Profile

Chris Bonington

Icon of British climbing who has led historic expeditions worldwide.

Berghaus’ very own living legend. Sir Chris has an unquenchable thirst for adventure which has led him to the top of the highest mountains and in to the most remote and unexplored regions in the world.

Here are just a few expeditions Chris has been involved in:

• Led nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas and succeeded in climbing Mount Everest at the age of 50

• Made the first ascent of the South Face of Annapurna in 1960 when no other Himalalyan wall had been climbed

• Made the first British ascent of the South West pillar of the Drus

• Climbed Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, with temperatures as low as -35C and 50mph winds

• In 1966 he made the first ascent of the Old Man of Hoy which was televised live by the BBC over three days and was watched by 23 million people.

In 1977 he made the first ascent of the Ogre with Doug Scott, but the pair had a hellish descent when Doug broke both his legs, and Sir Chris broke two ribs shortly after leaving the summit.

Doug had to crawl for the whole six day descent and they ran out of food. To even reach base camp was an achievement, but when they did they found their team had given them up for dead and abandoned the camp. Luckily they both made full recoveries and it didn’t dampen their spirit to keep exploring.

These were just snippets of his amazing life and at the age of 76 he hasn’t given up – he’s still a source of inspiration to many new adventurers, so keep an eye on his latest blogs to see what he is up to or read about his favourite Berghaus gear.

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