Spaghetti on a Vertical Wall

Andy Kirkpatrick has a speciality for climbing big walls in winter, pitting himself against vertical climbs of over 3,300ft, often in temperatures below twenty degrees. He has scaled El Capitan over 24 times, and reached the top of Ulvertanna in Antarctica, which climbers consider the hardest mountain in the world. These expeditions have been documented by him in a number of books, including the award-winning Pyschovertical and the soon-to-be-finished Higher Education: The Complete Big Wall Manual. 

Here is Andy on his best and worst eats in the wild:

Best: “We met some Italians as we were coming down from a long climb. They’d only made a simple dish — just spaghetti, olive oil, pepper and a bit of chilli and parmesan — but wow, it was something special.”

Worst: “The worst food I’ve had on a climb is probably no food at all. It’s hard to cook on a vertical wall, so you have to plan carefully. I’ve done several routes that have lasted over two weeks and made the mistake of not packing enough calories. I was hungry almost as soon as I’d finished eating.”