Sir Chris Bonington celebrated his 80th birthday with Leo Houlding as they climbed the Old Man of Hoy. Photo: Berghaus
Climbing legend and elder statesman of mountaineering Sir Chris Bonington will look back at his life at a London gathering.
Sir Chris, who celebrated turning 80 last year by repeating his 1966 ascent of the Old Man of Hoy, will deliver his talk on his climbing career at the Royal Geographical Society next month.
The event, sponsored by outdoor brand Berghaus, is hosted in conjunction with the Mountain Heritage Trust, which aims to record and preserve Britain’s rich heritage in the fields of climbing, mountaineering and mountain culture.
Other climbing luminaries will join Sir Chris as he recounts his numerous expeditions.
A spokesperson for the event said: “Over six decades, Chris Bonington has been a trailblazer, climbing the most challenging peaks in the world.
“His achievements include his ground-breaking first British ascent of the North Wall of the Eiger, leading the expeditions that made the first ascents of Annapurna South Face and Everest South West Face to the first ascent of the Ogre in Pakistan with Doug Scott.
“Since then, he has climbed all over the world. Not only has Chris been widely recognised as one of our greatest mountaineers, making an enormous contribution to British climbing and mountaineering, he is also a prolific photographer and author.
Doug Scott, who broke both legs in his ascent with Bonington of The Ogre
“He will be joined by climbing and exploring friends and family, including Robin Knox-Johnson, Doug Scott, Charles Clarke, Mike Thompson, Jim Fotheringham, Paul Ross, John Porter and Rupert Bonington who together span Chris’s 65 years on rock, snow and ice and have shared with him triumph and tragedy.”
Julie Summers, former chair of the Mountain Heritage Trust and great-niece of 1924 Everest climber, Sandy Irvine, will be commère for the evening.
Tickets for the 11 February event cost £25. More details can be found on the World Expeditions website or by phoning 01768 840911.
Sir Chris also spoke to grough at the end of last year.
In our YouTube video, you can see the mountaineer reflect on 80 years of adventure, including several close calls with death.
