The Old Man of Hoy is a sandstone
rock stack rising close to the sea about 450 feet high, and is considered to
challenge the most experienced climbers. The first successful ascent was
televised in 1966 and featured Sir Chris Bonington, along with Tom Patey and
Rusty Baillie. Since then, The Old Man of Hoy has become famous around the world
as a "must do" climb. Modern techniques and equipment, however, have
made the challenge available to slightly less experienced climbers and it has
now been conquered many times. As the Old Man of Hoy is susceptible to erosion
and takes an annual battering from the winter elements, nobody knows how much
longer it will stand before being claimed by the sea.
In addition, each time it is climbed, it would appear that individuals find
it hard to resist taking a small piece of the old man as a memento. Evidently,
each piece that is removed enables rain to penetrate deeper. As soon as the
winter temperature plummets to below freezing, the rain turns to ice and expands
fracturing the rock more each time, which speeds up the erosion and shortens the
life of the famous rock stack. Therefore, we respectfully ask that future
climbers resist the urge to take a memento - no matter how small.