Interview with Ian Parnell at ShAFF

The build up to the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival got underway this weekend, with the first in a series of four expert lectures.  Ian Parnell, mountaineer, climber, photographer and recently appointed editor of Climb magazine opened the billing, and Rock Climbing UK caught up with him at the end of the evening.

After ten years of taking photos professionally, and as a long-time contributor to Climb magazine and its predecessors On the Edge and High, Ian said that “conditions were right” for him to take on joint editorship of Climb with David Pickford; “he’s a good friend, and someone I knew I could work well with”.

Ian and the team plan to develop the magazine over the coming issues, to focus on providing photography of the highest quality, and longer form writing.  “The main competition for Climb comes from the web, but you can’t always appreciate photography in the same way online.  The web’s also good for bite-sized, information-based text.  What Climb can offer is photography which is very special on the page, and in-depth top quality writing, providing contributors with the creative leeway to be more adventurous.  You’ll be able to sit on the sofa with the magazine and a good drink, and have a really enjoyable experience”.

Ian’s own plans have changed somewhat in recent years; with one daughter of two and a half, and a second child due to arrive imminently, Ian is not going on the bigger expeditions to places like the Himalaya, and is instead concentrating on having “mini-adventures every weekend” in places like Wales, the Lake District and Scotland.  Ian continued, “What I’ve found is that, particularly in winter, places like Scotland can be pretty wild, and as challenging as anything on the planet”.

Indeed, Ian introduced the outstanding ice and rock climber Ines Papert to Scottish winter climbing last year (lovely footage below) and she has returned again this winter.  As Ian says “Our mountains would be foothills elsewhere, but once people experience them, they realise how special they really are – and what an adventurous approach we take to them here in the UK!”

During his expert lecture, Ian passed on many thought-provoking tips about taking photographs when climbing, including the vital advice to actually take your camera with you, and use it when you’re climbing!  But Ian also had two tips for climbers looking to improve their photography: “If you’re taking a ‘bum shot’, get the climber to look down at you.  When they look down, at their feet or their harness, you can capture their face, their eyes and that communicates emotion very effectively.  And traverses are brilliant for photography; if there is a traverse section on your route, try to belay off to the side to enable you to capture the whole person and their environment.”

Many thanks to Ian for talking to us, and best wishes for the arrival of the new member of the family! For more about Ian’s ‘mini-adventures’, and his photography, check out his website at www.ianparnell.com.

Ian’s lecture was part of the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival. Head over to ShAFF to see what else they have coming up.