Andy Kirkpatrick

British mountaineer and author

For other people named Andrew Kirkpatrick, see Andrew Kirkpatrick (disambiguation).

Andy Kirkpatrick

Andy Kirkpatrick in Greenland, 2006

Personal information
Nationality| British
Born|  (1971-06-24) 24 June 1971 (age 53)
Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupations| climber, motivational speaker, writer
Website| andy-kirkpatrick.com
Climbing career
Type of climber|

* Aid climbing
* Big wall climbing
* Alpine climbing
* Rope solo climbing
* Solo climbing

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

## Bibliography

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* Down, Akreative, 2020, ISBN 978-1999700577
* Psychovertical, London: Hutchinson, 2008, ISBN 978-0-09-192096-8, ISBN 0-09-192096-5
* Unknown Pleasures, Vertebrate, 2018, ISBN 978-1911342724
* Higher Education, Akreative, 2018, ISBN 978-1999700591
* 30 Years of Climbing Magazine, Climbing Magazine, 1999, ISBN 978-1-893682-02-3
* Cold Wars, Vertebrate, 2011, ISBN 978-1906148461
* Zimne Wojny by Taschenbuch ISBN 978-8361050957
* Kalte Kriege, AS Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3906055015
* Cold Wars, The Mountaineers, USA, ISBN 978-1594857430
* 1000+ Climbing Tips Akreative ISBN 978-1484854013
* Nutcraft Akreative ASIN: B00F8CVQ0S
* Hooks Akreative ASIN: B008LZRO0A
* Driven Akreative ISBN 978-1491036174

## See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew Kirkpatrick.

* Rope solo climbing

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Alex Against the Rock". Sport Relief.
2. ^ "Charlie and the Chocolate factory". Flickr. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
3. ^ "BBC Two – The Adventure Show, 2008/2009, Karen's Ultimate Challenge". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
4. ^ "Ella Kirkpatrick: on climbing El Cap". Retrieved 23 April 2015.
5. ^ "My Life: The Big Climb". Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
6. ^ BBC Radio 4 – Four Thought, Series 4, Andy Kirkpatrick
7. ^ X Box To Ice – Sheffield Adventure Film Festival Archived 2 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ "Dyslexic Writers". Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
9. ^ "Andy Kirkpatrick product - Psychovertical". 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
10. ^ McKenzie, Steven (28 October 2017). "Behind the scenes of Psycho Vertical". BBC News. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
11. ^ The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature Archived 15 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
12. ^ Boardman Tasker winners. Retrieved 8 April 2009 Archived 25 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
13. ^ Boardman-Tasker 2012 Winner. Retrieved 16 November 2012
14. ^ Redazione. "Premio Mazzotti 2012: i vincitori". Marca Trevigiana. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.

## External links

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* 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

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Poland

People|

* DDB