Greystones based Ian Parnell is one of Britain's most accomplished mountaineers. His successful climbs include summitting Everest, filming Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the North Face of the Eiger and new routes in three different regions of the Himalaya.

A professional photographer, Ian's images have featured in national newspapers and specialist climbing magazines around the world. Ian describes his biggest adventure as recently becoming a father to his daughter Suzanna. "Seeing her arrive in this world felt a million times better than standing on the summit of Everest."

Millhouses Park
The superb network of parks is one of Sheffield's great features. Millhouses is probably my favourite. I really enjoy taking my daughter Suzanna for trips out there as it is so child friendly. As usual with the British climate we often end up sheltering from the rain in the café which is a good excuse to have one of their monster sized slices of cake.

Cliffhanger Festival
Millhouses is the venue for this weekend's Cliffhanger festival. This is its second year running and it's looking like it could become the Glastonbury of outdoor sports. You can try mountain biking, caving, parkour, slacklining, scuba diving, fishing, orienteering and of course climbing. You can also see the pro-climbers in the competitions with the dyno-comp being particularly amazing with the top guys leaping nearly 3 metres between holds.

Marco @ Milano Restaurant
On the edge of Millhouses Park is what I think is the best restaurant in the city. Wonderful Italian food, lovely calm, quiet atmosphere and excellent service; it's everything you want when you eat out. My wife, Ali, and I treat ourselves occasionally although with a new budget mid-week menu we are hoping we can treat ourselves more often.

Stanage Edge
One of the signature features of the Peak District, the gritstone cliffs of Stanage run almost unbroken for five miles. For a climber it's something like paradise with a lifetime's routes to try. Although the rocks are small compared to some of the big cliffs of Europe and America many of the climbs here are world renowned. I must have climbed four or five hundred routes along the Edge but still find new challenges each time I go back.

Graves Art Gallery
Hidden away on the top floor of the Central Library the Graves is a lovely gallery. Its permanent collection includes works by Turner and Cezanne but it's the regular shows of contemporary art that draw me up the four flights of stairs. The most enjoyable show I've seen there was by John Hoyland who was born in Sheffield and is now seen as one the world's leading abstract artists. His huge canvases seem alive with great circle and tongue shaped splashes leaping out of dark moody backgrounds. It's a bit like the visual equivalent of an electric guitar solo.

Chee Dale
Walking in this valley feels like visiting a lost world. The plant life seems to be on a different scale than the rest of the Peak District with the giant rhubarb often reaching to head height. The climbing here is also exceptional. The great overhanging buttress visible from the Monsal trail at the Buxton end of the dale is home to my favourite route here. Called Sirplum, it's widely regarded by climbers as one of the best routes of its grade in the UK.

The Showroom
The Showroom is reputed to be the largest independent cinema outside London and has to be one of the very best cultural spots in the city. It's a really nice venue with four screens, a load of interesting films that you don't get to see at the normal cinemas, a decent café / bar and a bunch of really laid back staff. It's due a new extension some time within the next few years, I believe. The plans were the subject of an architectural competition so the outcome is hopefully going to be an amazing new building staring visitors to the city straight in the face as they come off Park Square roundabout. What with the new station overhaul and the new digital campus, is there a city in the country with a better entrance?

Climbing Walls
Sheffield is very lucky to have four major climbing walls, The Foundry at Kelham Island (the first of its kind anywhere in the world when it was built in the early 80s), The Edge on John Street with its articulated wall, the Matrix at Goodwin Sports Centre at the University, and the Climbing Works at the bottom of Woodseats Road, the largest dedicated bouldering wall anywhere in the world. Blessed as we are with pretty unreliable weather it's great to be able to head down to one of these walls and know that I'll most likely bump into somebody I know for a training session. That's the other thing about the walls and the high population density of climbers in the city, there is a fantastic sense of community.