Stac Biorach is a sea stack, 73 metres tall, situated between Hirta

Hirta

Hirta is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The name "Hiort" and "Hirta" have also been applied to the entire archipelago.-Geography:...

 and Soay

Soay, St Kilda

Soay is an uninhabited islet in the St Kilda archipelago, Scotland. The island is part of the St Kilda World Heritage Site and home to a primitive breed of sheep...

 (in the "Sound of Soay") in the St Kilda

St Kilda, Scotland

St Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...

 archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It lies west of Stac Shoaigh (Soay Stac) (61 metres).

History

The stack has never been permanently inhabited, but has contributed considerably to the local economy by supplying the St Kildans with sea birds and their eggs. Rev. Neil MacKenzie, a Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

 minister who resided on St Kilda from 1830 to 1844, observed the islanders collecting eggs from here in baskets like flat-bottomed bee hives, each basket holding about 400 eggs.

Like the other islands in the St Kilda archipelago, Stac Biorach is extraordinarily rich in birdlife, and boasts the highest colony of guillemot

Guillemot

Guillemots is the common name for several species of seabird in the auk family . In British use, the term comprises two genera: Uria and Cepphus. In North America the Uria species are called "murres" and only the Cepphus species are called "guillemots"...

s in the archipelago.

Recreational climbing

Mountaineering

Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

 on the stack seems to have started in the early 1880s. It appears that the first non-St Kildan to climb the stack was Charles Barrington, the first man to climb the Eiger

Eiger

The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...

; he ascended Stac Biorach in 1890, calling it the most dangerous climb he ever undertook. Today climbing in all of the St Kilda archipelago is subject to the permission of the National Trust for Scotland

National Trust for Scotland

The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...

(which rarely, if ever, grants it), The stack is quite difficult to climb, "one which only a few of the natives could lead."