Recreational climbing on the stack seems to have started in the early 1880s. It appears that the first non-St Kildan to climb the stack was Richard Manliffe Barrington; he ascended Stac Biorach in 1890,[1][2][3] calling it the most dangerous climb he ever undertook.[4] Today climbing in all of the St Kilda archipelago is subject to the permission of the National Trust for Scotland[5] (which rarely, if ever, grants it). The stack is difficult to climb and "one which only a few of the natives could lead."[6][7]
In 2023 a small group of British climbers, including Robbie Phillips from Edinburgh, completed the climb, the first documented ascent in 133 years.[8]
Notes edit
Refs edit
- ^ Barrington, R.M. "The Ascent of Stack na Biorach". Alpine Journal. 27: 195.
- ^ St Kilda Management Plan 2003-2008 (PDF). National Trust for Scotland. 2003. p. 102.
- ^ The following account seems less reliable: Mellor, Chris (2002). Stack Rock: An Illustrated Guide to Sea Stack Climbing in the UK and Ireland (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-12.
- ^ Heathcote, Norman (1901). "Climbing in St Kilda". Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal. 6. Scottish Mountaineering Club: 146–151. Retrieved 8 February 2009. p. 148.
- ^ St Kilda Management Plan 2003-2008 (PDF). National Trust for Scotland. 2003. p. 103.
- ^ Steven, Campbell Rodger (1975). The Story of Scotland's Hills. R. Hale. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7091-4975-0.
- ^ According to one source, the stack was climbed by R.M. Barrington in 1929 rather than 1890. Maclean, St. Kilda: Island on the Edge of the World, 103.
- ^ “St Kilda sea stack scaled for first time since 1890”. BBC News Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ Mellor 2020, p. 9.
- ^ Haswell-Smith 2004, p. 323.
- ^ Quine 2000, p. 121.
- ^ "Robbie scales ‘The Thumb’ in St Kilda". National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ "Barrington, Richard". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ Barrington 1913, pp. 199–201.
- ^ Barrington 1913, p. 197.
- Barrington, Richard M. (1913). "The Ascent of Stack-Na-Biorrach (The Pointed Stack), St Kilda". Alpine Journal. 27. London: Longmans, Green: 195-202.
- Mellor, Chris (Jan 2020). "An illustrated guide to sea stack climbing in the UK & Ireland" (PDF). needlesports. Retrieved 23 Jan 2021.
- Quine, David (2000). St Kilda. Grantown-on-Spey: Colin Baxter Island Guides. ISBN 1-84107-008-4.
- Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
- Fleming, Andrew (2005). St. Kilda and the Wider World: Tales of an Iconic Island. Windgather Press. ISBN 1-905119-00-3.
- Taylor, A. B. (1968). "The Norsemen in St Kilda". Viking Society for Northern Research. 17. JSTOR: 116–144. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- Coates, Richard (1990). The Place-Names of St Kilda: Nomina Hirtensia. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 0-88946-077-9.
- de Nicolay, Nicholas (1583). Vraye & exacte description Hydrographique des costes maritimes d'Escosse & des Isles Orchades Hebrides avec partie d'Angleterre & d'Irlande servant a la navigation. Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
- Watson, William J. (1926). The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
- Murray, W.H. (1966). The Hebrides. London: Heinemann.
Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).