[davej]

So sad never had the pleasure of climbing with Ian but he spun a few tunes at one of our
parties he was well known for his 'Belgium Techno' vibe I think. Great guy RIP.

[Doylo]

 

[cheque]

Terrible news. RIP.

[Richie Crouch]

Sorry to hear. 

[Doylo]

He was only 50 according to the Power of Climbing...

[fatneck]

Shocking news... 

[bigtuboflard]

Hi all, I've had an update from Anne.

Ian was cycling by himself in Ille-sur-Têt when it happened.  A hiker apparently found him straight away and called for the emergency services.  They tried to resuscitate him without any success.

Ian should be repatriated to Nab Wood Crematorium (in Bradford) next week.  She does not know when the funeral will take place but will keep me informed. Fingers crossed a good few of us can make it.

Tim

[Marky]

Very sad news - I remember getting inspired by pictures and tales in The Power of Climbing. RIP and condolencies to friends and family.

[T_B]

I didn't know Ian, but I enjoyed reading his posts on here. Such sad news. Condolences to his family and friends.

[fatdoc]

Words can't convey my loss...  From the early sport climbing scene to the MTB scene of today he has been a feature in many peoples lives in here... My condolances to His family and friends...

Here is some video of how I will always remember him... Flowing down trails in the alps loving every minute. He spent every summer in recent times in his van in the alps, often with Felix, his son.

He is the rider at the start, and then again at 4:30

[neilpearsons]

Very sad to hear this. I changed the way I tied in because of Ian, no small matter after 10 years of doing it the same way.
I know he was rightly proud of Free and Even Easier - great name and, like he said  'the original and best' on the Catwalk.
More recently I met him twice mountain biking at the Seven Stanes in Scotland, once at Kirroughtree and then again exactly a year later at Dalbeattie; he was with his son, both loving the trail centres. We had a very long chat about climbing and biking and the Sheffield years. He was very thin and had lots of stamina, which made me slightly envious. I think (although I might be wrong) he onsighted Lourdes at El Chorro which made a big impression on me after struggling to dog to the top.
His death is a big shock. Condolences to his family.

[rainbow]

Truly awful news, just the other day I posted a link in the Trance thread, of a classics mix of a club night which ends this sat. Thought he would appreciate it. For you Ian, I will hit the dancefloor even harder now on Sat.
Condolences to his family and friends.

[nik at work]

Crap, that's awful. R.I.P.

[dave]

I only know Ian from here and as immortalised in The Power Of Climbing:



Shitty times for his family no doubt.

[SamT]

Ian on the Wheels of Steel at an early Foundry Party



IIRC he opened his set that night with Wagners 'Ride of the Valkyries'

[Falling Down]

If that's the first Foundry party there's a story connected.  I'd been DJ'ing beforehand and Mita's lad had been emceeing over some jungle tracks and he wanted my number so he could do so again.  I grabbed a bit of paper that was to hand, ripped it in half and wrote down my details.  Ian was setting up and then started scrabbling around for something looking a bit pale.  "Where's my setlist?" He says.  I held up a crumpled bit of paper ripped in half and said "Err was this it ?" I uncrumpled it and it was a list of tracks neatly ripped in half missing where he'd written down all the BPMs.... He went white.  I said "Err whoops, can you not just crack on" and to his credit, he did.  I've always felt guilty about that and never got the chance to apologise properly.  What a loss. RIP.

[fatdoc]

I was there, he did open as such... And winged a set of greatness... Did we record that one??

[fatdoc]

Can someone scan in the power of climbing chapter please....

[Bubba]

This pic was posted in the party madness topic recently, but seems apt to post it again - Ian, me and Fatboyslimfast after DJing all night at the legendary Edgedale Road party in 1994 - happy times



Ian was part of my life on and off for over 25 years.  We trained together and shared a house in the late 80's where many were witness (often aghast!) to Ian's intense diet and exercise regimes.

Later after I had to go and live in Bradford for a couple of years he was pretty much the only person I knew up there and we spent a lot of time hanging out and training on his hardcore boards set up in warehouse at Saltaire...I remember one was suspended from an obliging fork-lift truck to facilitate changing the angles. When I say training, I scrabbled and watched Ian do laps on the nastiest tiny holds - the lad had beastly fingers.

Then came the techno years - countless superb nights at the Orbit, etc and DJing at parties and mates houses - Ian was a true technohead and even ran his own vinyl shop, Rabid Records in Headingly for a while.  The years of clubbing really brought him out of his shell and he became much more easy going and happy in himself.

