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Andy Turner Interview

Andy Turner climbing Cascade (V, 5) Craig y Rhaeadr

Written by Tom Briggs / Andy Turner, October 2013

Top winter climber, Andy Turner, will be competing in the ice cllimbing at the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi. Jagged Globe is one of Andy's sponsors. With the winter climbing season on its way, we caught up with him and asked Andy a few questions about Scotland and his climbing..

Which is your favourite Scottish Winter climbing venue and why?
My favourite winter venue has to be �the Ben�. It holds so many memories for me over the years from a 25 hour epic on Tower Ridge, to doing the 1st ascent of The Secret [ A grade IX, 9 high on Coire na Ciste, that has since become a hard 'classic' - Ed ]. There�s so much to the place from amazing classic ice lines to quality mixed test pieces and everything in between. You can be climbing mixed routes in gnarly weather in December or having a alpine like day on the Orion face in April.

What clothing / equipment tips would you give a beginner who is getting into Scottish Winter Mountaineering?
Just remember how a lot of the classic routes in Scotland were climbed back in the day. One axe and tweed jackets. Keep things simple, it�s to easy to think you need all the latest high tech gear when you first start out, but personally I think it�s better to save your money for fuel and more climbing trips. (You can tell I�m not on commission!). One thing you do need is lots of gloves, but go cheap and simple, they wear out quickly. You can�t beat a pair of Dachstein mitts.

At what level do you think �dry tooling� training translates into more traditional mixed routes? Is there any benefit to someone operating at around Scottish IV or V? Dry tool training and techniques translate down to any grade of climbing. It's all about being confident with the placements and recognising what does and doesn�t work. Either playing around under your local railway bridge or heading along to one of the popular dry tooling venues around nowadays can do wonders for your confidence and you�ll probably pick up some handy tips. The added bonus is you stand a good chance of climbing in a T-shirt and also have a very short walk in, which all means you can concentrate on the climbing.

What winter first ascent are you most proud of and why?
The Secret meant a lot to me as a lot of people had their eyes on it and it was a winter-only line, but the real gem was Sassenach on Ben Nevis [ A summer E1 5b first climbed in winter conditions by Andy and Tony Stone in 2009 - Ed ]. It took a couple of goes to finally climb the line as it requires really gnarly weather to bring the route into condition. Because it's such a long route you have to have total confidence in your partner in order for you to commit to carrying on climbing when things go slightly crazy and wild. Completing the climb was part of a magical week for me as I�d also done the 3rd ascent of Centurion a couple of days later and also the 1st ascent of Bruised Violet on Beinn Eighe with Ian Parnell the following day. A marathon week but worth it.

The ice climbing routes in the Olympics are obviously going to be very steep and strenuous on the arms. Apart from training arm strength and endurance, how else are you preparing for the games?
World cup Ice climbing competition is more than just being super strong. There are all the other things involved with the scene, like travel. 6 events in 8 weeks from North America to South Korea then back to Europe. That has all the stresses of jet lag, stop overs, poor food and sharing sleeping carriages on Russian trains with men just wearing their underpants and that's all before you even tie into a rope. I learnt from last year�s series, like how to read the routes better, how to deal with isolation and training specific drills such as figure 4�s and kicking into the boards/structure with your crampons, all things that are a million miles away from climbing in Scotland.

What is more stressful � leading a dangerous mixed climb like The Hurting (XI, 11) or stepping out in front of a big crowd at a ice climbing competition? Do you think the former helps you prepare for the latter, or are the two experiences completely different?
Both hold total fear for me. I guess I�ve done more hard trad mixed climbing over the years so have built up the experience to deal with the pressures that it brings. Competition climbing is relatively new to me at the moment, so as well as training to get strong I�m trying to train myself mentally not to get distracted by others watching or wondering what they're thinking. This only comes from competing, so at the moment I�m trying to get to as many local competitions as possible to overcome this, as well as getting practice on plastic holds. Climbing in the mountains never has the pressures of failure as most of the time you're in the back of beyond or cocooned in a cloud so you don�t worry that others are watching. In competitions you will be in isolation and see people doing stuff for their warmu ps such as one armers, that you can�t even do and it's very easy to get sucked into the idea that they must be better than you. One thing I�ve learnt from both climbing in the mountains and competitive cycling is stick to your own plan and let others get on with their's and try not to get psyched out.

You can keep up-to-date with how Andy is preparing for the Winter Olympics at http://andyturnerclimbing.blogspot.co.uk/

You can also support Andy with his Olympic bid on his fundraising page here

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