Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, including four to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow hei ...

Early life and expeditions

Bonington's father, who left the family when Christian was nine months old, was a founding member of L Detachment,

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

. Bonington first began climbing in 1951 at age 16. Educated at University College School in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, Bonington joined the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

before attending

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town o ...

, and on graduation was commissioned in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

in 1956. After serving three years in North Germany, he spent two years at the Army Outward Bound School as a mountaineering instructor. Bonington was part of the party that made the first British ascent of the South West Pillar (aka Bonatti Pillar) of the

Aiguille du Dru The Aiguille du Dru (also the Dru or the Drus; French, Les Drus) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is situated to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley. "Aiguille" means "needle" in French. Th ...

in 1958, and the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Freney on the south side of Mont Blanc in 1961 with

Don Whillans Donald Desbrow Whillans (18 May 1933 – 4 August 1985) was an English rock climber and mountaineer. He climbed with Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. Early life Born and brought ...

Ian Clough Ian Clough (1937–1970) was a British mountaineer who was killed on the 1970 British Annapurna expedition led by Sir Chris Bonington to climb the south face of the Himalayan massif. He was later described by Bonington as "the most modest man ...

and Jan Dlugosz (Poland). In 1960 he was part of the successful joint British-Indian-Nepalese forces expedition to

Annapurna II Annapurna II is part of the Annapurna mountain range located in Nepal, and is the eastern anchor of the range. In terms of elevation, isolation (distance to a higher summit, namely Annapurna I East Peak, ) and prominence (), Annapurna II does ...

. On leaving the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

in 1961, he joined Van den Berghs, a division of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

, but he left after nine months, and became a professional mountaineer and explorer. In 1966 he was given his first assignment by '' The Daily Telegraph Magazine'' to cover other expeditions, including climbing Sangay in Ecuador and hunting

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

with

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territorie ...

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

. In 1968 he accompanied Captain John Blashford-Snell and his British Army team in the attempt to make the first-ever descent of the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to ...

. In 1972 he was unsuccessful on the south-west face of Mount Everest, but reached 27,300 feet. He had another shot at that route in 1975, and the

1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition The 1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition was the first to successfully climb Mount Everest by ascending one of its faces. In the post-monsoon season Chris Bonington led the expedition which used rock climbing techniques to put f ...

that he led was successful--it put four climbers on the summit, but Mick Burke died during his summit attempt.

Writing

Bonington has written or edited numerous books, made many

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

appearances, and received many honours, including the chancellorship of

Lancaster University , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty ...

from 2005 to 2014. He is honorary president of the Hiking Club and

Mountaineering Club and has a boat named after him among Lancaster University Boat Club's fleet. Furthermore, he is the Honorary President of the British

Orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

Federation. He has lived in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

since 1974. He is a patron, and former president (1988–91), of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC). He succeeded

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reache ...

as the Honorary President of

Mountain Wilderness Mountain Wilderness is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to the preservation of mountain areas, in their natural and cultural aspects. The organization was founded in Europe and has a stronger presence in alpine and pyren ...

, an international NGO dedicated to the preservation of mountain areas, in their natural and cultural aspects.

Personal life

Bonington's first wife, Wendy, a freelance illustrator of children's books, died on 24 July 2014 from

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(MND), inspiring Bonington to support MND charities. The couple had three children: Conrad (died 1966), Daniel, and Rupert. The family lived at Caldbeck, Cumbria. Bonington married Loreto McNaught-Davis on Saturday 23 April 2016. McNaught-Davis is the widow of mountaineer and television presenter Ian McNaught-Davis who died in February 2014. The ceremony took place in London in the presence of about 60 friends and family members, including Bonington's son, Rupert.

Tributes

In 1974 Bonington received the Founder's Medal of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. In 1985 he received the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. St. Helen's School, Northwood, England has named one of its four houses after him. Bonington was presented with the Golden Eagle Award for services to the outdoors in 2008 by the

Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild was established in 1980 as the Outdoor Writers Guild - a professional group for writers specialising in the outdoors. In 2006 the Guild changed its name to Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild to recog ...

. He was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at a hotel in Heathrow.

Honours

Bonington was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in 1976 in recognition of the previous year's successful ascent of EverestWillis, Clint (2006). The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragic Story of Climbing's Greatest Generation. London: Robson Books, p 335. and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in 1996 for his services to the sport. He was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(CVO) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for his services to the Outward Bound Trust. He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of

in 2004. In 2015, Bonnington was awarded the 7th

Piolet d'Or An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...

Lifetime Achievement Award.

Notable climbs

* 1960

(First ascent) with Richard Grant and Sherpa Ang Nyima * 1961 Central Pillar of Freney, Mont Blanc (First ascent) with

and

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

* 1962 North Wall of the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that exten ...

(First British ascent) with

* 1963 Central Tower of Paine,

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

(First ascent) with Don Whillans * 1964 Cime de l'Est NE Ridge, Dents du Midi, (First ascent) with

John Harlin John Elvis Harlin II (June 30, 1935 – March 22, 1966) was an American mountaineer and US Air Force pilot who was killed while making an ascent of the north face of the Eiger. Biography Harlin graduated from Sequoia High School and Stanfor ...

and Rusty Baillie * 1965 Coronation Street,

Cheddar Gorge Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar, Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years ...

