Thursday, 01 May 2014 12:53

Teenager Ella Kirkpatrick's Big Climb

Written by Fiona Outdoors

Today young climber Ella Kirkpatrick’s story of becoming the youngest girl to climb El Cap featured on a CBBC programme. It was last October, that the youngster, then 13, climbed the infamous El Cap in Yosemite.

Ella Cap 0

The obstacles to reach the top included ridiculous temperatures, a lack of water, endless jumaring and gaining permission from her mum, who wasn’t keen on her dad, famous climber Andy Kirkpatrick, taking her on such a potentially dangerous adventure.

A bit about Ella

Ella, now 14, lives in Sheffield. As soon as she could walk, she says her dad would take her on adventures with her brother Ewen. These included climbing on outdoor rocks, going to an indoor climbing wall and crossing Scotland in a kayak. Ella was also part of an attempt to climb Ben Nevis with her step-mum Karen Darke. Ella says: “My step-mum can't walk because she fell of a cliff when she was 21 but that hasn't stopped her doing loads a cool things.”

Ella adds: “I love going on adventures because I like the feeling that you've done something amazing, and having a goal to aim for (even if I sometimes complain when I'm doing it).”

 

Ella Cap 2

Climbing El Capitan

In 2012, Ella persuaded her mum to let her go to the famous climbing arena of Yosemite valley in America. The plan was to climb a route called Tangerine Trip with Andy and another climber Paul Tattersall. The climb was filmed for the CBBC programme “My Life”. Ella says: “It was the most amazing experience of my life (and the hardest!).”

Ella writes on her blog: “To get to the top of the wall, which is as high as 10 London eyes, you climb for four days. This meant sleeping on the wall overnight on a portaledge (a bed that is attached the wall). I had to go to sleep in my harness. I even had to go to the toilet on the wall.

“It was super hot on the wall (40 degrees) and we had to haul all our water and food up behind us. I wasn't allowed to climb, but had to jumar up the ropes, which mean I was left spinning in space much of the time. After four days we made it to the top.

“It took another day to get back down to the ground and when we were there someone told me I was the youngest girl to climb El Cap (I was 13). My dad told me that it didn't matter, and it was how it felt inside that counted.”

Ella’s dad Andy has climbed El Cap 19 times, but no-one should underestimate the achievement of someone so young. As Ella says: “Only when you've been up there do you realise that a lot of people can't climb it. It’s just that most people don't understand the extent of it. My friends think I walked up it! But only a real select few people know how hard it is.”

Ella’s next adventure will be with her dad and brother this summer, crossing the Pyrenees, following the route airmen used to escape the Nazis. (That’s if she can persuade her mum to let her go!)

Ella Cap 1

 

Ella on getting into climbing

Climbing is an amazing sport and can take you to some amazing places, plus it gets you super-fit, strong, flexible and is cheap to do. You can climb in all sorts of ways, from bouldering (climbing short problems only a few metres high) to big walls (climbs that can take weeks to do!), and it's a sport that anyone can do. (My step-mum fell of a cliff and can't walk and even she's climbed El Cap!).

In the UK the best way to start is to find a local climbing wall, and go there with an adult (climbing is great for families) or see about a kids’ club. You can usually hire equipment at a climbing wall, such as climbing boots, a harness, belay and a chalk bag. Some people think that climbing is dangerous, but it's very safe, especially indoor climbing.

If you want to climb outdoors then there are loads of climbing courses, guides and instructors in the UK who can.  Look out for My Life: The Big Climb is on CBBC on iplayer. Read more about Ella on her new website. In addition to her My Life story Ella was also a guest on Newsround before the program aired and will be on the panel of judges for the MyOutdoors sponsored ShAFF Single Shot photo competition. We're also hoping to bring an exclusive Q&A session with Ella about her El Cap climb shortly.



Note: This article was restored from the archives. It's published creation date is inaccurate.