The odds looked stacked against these climbers – as they tackle a tough sea stack known as “The Castle.”
The four adventurous climbers managed to rig a rope between two points on the mainland to lower themselves onto a rocky ledge as the waves crash into its narrow base below.
The pictures were taken by former international climber Dave Cuthbertson, 59. Now a mountain guide who provides does safety and rigging work for film and TV crews, he took the photos while helping with filming for the BBC series Britain’s Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney.
“When I first saw ‘The Castle’ as a climber I thought about how wacky it is and immediately wanted to climb it,” Cuthbertson said. “Short of landing on the summit by helicopter and abseiling down, the only feasible way to access the stack is by boat or Tyrolean traverse. As the sea was very rough during our visit and a Tyrolean is very spectacular, that was our preferred method.”
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