(First ascent) * 1966 Old Man of Hoy (First ascent) with

Tom Patey Thomas Walton Patey (20 February 1932 – 25 May 1970) was a Scottish climber, mountaineer, doctor and writer. He was a leading Scottish climber of his day, particularly excelling on winter routes. He died in a climbing accident at the age of 38. ...

* 1973 Brammah (6411 metres; 21,033') (First ascent) with Nick Estcourt * 1974 Changabang, Garhwal Himalaya (6864 metres; 22,520') (First ascent) with Don Whillans,

Doug Scott Douglas Keith Scott (29 May 19417 December 2020) was an English mountaineer, noted for being on the team that made the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. In receiving one of mountaineering's highest hon ...

and

Dougal Haston Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...

* 1975 Southwest face of Mount Everest (8848 metres; 29,029') * 1977 Baintha Brakk (7285 metres; 23,900') (First ascent) with Doug Scott * 1981 Kongur Tagh (7719 metres; 25,325') (First ascent) with Joe Tasker, Al Rouse and Pete Boardman * 1983 West Summit of Shivling,

Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirat ...

(6501 metres; 21,329') (First Ascent) * 1983

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is loca ...

(4897 metres; 16,066') (First British ascent – solo) * 1985

as member of Norwegian Everest Expedition * 1987 Menlungtse (7181 metres; 23,560') attempted FA of main peak via South Buttress, to 6100 metres; 20,013'; w/ Odd Eliason, Bjorn Myrer-Lund, Torgeir Fosse, Helge Ringdal (all Norwegian) and Jim Fotheringham (UK). * 1988 Menlungtse West (7023 metres; 23,041') FA via West Ridge, (expedition leader). Summit attained by

Andy Fanshawe Andy Fanshawe (born 1963 in Cheshire, died Lochnagar 1992) was a British mountaineer. Biography He started climbing as a student at Wilmslow Grammar School. Whilst studying geology at Imperial College London, he led his first expedition to the Ec ...

and Alan Hinkes (both UK), with David Breashears and Steve Shea (both USA) in support. * 2014 The Old Man of Hoy (137 metres; 450') to mark his 80th birthday and to raise funds for

charities

Expedition leader

1970 British Annapurna South Face expedition The 1970 British Annapurna South Face expedition was a Himalayan climb that was the first to take a deliberately difficult route up the face of an 8,000-metre mountain. On 27 May 1970 Don Whillans and Dougal Haston reached the summit of Annap ...

, successful, summit reached by

and

; death of

* 1972

, (south-west face), unsuccessful *

, successful, summit reached by

, Dougal Haston, Peter Boardman,

Pertemba Sherpa Pertemba (born 15 February 1948), also called Pertemba Sherpa, is a professional Nepalese mountaineer, trek leader and businessman. He reached the summit of Mount Everest by the Southwest Face on the first expedition to successfully take that rout ...

and Mick Burke; death of Burke * 1978 K2 (west face), unsuccessful; death of Nick Estcourt * 1982 Mount Everest (north-east ridge), unsuccessful; death of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker :Although expedition leader, Bonington did not reach the summit of these peaks on these expeditions

Mount Everest record

Chris Bonington briefly became the oldest known person to summit

in April 1985, at the age of 50. He was surpassed by Richard Bass (of

Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits ...

fame), who summited later that same season at 55 years old, five years older than Bonington. The record has been surpassed multiple times since.

Bibliography

* ''I Chose to Climb'' (Gollancz) 1966 * ''Annapurna South Face'' (Cassell) 1971 * ''The Next Horizon'' (Gollancz) 1973 * ''Everest South West Face'' (Hodder and Stoughton) 1973 * ''Changabang'' (Heinemann) 1975 * ''Everest the Hard Way'' (Hodder and Stoughton) 1976 * ''Quest for Adventure'' (Hodder and Stoughton) 1981 * ''Kongur: China's Elusive Summit'' (Hodder and Stoughton) 1982 * ''Everest: The Unclimbed Ridge'' (with Dr Charles Clarke) (Hodder and Stoughton) 1983 * ''The Everest Years'' (Hodder and Stoughton) 1986 * ''Mountaineer: Thirty Years of Climbing on the World's Great Peaks'' (Diadem) 1989 * ''The Climbers'' (BBC Books and Hodder and Stoughton) 1992 * ''Sea, Ice and Rock'' (with Robin Knox-Johnston) (Hodder and Stoughton) 1992 * ''Great Climbs'' (Ed with Audrey Salkeld) (Reed Illustrated Books) 1994 * ''Tibet's Secret Mountain, the Triumph of Sepu Kangri'' (with Dr Charles Clarke) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) 1999 * ''Boundless Horizons'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) 2000 * ''Chris Bonington's Everest'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) 2002 * ''Chris Bonington's Lakeland Heritage'' (with Roly Smith) (Halsgrove) 2004 * ''Chris Bonington Mountaineer'' (Vertebrate Publishing) 2016 * ''Ascent'' (Simon & Schuster UK) 2017

References

External links

*
Chris Bonington Home Page

Interview with WideWorld magazine

The Everest Years: Reflections of a mountaineer while climbing in the Lake District.
BBC Radio 4 documentary first broadcast in 1988. Accessed 26 November 2012.
Mount Everest Interview with Chris Bonington

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonington, Chris 1934 births Living people Royal Tank Regiment officers English mountain climbers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Bachelor People in sports awarded knighthoods People educated at University College School People from Hampstead Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK) British summiters of Mount Everest People associated with Lancaster University Deputy Lieutenants of Cumbria People from Caldbeck