STACKS
MOUNTAIN WORLD IRELAND
BELOW Helen negotiating the Tyrolean Traverse on the way out to the stack
are anything but ladylike. Completion of the traverse means I am now committed, stuck on an Atlantic sea stack for the day. This might sound alarming, but I’m in the company of Iain Millar, a Scottish mountain instructor based in County Donegal. There are qualified guides all around Ireland who teach the skills of climbing and mountaineering, and a day out with any of them is worth its weight in gold. But Iain’s speciality is unique: guiding clients up offshore sea stacks. He’s famous for posting You Tube footage of his exploits, and his website promises ‘dynamic learning experiences’. I’m intrigued to find out more.
PROFESSIONAL AND PASSIONATE There’s a decent-sized swell running, so a long sea trip is out of the question. Instead we’ve set our sights something closer to the mainland. Despite its relative proximity, the granite outcrop we’ve selected is decisively detached, surrounded
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BELOW Faith in the gear: Iain enjoying his crossing of the Tyrolean Traverse
on all sides by surging waves. I would hazard a guess that the only people ever to stand here are the few clients Iain has brought out. Virtually all his explorations of Irish sea stacks are first ascents, and the knowledge of breaking new ground adds a special atmosphere to the day. Intrepid me! Though Iain likes to encourage the idea of being on the edge, I have to admit to feeling remarkably calm thus far. I have a few years of rock climbing experience under my belt, and I’ve never seen anchors placed as well as those on either side of the tyrolean. Three points of contact, all of them reassuringly solid, rope protectors to guard against rub points, the comfort
of watching Iain’s two test runs to check the security of the rig; his professionalism is impressive to watch. Yet he can’t quite suppress his excitement, and the glint in his eye and his tales of daring let you know he really is crazy, just behaving well today because he’s with clients. It’s great to see his passion - passion for the outdoors, passion for exploration - and his energy is infectious. Ireland’s northwest coast is so fabulously wild and fractured, and so untouched, why not make it your goal to climb as many virgin stacks and bits of offshore rock as possible? Sounds perfectly logical to me. When I question Iain, he says that most of his guided trips involve just one or two clients.