As a young man, Red Széll got some news – very badly delivered – which instantly changed the course of his life. Find out what he did next (hint: as a young man, he didn’t react well), how his life has ultimately panned out, how he broke a climbing record, and what he is doing to help others who might face a journey in some way like his.
Episode introduction
The Old Man of Hoy is an impressive, imposing, unwelcoming 449 foot high (that’s 137 metres by the way) sea stack formed of Old Red Sandstone. If you put your finger on the map at the very top of Scotland, you’re probably pretty close to where it stands. As you might expect, it is beaten by fierce winds and high-energy waves, and it’s constantly eroding. It’s also the highest stack in the Northern Hemisphere. And so not surprisingly, it’s popular with climbers.
It was first climbed nearly 60 years ago – in 1966 – by Chris Bonnington, and a year later a live BBC broadcast of a repeat of that climb was watched by 15 million viewers. It sounds like our interviewee for today’s podcast might have been one of those people.
This is the extraordinary story of Red Széll. Red is a journalist, a publisher, a novelist, a writer of non-fiction, a public speaker, a commentator, a literature reviewer, an advocate, a house husband and a father of two daughters. He’s also a rock climber. In 2013 he fulfilled a lifelong ambition to scale the stack, and in doing so, he set a new record.
Here is Red’s story of his extraordinary connection with the Old Man of Hoy and why his ascent of this majestic stack was extra special for him.
Useful links:
- Red’s professional website
- My Life in Books podcast – links at the bottom of this page
- Red’s books
