Lecture: Andy Kirkpatrick Special Lecture in aid of HEAT

This weekend Emily and I are staying in Northallerton visiting the family. Another reason for coming South, was to attend Andy Kirkpatrick's lecture in aid of HEAT. The event was being held this evening at Ashville College, so Emily and I spent most of the day doing some Christmas shopping in Harrogate.

On arrival at the school, it was immediately clear that the event was well supported - well over half the hall was full of folk and everyone was going mad for the refreshments, as we waited for the arrival of Andy.

We didn't have long to wait and Andy was soon in full flow; cracking one joke after another. He started by telling us a little about himself and his upbringing in Hull. Moving on, he showed a few slides of his climbing exploits from over the years and around the globe - a very impressive resume. The main focus of the story was on his recent ascent of Troll Wall in Norway.

Unfortunately, Ella was feeling a little under the weather so didn't take to the stage to give her account of climbing El Cap. Instead, Andy showed a couple of slides of the recent trip to Yosemite but we got the sense that he very much felt that it was Ella's story to tell.

A great evening for a good cause. I would encourage everyone to attend one of Andy's shows/lectures, as he is quite a character and extremely entertaining.

Book Review: Psychovertical by Andy Kirkpatrick

Despite being a climber myself and a general outdoor 'all-rounder', I've never particularly been interested in climbing and mountaineering literature. Touching the Void, for example, wasn't really for me; because I couldn't relate to the situation? Perhaps...

As a general rule, I tend to steer clear of climbing 'novels', but a few weeks ago I was looking for my next piece of bedtime reading and spotted a copy of Psychovertical on the shelf. No doubt it had remained on the shelf since being baught for me as a gift by a relative one Christmas past. With an open mind, I decided to give it a chance... and I was certainly pleasently surprised.

Psychovertical by Andy Kirkpatrick breaks all the rules when compared to other climbing 'stories' and doesn't feel (or read) like a climbing tale of adventures, hardships and over-hyped 'epics'. Andy is clearly more of a climber than he is a writer and this is a breath of fresh air, as the text reflects that it was written by quite a 'normal' bloke; not by someone who is blinded by their own ego.

Kirkpatrick switches between his life story and the tale of his impressive solo of Reticent Wall. This style of following two stories combined with a very easy-to-read writing style and humour, makes Psychovertical very enjoyable to read and extremely hard to put down. Andy's account of his childhood and early life comes across with humour and honesty. I found it fascinating to read about his learning difficulties at school and being diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 19.

It is clear that Kirkpatrick hasn't lived the high-life or gained fame or fortune through climbing or writing. Indeed the book outlines the frequent struggle he has endured with the latter - although this particular text isn't badly written whatsoever. Despite leading a fairly 'normal' daily routine, Andy has managed an impressive tick-list over the years and as the book and story progresses, the reader is treated to numerous short tales of adventures in the Alps and epics in Patagonia - never a dull moment. I really liked the way that he is open and honest about not having much of a clue when he started out in the Alps and gaining experience through errors and tricky situations - this I felt that I could easily relate to on some level.

I honestly couldn't put it down. The book is a great read and very funny in places. I suspect that folk who have no knowledge of climbing would enjoy it just as much as I did and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, as it is so entertaining. Another outcome has surprised me somewhat; I am now quite keen to rediscover some of the other mountaineering literature that I have been avoiding on my bookshelf over the years; watch this space...!