Ian Parnell
A well rounded and experienced public lecturer, Ian is happiest talking about his love of music under the guise of telling us about his numerous expeditions to Alaska, Greenland and the Himalayas (to name but a few).
Recent Achievements
- Official BBC cameraman on Ranulph Fiennes's expedition to Everest in 2005. Ian summited Everest.
- First ascent of the world's highest sea cliff, the Thumbnail in Southern Greenland
- First ascent of numerous new routes in Alaska
- First ascent of the South West Ridge of Annapurna III in the Himalayas, a route he and his team were nominated for the prestigious Piolet D'Or Award
- Second ascent of the Lafaille Route in the French Alps
Shows
Ian is happy using a digital projector hooked up to his laptop or 35mm slides. Invariably he now incorporates both sound and video into his presentations
Southern Greenland - The Thumbnail. Triumph & Tragedy on the world's highest sea cliff
This show kicked off Ian's public speaking life. I was there to witness him arrive at the Lescar Hotel in Sheffield for Grimer's first Ape Index evening, complete with a dose of food poisoning that had followed him back from Alaska. With a pale face, numerous trips to the toilet, and obvious jet lag he still managed to juggle his tape recorder, slides and stories to produce a top notch evening
The British Disease - A multimedia tour through the seasons of a British climbing year
He recently toured the UK on a ten city - twelve day marathon with his 'British Disease' multimedia show, a slick and professional insight into the British climbing year. Feedback from his tour was unequivocally excellent, including accolades such as:
Fantastic, Good, Top Notch, Quality, Awesome, Splendid, Superb, Tip Top, Inspiring, A+, ***, Top Drawer, Elluvagood, Vindaloo
More feedback from these lectures
Annapurna III - Presents the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but... about the coveted first ascent of Annapurna III's South West Ridge. Expect broken bones, underground ice caves and the world's worst bivi alongside an innovative mix of film, Fall tunes and Ian's stunning photography
More recently he made a mini tour of the UK with his Annapurna III show, once again wowing audiences with his stunning photographs set to music, tales of hardship of a different scale, and self deprecatory humour (more feedback from these lectures).
Other topics Ian would be happy to lecture on:
- The Alps
- Scottish mixed climbing
- Colorado water ice
- Everest
Testimonials
We had a huge response to Ian’s lecture and were very happy with how the evening went. Ian’s a top guy too, so he made life easy for us on the evening! He was great with speaking to lecture-goers before and afterwards as well, which is great for us. I have recommended to head office that Ian be considered for any similar events we are running in the future.
Mark Perry - Cotswold Outdoors
Photographs
Ian has an uncanny ability to return from some of the harshest environments on the planet with plenty of stunning photographs. See his gallery for some sample images illustrating Ian's expertise as a photographer, as well as some of the topics of his shows. Check out his gallery.