Old Man of Hoy

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The Old Man of Hoy is a famous, towering red sandstone sea stack off the coast of Hoy in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, renowned as a dramatic landmark and challenging rock-climbing destination.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
The Old Man of Hoy 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf landmark
rock formation
sea stack
access reached by coastal path from Rackwick
administrativeArea Orkney Islands Council
surface form: Orkney Islands council area
climbingStatus major British sea stack climbing venue
coast west coast of Hoy
country Scotland
elevation approximately 137 metres
approximately 449 feet
etymology name refers to a human-like shape
featureOf Hoy coastline
firstAscentBy Sir Chris Bonington
surface form: Chris Bonington

Rusty Baillie
Tom Patey
firstAscentDate 1966
formedBy marine erosion
weathering
geologicalAge relatively young formation
hasBase narrow base
hasCliffHeight rises almost vertically from the sea
hasColor red
hasRockType sandstone
hasShape pillar-like stack
locatedIn Hoy
Atlantic Ocean
surface form: North Atlantic Ocean

Orkney NERFINISHED
Orkney Islands NERFINISHED
Pentland Firth vicinity
Scotland
material Old Red Sandstone
red sandstone
mediaAppearance featured in a 1967 BBC live broadcast of a climb
nameLanguage English
nearbyIsland Mainland, Orkney NERFINISHED
nearbySettlement Rackwick
notableFor being a prominent Orkney landmark
dramatic appearance
rock climbing
sea cliff scenery
protectionStatus within Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area
region Northern Isles NERFINISHED
risk subject to ongoing erosion
sea Atlantic Ocean
tourism popular subject for photography
popular tourist attraction
viewed from ferries between Scrabster and Stromness
viewpoint visible from the cliffs near Rackwick Bay

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Rackwick accessPointFor Old Man of Hoy
Sir Chris Bonington climbed Old Man of Hoy
subject surface form: Chris Bonington
this entity surface form: The Old Man of Hoy
Hoy hasSeaStack Old Man of Hoy
Hoy knownFor Old Man of Hoy
Ward Hill near Old Man of Hoy