​​​​​​​Blind ambition

In his mid-40s London-based writer Red Szell decided to fulfill his childhood dream of climbing the Old Man of Hoy. There was one problem: he was almost completely blind.

- Red Szell

CLINGING TO A LEDGE, 440 feet above the North Atlantic on a sheer pillar of rock known as the Old Man of Hoy, Red Szell had the chance to pause and savour the moment. With his lead climber already on the summit and his climbing partner several feet below, Red could reflect on the extraordinary journey he had travelled to reach this lofty vantage point.

Climbing the Old Man of Hoy is a formidable achievement for any climber, but for a blind man its near insurmountable challenge represents a metaphor for life as much as a phenomenal sporting accomplishment.

“When I reached the bottom of the cleft between two pillars at the top I realised where I had got to and stopped and considered what I had achieved,” said Red.

“I took a moment to reflect that I was achieving a 30-year dream, and there was a certain reconciliation with myself because if I were not blind I probably would not have done this.”

The image of the Old Man of Hoy, a sandstone stack off Hoy in the Orkney Islands, had burnt itself into Red’s mental retina when he was a 13-year-old growing up in Sussex. Watching the BBC’s classic documentary, broadcast in real time, on the Old Man’s ascent by a team led by Sir Chris Bonington, Red had inked a climb of the 449-feet tall tower of rock onto his “must-do” list.