High-wire journey to the Old Man of Hoy
● German climber crosses to famous sea stack and back 137m above the sea
Since it was first conquered by Sir Chris Bonington more than 50 years ago, the Old Man of Hoy has been drawing climbers from all over the world to the Orkney Islands.
Now a young German climber has become the first person to reach the summit of the famous sea stack by crossing back and forth to its summit on a high wire.
Alexander Schulz, 26, completed the terrifying feat on Saturday by walking barefoot along a 180m line suspended 137m above the sea.
The wire was secured to the red sandstone stack on the west coast of the island of Hoy using natural anchors, with the slack nature of the line meaning it put minimal strain on the rock.
Mr Schulz, who only took up “slacklining” in 2010, wrote on Facebook that his “dream” of making the crossing to the Old Man had finally become a “reality”.
He said that the walk had been “really hard” despite the line being fairly short, as he knew he could be knocked off-balance by a sudden gust of wind.
However, after getting back safely he said he wanted to pay “special thanks to the weather god for delivering not so Scottish weather”.
The climber told the BBC: “We didn’t have the most easy conditions.
“We were actually pretty lucky with the weather. But the wind was quite gusty and the water moving below me was distracting.”
He added that reaching the safety of the land had been an “amazing feeling”, describing how he overcame his natural fear by retreating inside himself and seeking calmness.
“All the time you have to be concentrated like 100 per cent. And then you eventually make it, to continue standing, balancing. And taking steps.
“Step by step. This is a really intense feeling, because you’re in the moment and just thinking of the next step. And I finally stepped off, on the other side.”
Mr schulz was unavailable to talk further about his feat yesterday, with a member of his team saying he was “already on a plane to China for another adventure”.
One Inch Dreams, the group that organised the climb, said the team had taken care not to damage the sea stack, which was created by coastal erosion several hundred years ago and will eventually collapse into the sea.
A spokeswoman for One Inch Dreams said: “You don’t need a permission to climb the tower and high lining is a branch of climbing, using the same materials.
“The team was very conscious of the climbing ethics on the Old Man – only removable slings were used for the anchor, not a single piece of equipment or rubbish was left behind and the stack was not altered in any way.”
The first successful ascent of the sea stack was completed by British climber Sir Chris in 1966, almost 20 years before he scaled Mount Everest.
Sir Chris and colleague Tom Patey returned the following year and were part of the famous three-night live television broadcast, The Great Climb.
Sir Chris climbed the Old Man again in 2014 to celebrate his 80th birthday and to raise awareness of motor neurone disease. He lost his wife Wendy to the illness.
Before setting off to tackle the 449ft pillar of stone situated off the north coast of Scotland, Sir Chris admitted that he was “apprehensive” about the climb.