We catch up with the Turner Twins just one month before they attempt to climb Nepal’s Mera Peak (6476m), one brother dressed in a replica of George Mallory’s 1924 Everest kit, the other in the latest Montane gear. The goal? To see how mountaineering has changed over the years, and crucially, what remains timeless.

As genetically identical twins, the brothers are uniquely placed to offer physiological data on this expedition. Specifically, the ascent will compare real-time data including core body temperature, cognitive sharpness, stress levels, and more. This will then offer unique insights into the performance of both kits, and further to this, whether Mallory’s clothing helped or hindered his fateful Everest attempt. 

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Mallory’s replica kit will include: a gabardine cotton jacket, a thick wool jumper, gabardine cotton trousers, leather mitts with wool liners, and Mallory’s boots recreated in forensic detail by British shoemaker Crockett & Jones. 

The Turner Twin in Montane’s kit, on the other hand, will wear: the Alta XT shell jacket, the Kamen XT down jacket, Tenacity XT trousers, and Alpine Mission waterproof gloves. 

For those unfamiliar with your background, could you give us a quick introduction about who you are and how you got into adventuring?

Ross: So we are Turner Twins – Hugo Turner and Ross Turner – and we are professional adventurers. Over the last decade we’ve been going on expeditions and adventures to help learn about our world. 

We got into it by chance really, when I broke my neck at seventeen. That was like my midlife crisis. You think you can live forever, and that you’re indestructible, and then suddenly – I couldn’t play sport, I couldn’t do any of the things I loved outside.

And then this love of exploration came into our world when we rode across the Atlantic to support the charity Spinal Research. That’s what really got us into this world of adventure. Whether it’s mountaineering, skiing, rowing, sailing, or flying; there’s a huge mix of expeditions. 

What are your thoughts on Mallory’s 100-year old expedition gear so far? Have you had a chance to wear it around and about the UK?

Ross: Yeah we went to Snowdon [Yr Wyddfa] last week and tried out the boots for the first time and they were really, really comfortable. They’ve been designed so I can wear three pairs of socks, so they’ve been made extra wide and extra large.

“I want to really destroy the kit.”

Snowdon doesn’t require that kind of insulation, so I was wearing them with just two socks, and they were still incredibly comfortable. It rained a lot too and I didn’t get wet. So there’s some amazing, traditional technologies used there in the way that they’ve used the leather on the boot to stop the water going in. 

Would the layers of socks be to counteract the lack of insulation in the shoe itself?

Ross: Yeah, definitely. There’s minor insulation in the shoe. You’ve got some wool yurt felt in between two layers of leather, so they’re essentially double lined.

The rest of the kit is your traditional woolly jumpers and traditional textiles that are still relatively comfortable on a 10 to 15 degree mountain. It’s going to be a steep learning curve when it gets to the higher altitudes and it gets a lot colder. I’m going to have to learn quite quickly.

I’m quite intrigued by the glasses. Because they look quite modern when you look at it from the front, but with an older looking back strap. How has that been performance-wise out in the UK?

Ross: I’ve used them quite a bit in the past on previous exhibitions. The lens sits off the eye a lot further than modern glasses so you almost have tunnel vision.

The peripheral vision is very, very bad because they’re just a big cone coming off your eyes. 

Hugo: Cut a loo roll in half and that’s literally it. 

Ross: The lenses literally only cover your eye sockets. 

And what have you noticed about Montane’s gear so far in comparison? Has anything stood out to you in particular?

Hugo: The Expo Dry. The technology in the down jacket – the gold particles – has been great. If anything, it’s been way too hot for this time of year, especially in Snowdonia [Eryri] in September. It’s super lightweight too, really good stuff. 

I want to really destroy the kit. I don’t want to come back and go, ‘how was the kit’? ‘It was absolutely fine.’ I really want to find the limits, which I know is going to be way more than Mallory’s kit. I really want to understand it well. 

 “The biggest shock is going to be the boots.”

I was speaking to Liam Steinbeck, the Materials Manger at Montane, and he was saying that the gold particles add the static as well. So you get this loft which puffs out more when it’s wetter. All of those tiny little nuances are going to make a big difference on the mountain.

Considering you’ve done expeditions comparing new and old gear in the past, do you have predictions for this trip?

Ross: I think the Mallory kit is going to be much better than people think. I really do. We all know Montane’s going to be better because that’s been scientifically proven in a controlled environment. 

But then you go outside and you’re on a  mountain, and there’s the nuances of weather and the conditions, etc. I think a lot of people might look at the data after this project and go, oh, that is surprising. The biggest shock is going to be the boots. I think the boots are going to be a lot more performance-based than people might assume from looking at them.