Holy smokin’ Spearhead, Ian Parnell is coming to Whistler.
October 27th, 2010, Millenium Place / doors @ 7:30PM.
Tickets $16 advance at Escape Route.
Yes, this be him, swinging from Scotch:
Parnell rappels to the base of Bruised Violet. Photo: Andy Turner, Alpinist 31
If you picked up Alpinist #31 you probably shuddered at the shots of Ian Parnell setting new mixed ice routes on Ben Eighe in Scotland. Shots of Parnell rapping – nay, not rapping, but leaping – into the void above the West Central Wall had me quivering, admiring his, errr, manly bits in the face of such sheer exposure. Then there’s the routes, notably the technical and committing Bruised Violet (VIII, 8 / Parnell and Andy Turner, 2009). As Parnell describes it, trying to climb sections of this steep, ice-covered mess of block rime cracks and overhangs was like a “delicate children’s puzzle floating in midair” where “the loss of any tiny piece would cause the whole structure to crumble to the ground” (Alpinist 31: 69).
Ian Parnell on Blood, Sweat and Frozen Tears (VIII,8), Beinn Eighe, Scotland. Photo: Hans Hornberger, Alpinist 31
Parnell’s photo and video presentation is called British Style: From Ben Nevis to Mount Everest, and it will feature hard ice and mountaineering adventures from Greenland, the Nepalese Himalaya, Patagonia (in winter!) as well as those “little” crags that dot the UK. Check out Parnell’s blog here — he’s an accomplished photographer as well as climber.
Draw prices include some choice Arc’Teryx jackets and other schwag, but beyond that, the chance to hear Parnell throw down is some close encounters of the feared kind not to be missed. For most of us, it’s the closest we’ll get to the VIII grade world of fingernail-death, frozen-brained but world-class ice-climbing.
Ines Papert belays Ian Parnell up Blood, Sweat and Frozen Tears. Photo: Hans Hornberger, Alpinist 31
