Ian Clough

Clough was born in the Yorkshire town of Baildon, near Bradford, and grew up to become one of the best British climbers of his generation. He made many difficult ascents in the Alps, including the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Frêney on Mont Blanc with Don Whillans, Chris Bonington and Jan Długosz in 1961 and the first British ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, with Bonington in 1962. He climbed widely in Britain too, publishing a guide to the Scottish Highlands in 1969, and in 1968 he and fellow mountaineer Tom Patey were the first to climb Am Buachaille, a sea stack at Sandwood Bay off the Scottish coast of Sutherland. Two years later, both Clough and Patey died in separate climbing accidents within five days of one another. When Clough died on 30 May 1970 he would have been unaware Patey had been killed abseiling down another Scottish sea stack on 25 May. Clough's wife Niki Clough, who later died of cancer, was also a mountaineer and climbed the north face of the Matterhorn with her husband.

In 1970, Clough took part in the expedition to Annapurna led by Chris Bonington, but after the successful ascent of the south face by Dougal Haston and Don Whillans he was killed by a falling sérac (ice-pillar) on the mountain's lower slopes. Bonington dedicated his book Annapurna South Face (1971) with the words "To IAN CLOUGH, who gave so much", and a meeting-place and arts venue in Clough's hometown of Baildon was named "Ian Clough Hall" in his honour.

In November 1999 a brass plaque was erected in Clough's memory at Annapurna base camp. The text of the plaque reads:

The plaque was commissioned by Kelvin Kent, who had been base camp manager on the expedition. An earlier memorial at the site is an inscription above his grave there, reading "Ian Clough, killed May 30, 1970", cut into rock with an accompanying message in a local language. The burial site was suggested by Sherpas on the expedition and lies below a rock wall where he gave them climbing lessons.