adventure. We rigged our own, even though a previous party already had one in place ( they were on the stack). The owners can take their toy away when you still need it!

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OP THE.WALRUS 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Trangia:

Thanks for the advice - we'll take dry bags and swim, then.

Can you give me a few pointers with regards to accepted practice for getting to-and-from the stack.

Assuming sea conditions are ok, presumably, I'd be best off jumping-in an hour-or-so before low tide?  

Will I be ok stashing wet gear at the bottom of the stack during the climb?

How long is the the swim.

And etc.

 PaulJepson 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

There's a good video here: https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2016/10/old_man_of_stoer-70726

They use a Tyrolean but you get a decent view of how far it is (not very).

 Franco Cookson 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

I swam just to the right as you look at the stack. It's about 10m in a deep channel. A few jellyfish about. Was fairly straightforward. 

I hung my gear on the tyrolean anchor on the stack. This might get sea washed at high tide? Not sure... I'd go a couple of hours before low tide if you were planning on spending a while on it, but it's only a couple of pitches if climbing. 

It's quite tricky for VS - dusty and with some complex route finding. The ab back down takes you to the ledge just in front of the tyrolean belay. This is sea washed once the tide starts to come in, so may be a bit dodge if you had to retreat at high tide. At low tide it's possible to miss out the slimey and tricky first pitch with a long anti clockwise traverse up the outside face of the stack. I found this more enjoyable, but I'm sure people may criticise this as not being the true line. 

I had planned in taking some total beginners up, as we were just hanging out with some pals, but I'm glad I didn't. It's would be massively intimidating if you hadn't been multipitch climbing before. 

 Offwidth 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Geras:

What's the big risk? It's hard to avoid dipping in the water on higher tides so you are not looking at any significant fall into the channel. At low spring tide you can wade.

All this talk of adventure for a short channel swim is just romanticism to me (a fun choice for some but not for others). We were prepared for one of us to swim but found a frayed tyrollean in-situ (sheath gone and some strands broken for a short section) and it seemed romantic enough for our needs: although ready for a dunking, it held as I expected, and was backed up thereafter. After a bypassable hard start (spiral round the back on ledges) the climbing was really enjoyable HS movement with some Diff Fulmar risk, that passed without incident. In 'leave no trace' terms, the tat at the top was an embarrassing mess, so we removed some of the worst looking bits. The scariest and most 'adventurous' part of the day by far for me was the loose and damp descent scramble from the cliff top down to the channel, where a fall would be very bad at best.

A great and memorable day out however you do it.

Post edited at 12:27
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 ebdon 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Offwidth:

For me getting to the stack was a big part of the adventure and retrospectively I'm glad a tyrolean wasn't in situ when I did it (I didn't even know this was normally a thing), although we did rig using a (now gone I think?) bolt on the landward side and in situ nuts on the stack so I can't really winge too much about in situ gear, and I did wuss out and get my mate to swim and rig rather than me!

I had plans to do the E2 but after rather involved access, intimidating choppy seas, and impending darkness we did the standard route which I thought was brilliant fun.

I agree with you though the cliff approach/climb out is the scariest part of the day!

 planetmarshall 17 Sep 2021
In reply to Franco Cookson:

> Wasn't in place in June. It's possibly easiest to just swim across and then pull your gear over on a rope.

Under certain conditions the swim can be rather serious. It's best to be prepared to set up a Tyrolean.

 Offwidth 17 Sep 2021
In reply to planetmarshall:

You'd have to be especially brave and careful in bad conditions, as the platforms and the normal position of the tryrolean will be wave washed.

 Heike 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

You obviously wouldn't want to go at a spring tide or huge swell. So research needed on tides and weather. When I did it last  ( I have done it before a few times) a couple of years ago in September there was a very poor/ decrepit tyrolean in place - we backed it up to make it safe and our 10 year old who doesn't weigh much went over on it for fun. I donned my bikini and swam the ten metres or so which I hanged at the bottom of the climb with other gear we didn't need! On the way back we all swam. This is obviously calm weather and swells permitting! Husband and son had wetsuits/drysuits.

Post edited at 16:02
 ebdon 17 Sep 2021
In reply to planetmarshall:

We had to wait 2 hours for the sea to calm down for the swim to be safe (to rig the tyrolean). Something to be aware of, This was early April and after a storm though.

 Trangia 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

I think you might struggle with the climb though, whilst the swim will be a piece of cake for you in any sea state, you are not exactly built for ascending rock...

Being serious, be careful if there is a swell. There was a 6ft swell when I did it. I had originally aimed for the left side where there is a platform at the base of the 2nd pitch. The sea was breaking over this and the swell was dragging me against barnacles, so I aborted, and swam back. Then did the shorter right hand swim which lands you on a series of cracks where there were in situ pegs to use for setting up the tyrolean. You then have to traverse left along not very adequate horizontal cracks which can be greasy from sea spray. It's first 5a pitch so both leader and second need to be comfortable at the grade to avoid taking an unwanted dip even with runners which themselves would compromise climbing back out! That 5a traverse is much harder than anything else on the route.

If you've got a wetsuit use it - I didn't have one and got very cold. 

>Will I be ok stashing wet gear at the bottom of the stack during the climb?

No need to, once you've set up the Tyrolean go back over it to finish drying off and to change into dry clothing on the mainland, and before going back again to do the climb, it'll warm you up

>How long is the the swim. 

About 30' or so. But if it's rough it will knacker you - wear a life jacket. Have a look at my pictures.