We lost touch for a while, mainly due to my years of depression and then working nights for 3 years but I was really happy when we spent time mountain biking together recently - Ian loved riding and was always super postive and enthusiastic.  He was also a loving father and really proud that his son Felix was riding hard.

I just wish I'd spent more time riding and hanging out with him now.  As others have said, his intellect, great sense of humour and easy going nature made him a great person to spend time with.

I always thought with his fitness and training drive he'd turn into one of those gnarly blokes you still see out doing huge rides and fell runs well into old age.

I going to believe that one minute he was out doing something he loved and the next he was just gone...

Goodbye Ian, we'll miss you my friend.

[mrjonathanr]

I could not believe the thread title when I saw it - how terribly sad.
Awful news. My condolences and thoughts go out to his family.

[fatdoc]

This pic was posted in the party madness topic recently, but seems apt to post it again - Ian, me and Fatboyslimfast after DJing all night at the legendary Edgedale Road party in 1994 - happy times



Ian was part of my life on and off for over 25 years.  We trained together and shared a house in the late 80's where many were witness (often aghast!) to Ian's intense diet and exercise regimes.

Later after I had to go and live in Bradford for a couple of years he was pretty much the only person I knew up there and we spent a lot of time hanging out and training on his hardcore boards set up in warehouse at Saltaire...I remember one was suspended from an obliging fork-lift truck to facilitate changing the angles. When I say training, I scrabbled and watched Ian do laps on the nastiest tiny holds - the lad had beastly fingers.

Then came the techno years - countless superb nights at the Orbit, etc and DJing at parties and mates houses - Ian was a true technohead and even ran his own vinyl shop, Rabid Records in Headingly for a while.  The years of clubbing really brought him out of his shell and he became much more easy going and happy in himself.

We lost touch for a while, mainly due to my years of depression and then working nights for 3 years but I was really happy when we spent time mountain biking together recently - Ian loved riding and was always super postive and enthusiastic.  He was also a loving father and really proud that his son Felix was riding hard.

I just wish I'd spent more time riding and hanging out with him now.  As others have said, his intellect, great sense of humour and easy going nature made him a great person to spend time with.

I always thought with his fitness and training drive he'd turn into one of those gnarly blokes you still see out doing huge rides and fell runs well into old age.

I going to believe that one minute he was out doing something he loved and the next he was just gone...

Goodbye Ian, we'll miss you my friend.

I'm no good at this stuff, and respect to bubba and FBSF et al for writing such impressive prose.

All incredible stuff.. Personally, I'm crying my fucking eyes out as I type.

I MISS you dude...

[bigtuboflard]

Great words indeed. I have lots of great memories of my youth with Ian, though he was 10 years older than me. My first climbing trip abroad with him and Steve Rhodes to Belgium and Luxembourg, spending my 18 birthday waking up in a bus shelter and then Ian being told to put his t-shirt back on at the climbing wall as he was frightening the kids. The wall owner never did tell Steve to though.

Countless weekend trips to Malham in his Renaults (he loved his Clio Sport) to watch him warm up in a pair of Reeboks on Consenting and then put a rope on things for me to try, telling me that Austrian Oak wasn't really that hard.

And going to the Orbit and nights in Sheffield such as the opening night of Steel on London road to see Laurent Garnier do a 5 hour set and have to be forcibly removed from the decks as the lights went up.

Too many good times and I just wish we'd caught up sooner in between. I'll miss him.

[Adam Lincoln]

So sorry to hear this. Met Ian once, outside the depot. We had arrange to meet re:the freecycle page on here. I had an amp off him and some speakers. Really nice guy.

RIP Ian.

[Bungle.]

Very Sad News , I like a lot of people on here climbed and went clubbing a lot with Ian in the 90'S a great guy and a lot of fun to hang out with .

As Bigtuboflard said many great nights at the Orbit, Arc , The Foundry Parties and numerous other nights and house partied . Climbing wise always super strong and psyched and great fun at the crag and to train with ( even when everyone was mercilessly taking the piss ) .

I have also never met a man who could eat so much hummus .

I which id seen him more in the intervening years ,ill try and dig out some photos over the weekend .

James

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Mike and Fatboy.

Well done with the great posts! Really appreciated by everyone, I'm sure. As for Falling Down - what a great anecdote. Quality.

Gone, but most definitely not forgotten!