Coastguard helicopter in dramatic rescue of climbers stuck on sea stack

Two men were rescued by Coastguard helicopter after getting stuck on a 200ft sandstone sea stack.

The men raised the alarm just before 6.30pm on Thursday after they found themselves stuck on a small ledge near the bottom of the Old Man of Stoer, in Sutherland, with high waves battering the stack and the tide coming in. The Stornoway Coastguard helicopter, a lifeboat and police were all sent to help as darkness fell.

One of the men – named only as Mike – said: “I kept thinking we could get out of it, but the weather was just getting worse and worse, and I started to get really worried about Chris. He was much further down the stack than I was, and I kept losing sight of him – he was getting battered by the waves and the sea spray was making everything really difficult. There were moments when I thought he was gone.

“It was a huge relief to see the helicopter.”

Once rescued, the pair made their own way home.