Andy Kirkpatrick Explained

Andrew Kirkpatrick is a British mountaineer, author, motivational speaker and monologist. He is best known as a big wall climber, having scaled Yosemite's El Capitan over 30 times, including five solo ascents, and two one-day ascents, as well as climbing in Patagonia, Alaska, Antarctica and the Alps. He has also crossed Greenland by ski. In 2014 he guided Alex Jones up Moonlight Buttress, Zion National Park, raising £1.9 million for Sport Relief.^[1]

Film, TV and radio

Kirkpatrick has worked in film and TV as a safety advisor and stunt rigger, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,^[2] as well as in programmes for CBBC, ITN, BBC and BBC Scotland.^[3] The BBC programme "The Big Climb" about his ascent of El Capitan^[4] with his 13-year-old daughter Ella won multiple awards.^[5] In 2014, he guided the TV presenter Alex Jones up the Moonlight Buttress in Zion National Park to raise money for Sports Relief, raising £1.9 million. In 2014, Kirkpatrick gave a fifteen-minute talk on BBC Radio 4 in its Four Thought slot on the subject of the importance of risky play for children.^[6] In January 2015, he followed the route of the heroes of telemark on the Hardangervidda by ski with his two children for a BBC film on risky play.^[7]

Writing

Kirkpatrick's dyslexia is well documented,^[8] and these struggles form part of his first book, Psychovertical.^[9]

Kirkpatrick is only the third person to win the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature twice (Paul Pritchard and Jim Perrin being the other authors to win twice).^{[10] [11]} His first win was with his first book, Psychovertical in 2008^[12] and his second with his book, Cold Wars: Climbing the fine line between risk and reality.^[13]

Psychovertical has been translated into German (published in 2010 as Psychovertikal by AS Verlag), Polish, Italian and Korean. The Italian version was published in 2011 as Psychovertical by Edizioni Versante Sud and in 2012 won the literary prize Gambrinus "Giuseppe Mazzotti".^[14] It is also published in French.

Bibliography

• Down, Akreative, 2020,
• Psychovertical, London: Hutchinson, 2008,,
• Unknown Pleasures, Vertebrate, 2018,
• Higher Education, Akreative, 2018,
• 30 Years of Climbing Magazine, Climbing Magazine, 1999,
• Cold Wars, Vertebrate, 2011,
• Zimne Wojny by Taschenbuch
• Kalte Kriege, AS Verlag, 2012,
• Cold Wars, The Mountaineers, USA,
• 1000+ Climbing Tips Akreative
• Nutcraft Akreative ASIN: B00F8CVQ0S
• Hooks Akreative ASIN: B008LZRO0A
• Driven Akreative

See also

• Rope solo climbing

External links

• Radio Interview | National Geographic
• "The Tapestry of the Experience" | interview by Alastair Humphreys
• Storytelling, Dyslexia, and Antarctica | Interview by The Adventure Journal
• Interview | Vertical Life
• The Dark Side of Climbing | Vague Direction interview
• The Boss at the bottom of the world | British Mountaineering Council interview
• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Alex Against the Rock . Sport Relief .
2. Web site: Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Flickr. 23 April 2015.
3. Web site: BBC Two – The Adventure Show, 2008/2009, Karen's Ultimate Challenge. BBC. 23 April 2015.
4. Web site: Ella Kirkpatrick: on climbing El Cap. 23 April 2015.
5. Web site: My Life: The Big Climb . https://web.archive.org/web/20150505041621/http://www.shaff.co.uk/whats-on/archive/2013/films-a-to-z-list/my-life-the-big-climb/ . dead . 5 May 2015 . 23 April 2015 .
6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04nv97g BBC Radio 4 – Four Thought, Series 4, Andy Kirkpatrick
7. http://www.shaff.co.uk/whats-on/films-a-to-z-list-2015/x-box-to-ice X Box To Ice – Sheffield Adventure Film Festival
8. Web site: Dyslexic Writers . 4 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150505020949/http://www.dysbooks.com/Pages/DyslexicWriters.aspx . 5 May 2015 . dead .
9. Web site: Andy Kirkpatrick product - Psychovertical . https://web.archive.org/web/20150505073952/http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/shop/product/psychovertical . dead . 5 May 2015 . 29 April 2020 . 5 May 2015.
10. News: McKenzie . Steven . Behind the scenes of Psycho Vertical . 29 April 2020 . BBC News . 28 October 2017.
11. http://www.boardmantasker.com/award/winners.html The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
12. http://www.boardmantasker.com/site/previous_winners.htm Boardman Tasker winners
13. http://www.mountainfest.co.uk/news-detail.cfm?newsid=159 Boardman-Tasker 2012 Winner
14. Web site: Premio Mazzotti 2012: i vincitori. Redazione. Marca Trevigiana. 23 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20141112043407/http://www.marcatrevigiana.it/magazine/premio-mazzotti-2012-i-vincitori/. 12 November 2014. dead.