 PaulJepson 17 Sep 2021
In reply to planetmarshall:

How would you set up a Tyrolean without one person swimming at least?

 planetmarshall 17 Sep 2021
In reply to PaulJepson:

> How would you set up a Tyrolean without one person swimming at least?

You can't, but having the Tyrolean in place means only one person has to do the swim, and that only on the way over to the stack.

On the way back both climbers can use the Tyrolean if it's been set up to be retrievable.

 ebdon 17 Sep 2021
 David Coley 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Here's a neat trick for getting back

60m ropes for the ab

All but the last person abs and reverse the tyrolean. They then release the tension in the tyrolean

Last person abs. But stays weighting the rope. She clips the tyrolean to her belay loop and is hauled across whilst abbing

 dominic o 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

You missed your chance yesterday

Here's a photo of the tyrolean and one of the swim. As others have said, in hindsight, the swim and the tyrolean faff are very much a part of the experience and you'd really have missed out if you'd taken a ride on our set up

I'll be writing a blog post with more photos and detailed beta for the logistics etc, which will be on here in the next few days: https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/

Meanwhile, a top tip for keeping things as dry as possible and to get the rope back is to have a lightweight 'zip line' to throw across (our camping washing up line, gaffer taped to a bag of olives worked perfectly!) 

Enjoy! Cheers, Dom 

Post edited at 18:05

OP THE.WALRUS 17 Sep 2021

Thanks for the advice, everyone...I'm preparing myself for a short bracing swim.

Always knew the extra blubber would come in useful.

2
 Albert Tatlock 17 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

> Thanks for the advice, everyone...I'm preparing myself for a short bracing swim.

> Always knew the extra blubber would come in useful.

Put your arm bands  and speedos on.

 dominic o 19 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Hello Walrus!

Here's a trip report from our ascent earlier this week:

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2021/09/16/old-man-of-stoer/

Warning: Contains much beta (as the topic "Old Man of Stoer" and "Tyrolean" seems to be a regularly recurring theme on this Forum). If you don't want any spoilers just scroll through the photos

Enjoy! Cheers, Dom 

 planetmarshall 19 Sep 2021
In reply to Trangia:

> Being serious, be careful if there is a swell. There was a 6ft swell when I did it. I had originally aimed for the left side where there is a platform at the base of the 2nd pitch. The sea was breaking over this and the swell was dragging me against barnacles, so I aborted, and swam back.

A couple of photos from the water conditions when I did the swim. I wore my helmet and harness and swam while belayed. If I had to do it again in similar conditions I'd wear a lifejacket too. Some form of footwear would also be useful.


 Mark123 19 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

Wonderful route! Here's a link to my video from our climb last August. It shows the swim, the Tyrolean, parts of the climb and the long abseil back and another fun sea crossing. 

The Tyrolean wasn't in place, we set up our own. 

youtube.com/watch?v=QbpYtWnrxDM&

Tom Patey's  account of his first ascent is hilarious. Superb and highly recommended reading (as is all of One Man's Mountains)

 The New NickB 19 Sep 2021
In reply to planetmarshall:

This is from when we went to do it. We didn’t do it, sensibly, nobody fancied the swim.


 planetmarshall 19 Sep 2021
In reply to The New NickB:

> This is from when we went to do it. We didn’t do it, sensibly, nobody fancied the swim.

Wuss.

 mike barnard 19 Sep 2021
In reply to Franco Cookson:

> I had planned in taking some total beginners up, as we were just hanging out with some pals, but I'm glad I didn't. It's would be massively intimidating if you hadn't been multipitch climbing before. 

Would agree with this. I did the normal route after about a year of climbing and despite much experience of scrambling and doing routes on the likes of Rannoch Wall, found the exposure quite something! Went back a few years later and barely noticed it - amazing how you get accustomed to these things.

 heleno 20 Sep 2021
In reply to Franco Cookson:

> I had planned in taking some total beginners up, as we were just hanging out with some pals, but I'm glad I didn't. It's would be massively intimidating if you hadn't been multipitch climbing before. 

All the more kudos to Chris, featured in Dom's blog above, who did it as his first multipitch route (and third trad route) and performed brilliantly on every aspect of the adventure : ) 

1
 fmck 25 Sep 2021
In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I made 2 visits to climb but backed off due to conditions. The third and successful visit was after we heard the weather conditions on the plane home from the Dolomites. We were there the following day. Bit dodgy this time of year.

1
 Trangia 25 Sep 2021
In reply to Dave Hewitt:

The rescue helicopter's captain Will MacLeod said it had been a "potentially life-threatening situation" for all involved - the two climbers and the teams of coastguard rescuers, police and volunteers who responded.

He said: "The Old Man of Stoer is a popular location for climbers but weather can rapidly deteriorate and, particularly at this time of year as we come out of the summer months, rising waves and high winds from the North Sea present significant risks that anyone moving around the coast can expect to encounter."

North Sea? Surely that's the North Atlantic?

 ring ouzel 25 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS:

I did it way back in 1982. Fantastic route. Another aspect not yet mentioned are orcas. They had been seen by one of our party when we were on the stack. Thinking of orcas in the area made the Tyrolean back across quite exciting. As a walrus I'd be very careful if I was you!

 Lankyman 25 Sep 2021
In reply to Trangia:

>' rising waves and high winds from the North Sea'

> North Sea? Surely that's the North Atlantic?

Perhaps it was a bad storm?

 Tom the tall 27 Sep 2021
In reply to THE.WALRUS: recent rescue footage shows how the sea state can change: 

http://hmcoastguard.blogspot.com/2021/09/climber-extremely-grateful-to-hm.h...


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