Iain Miller is a rock climber, guidebook author and hill walker living, working and playing on the sea cliffs, sea stacks, mountain ranges and uninhabited islands of County Donegal.
With 20 years of experience in conquering unclimbed summits in both the Orkney Islands and in Donegal, he established Unique Ascent. Unique Ascent offer everything from fun-filled outdoor adventures to instructional courses approved by Mountaineering Ireland and An Bord Oiliúint Sléibhe.
Iain is the first person to stand on the summit of Tormore, and authored the Rock Climbing in Donegal guidebook.
This is Iain’s Donegal…
What is your favourite place in Donegal and why?
My favourite place in Donegal and pretty much my favourite place ever, is the storm beach facing out to the sea stacks of Cnoc na Mara and Tormore Island. It is a reasonably difficult location to get to and is quite simply an outrageously beautiful place to visit
The entire coast from Glencolmcille to Maghera is a national treasure and a world class stretch of wild untamed eastern Atlantic coastline. Ireland’s longest rock climb, Ireland’s highest sea stack, Ireland’s largest raised shingle storm beach, and Ireland’s most remote rock climbing location all live along this coast.
If you could change one thing about Donegal what would it be?
I would move the county slightly closer to the sun for the months of May through to September to ideally guarantee a 5 month spell of warm sunny weather.
Who is the one person that you look up to and why?
I respect and most definitely look up to Neptune, the Lord of the Sea. The oceans are our planet’s greatest unknowns with the majority of the Earth’s surface covered by them.
With less than 10% of Neptune’s kingdom having been explored and with the possibility of finding anything from a megalodon to alien life forms, Neptune is Earth’s greatest mystery.
I have spent the last 30 years avoiding a visit to David and his locker and this has been possible due to a deep lifelong respect for Neptune and his white horses.
What’s your happiest memory in Donegal?
Far too many to even consider which one is best but being alone on top of this large rock is definitely in the top three. It took twenty years of rock climbing experience and 4 years of planning to simply stand on top of a rock surrounded by water.
What has been Donegal’s proudest moment in recent years?
I’m not sure if proud is the right word but the title coolest place from National Geographic perhaps marks a huge change in the potential employment demographic in the county. Tourism is gaining in numbers year after year with the potential for the county being way beyond most people’s realisation.
There are going to be a lot of people coming to visit Donegal in the coming years and potentially if correctly harnessed, it is a way to employ almost everyone in the county. I have said on many occasions I am extremely pleased to have lived in Donegal before it became famous.
If you found a magic wand that allowed you to grant one wish, what would it be?
I’d use the magic wand for the question on “if you had a million euro to improve something in Donegal what would it be?#8221; further down.
What is your favourite Donegal-made product?
I have lately been reaquainted with wool after a decade of forgetting its outstanding natural insulating and quick drying properties. Bogbean Designs make an excellent range of woolen hats, that I’ve been wearing over the winter out on the hills and coast.
Who is Donegal’s greatest ambassador around the world and why?
Donegal’s greatest ambassador is Daniel O’Donnell, 20 years ago my 70-year-old Orcadian gran who has never been to Ireland or of course met Daniel, told me he was a lovely man having heard him speak on the radio. Having met Daniel several times and heard him address several audiences I tend to agree with my gran, he is a very nice man and has been promoting Donegal in the best possibly way for many years all over the world.
What has been the biggest compliment you’ve ever received?
Someone once told me I had the perfect head for radio.
Who is your favourite Donegal sportsperson of all time?
Danny Ryan and his family are suitably sporting and fitness fanatics, though anyone who prepares for and enters the 24 hour race that is held in the county annually are all great ambassadors to sport in the county.
What is your favourite Donegal restaurant?
Being originally from Scotland and therefore having a morbid fear of parting with cash, I have pretty much never visited any Donegal restaurants. The only exception to economically enforced rule is Mr. Chippy in Letterkenny who sell the best Glaswegian chips in Ireland.
What is your favourite Donegal saying or expression?
I have always liked the informal greeting as you walk towards someone on the street of simply saying yes and their name and without another word spoken you continue to walk past each other. It’s a bit like an oral text conversation without all the usually needless dialogue of a standard conversation.
A multitude of stories, information and gossip can by passed in this very Donegal swift informal greeting without a word spoken.
What is the biggest challenge facing the people of Donegal today?
Employment.
Is there anything that really annoys you about Donegal or its people?
People are fundamentally the same wherever you travel in the world, though I have found that people who live in places with significant rainfall have a much better sense of humour, so all is good in the north west of Ireland.
Do you have a favourite local band?
Enya and Clannad in equal amounts.
If you had a million euro to improve something in Donegal what would it be?
If I had a million euro I would buy (if it went on sale again) Inishdooey and rewild the island ideally creating a living eco park. This would allow the island to return to a pre-farmed state and start a global trend of rewilding vast area of land all over the world.
This may be a bit of an ask so I may use the magic wand mentioned in question 6 for this.
Where’s the most unusual place you’ve logged on to Donegal Daily?
I have logged onto Donegal Daily from the summit of Ireland’s highest sea stack.
What is your favourite thing about rock climbing and exploring?
Since 2007 I’ve have been exploring the sea stacks of County Donegal and have currently climbed over 60 previously unclimbed sea stacks in the county and recorded over 150 new routes on the Donegal Sea Stacks. During these adventures we have seen first hand the true beauty of these little known places in Ireland.
You can download the free guidebook at Donegal Sea Stack Guidebook and visit the online Donegal Climbers Guide.
Cruit Island now has over 400 recorded rock climbs. The exploration and climbing development in Donegal is endless and every year I’m finding and climbing more and more world class rock climbs in absolutely outstandingly beautiful outdoor scenery and surroundings.
My favourite thing is impossible to pin point but swimming with basking sharks, paddling next to a killer whale at the base of a 100ft seacliff in a child’s inflatable dingy, being the first person to ever stand on the summit of Tormore, freesoloing Cnoc na Mara, falling 60ft off a sea stack into white rage and living, loosing sight of land alone in a child’s inflatable (approx 10km west of mainland Donegal), being alone on Stag Rocks 7km from mainland Donegal, being face to face with a sea eagle on an uninhabited island, floating in the Pool of Tranquility 200m underground or swimming 2km in the sea in the dark due to an entanglement with a bull selkie all spring to mind as mindbendingly excellent moment of play in County Donegal.
Is there anything about Donegal that you are very proud of?
It would be very difficult to find anywhere on earth that compares with the Donegal coast and mountains in terms of diversity, beauty and of course the amount of climbable rock, surfable waves, flyable hillsides, paddlable rivers, jumpable cliffs and in general places to have fun in outstandingly beautiful surroundings.
For me it is the great outdoors in the county that is Donegal’s greatest asset and the more I explore the mountains, cliffs, sea stacks and uninhabited islands the more I find that tells me I’m right. This has of course led to more and more people travelling from different parts of the world to play out with me in the wild places!
To find out more about Iain’s work you can follow his Facebook page, his Twitter, and visit his website at www.uniqueascent.ie.
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