In August 2024, British mountaineering stalwart Sir Chris Bonington turned 90. He celebrated in typical style with his family and friends by hiking up to the local summit of High Pike, an unassuming fell in the English Lake District’s quiet Northern Fells. High Pike is a hill characterized by Herdwick sheep, grass and rounded slopes – a far cry from the granite spires, mighty glaciers and terrifying walls of sheer rock and ice that made Bonington so famous, but his love for the great outdoors clearly still endures to this day.
We asked one of our mountaineering experts to delve into the life of Bonington, a man who was at the centre of a golden age of mountain exploration in the 1960, 70s and 80s and whose legacy is arguably unrivalled on British shores. . His successes came at a time of great public interest in , and adventure, propelling him to household name status in the UK and beyond.
His achievements are nothing short of remarkable. He claimed the first ascent of mighty Annapurna II in 1960, following this up by becoming the first Brit, alongside Tom Patey, to climb the notorious Eiger Nordwand in 1962. The latter made headline news and Bonington was suddenly a mountaineering celebrity.
His fame opened up the possibility of funding and spearheading bold expeditions to the Greater Ranges. He became an expedition leader, most notably for the ambitious 1970 British Annapurna South Face expedition and the 1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition. The ’70s .
