Wonderful memories of climbing with really great mates over the years Number 33.
Mike (Twid) Turner became a regular fixturer on the North Wales scene from the mid '80's onwards (usually climbing with his then girlfriend Kath Goodey). He had all the neccessary attributes to become a really good climber (especially on trad routes, though he was no slouch on sport routes either). He had strong fingers (developed at The Breck), plenty of determination and was very necky. An added bonus was his wicked sense of humour.
Ironically Twid was rejected, by Gavin Peat, for the Outdoor Ed course at I. M. Marsh. It proved to be a good thing, actually, as Twid put his energy into becoming a British Mountain Guide. Nowadays he is one of the most accomplshed all-round climbers in the world, living in Switzerland with his wife Louise (also a very accomplished all-round climber) and daughter Erin. He's still as mad keen for any form of climbing: trad, sport, ice, big wall, Alpine, Himalayan. In fact you name it, he's done it.
Back in the day, we did some amazing trad climbing together, for example "Hunger", "Conan the Librarian" and "Hunter Killer". He took an ace photo of me wearing his shirt on "Wreath of Deadly Nightshade" (belayed by Owain Jones). We also used to work out on "The Boy" (as we used to call it) at LPT and "Indecent Exposure" at Ravens Tor.
Cheers Twid. Eat lard, climb 'ard.
 |
| Twid on "Isis is angry" on Gogarth's Yellow Wall. Photo by Ray Wood. |
 |
| Twid on "Barbarossa" on Gogarth's Upper Tier. Photo by Ray Wood. |
 |
| Twid on "Snake charmer" in Huntsman's Leap, Pembroke, in 1987. |
 |
| Wearing Twid's shirt on "Wreath of deadly nightshade" at Gogarth's North Stack Wall in 1990. |
