‘The Boss’: Sheffield climbing legend tragically dies in Peak District cliff fall

John Allen was climbing with family and friends at Stoney West in the White Peak on Monday, May 18 when he took a “long fall” just before 7pm, according to Edale Mountain Rescue, who were called to the scene along with ambulance crews.

A spokesperson for Edale Mountain Rescue said: "Despite the efforts of his friends, mountain rescue team personnel and ambulance service members attending, the casualty could not be saved due to the severity of their injuries.”

Having taken up climbing aged just 10, he was described as a “climbing child prodigy” who progressed to a “climbing legend” in Climber magazine.

The article read: “John leaves a legacy of amazing routes, many of which date to the early/mid-Seventies when he was the undisputed God of Grit or as some have said: ‘The Boss.’

The magazine said he was a “hugely influential” climber during this period when his gritstone routes “set the world ablaze.”

As well as climbing “the classic extremes”, John began creating his own advanced climbing routes while still only a child, “demonstrating a climbing maturely vastly beyond his age”.

“The quality of his new routes, the lines they took and the overall difficulty of them were remarkable,” the article said of some of his later creations.

Froggatt and Curbar were described as “happy hunting grounds” for some of John’s much-loved routes. He also created climbing routes in Wales, including a free ascent of Anglesey’s Yellow Wall.

John emigrated to New Zealand with his family in the mid-70s before returning to Sheffield in the early 80s. But he continued climbing down under and had a spell living and climbing in the USA.

He remained an active climber right up until his tragic death, adding new routes in the Peak District and enjoying sport climbing trips abroad with his lifelong climbing partners.

The article continued: “John’s enthusiasm for climbing and razor-sharp dry wit will be missed by all that knew him.”