Challenging the eater of men
2:23pm Friday 19th September 2008
A DAREDEVIL mountaineer will regale an audience with tales of the dizzy heights he has reached over the years.
Andy Kirkpatrick brings his new show When Hells Freezes Over to Durham's Gala Theatre at 7.30pm on Thursday, October 2.
Mr Kirkpatrick cites his childhood day trips to the Peak District with his father, away from the flatlands of his home town of Hull, as providing him with the inspiration that led him to some of the harshest places on earth.
He is well-known among mountaineers for climbing in extreme conditions in some of the harshest places on the planet.
His new show will focus on his winter expeditions to Patagonia, a treacherous mountain range at the southern most portion of South America, referred to by locals as "the eater of men".
No trip to Patagonia is without incident, and Mr Kirkpatrick's tales of being trapped on mile-high summits in hurricane winds, buried by avalanches, or pushed close to hypothermia while lashed to the side of a mountain are guaranteed to have audiences on the edge of their seats.
Based in Scotland, he has climbed extensively in Patagonia, Alaska and the Americas.
In 2002, he made the first winter ascent of Mermoz in Patagonia, as well as soloing El Capitan's mighty Reticent Wall, one of the hardest routes of its kind in the world.
Tickets are priced £13 (£12 concessions, £11 friends).
Box office: 0191-332-4041.