Our first civilian guest on the podcast is Andy Kirkpatrick.  Described by John Humphreys as the Ranulph Fiennes of British climbing.  He’s a professional mountaineer, award-winning writer, film maker and host of the Psychovertical podcast. Andy has climbed all over the world but is viewed as an expert in big wall climbing having summited El Capitan over 30 times including 5 solo ascents and two   one day ascents.  

Andy was kind enough to email and tell us he enjoyed the pod and it got us thinking how much small unit, dismounted soldiering and climbing had in common.  Both involve highly trained individuals capable of operating equally well on their own or as part of a team. There is also the need for focused training, the honing of skills, an obsession with gear, great photos in inaccessible parts of the world and the discomfort of wet/dry drills before getting in or out of a sleeping bag. 

We finish with Andy's book choice on Desert Island dits About Face by David Hackworth.  His film choice is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.  The teams book choices this episode are Picking Up The Brass by Eddie Nugent and Serpico by Peter Maas.

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