Sir Christian John Storey Bonington,
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 6 August 1934 in
HampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. It is located within Inner London. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is known for its intellectual, artistic, musical and literary associations and for the large and hilly parkland Hampstead Heath...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
mountaineerMountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, backpacking and climbing mountains. In Europe it is also referred to as alpinism, while in the Americas the term refers to a particular style of mountain climbing, that involves a mixture of ice climbing, rock climbing, mixed...
.
His career has included nineteen expeditions to the
HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, including four to
Mount EverestMount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
and the first ascent of the south face of
AnnapurnaAnnapurna is a series of peaks in the Himalayas, a -long massif of which the highest point, Annapurna I, stands at 8091m, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world and one of the 14 "eight-thousanders". It is located east of a great gorge cut through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River,...
.
Educated at
University College SchoolUniversity College School, generally known as UCS, is an Independent school charity situated in Hampstead, north west London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views...
in
HampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. It is located within Inner London. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is known for its intellectual, artistic, musical and literary associations and for the large and hilly parkland Hampstead Heath...
, he joined the Royal Fusiliers before attending
Royal Military Academy SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
, and on graduation was commissioned in the
Royal Tank RegimentThe Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
in 1956. After three years in North Germany, he spent two years at the Army Outward Bound School as a mountaineering instructor.
In 1958, Bonington was part of the party that made the first British ascent of the South West Pillar of the
Aiguille du DruThe Aiguille du Dru is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps, lying to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley.The mountain has two summits:...
in 1958, and the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Freney on the south side of
Mont BlancMont Blanc or Monte Bianco is the highest mountain in the Alps and in Western Europe. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
in 1961 with
Don WhillansDon Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...
, Ian Clough and Jan Dlugosz.
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington,
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 6 August 1934 in
HampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. It is located within Inner London. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is known for its intellectual, artistic, musical and literary associations and for the large and hilly parkland Hampstead Heath...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
mountaineerMountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, backpacking and climbing mountains. In Europe it is also referred to as alpinism, while in the Americas the term refers to a particular style of mountain climbing, that involves a mixture of ice climbing, rock climbing, mixed...
.
His career has included nineteen expeditions to the
HimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow", is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, including four to
Mount EverestMount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
and the first ascent of the south face of
AnnapurnaAnnapurna is a series of peaks in the Himalayas, a -long massif of which the highest point, Annapurna I, stands at 8091m, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world and one of the 14 "eight-thousanders". It is located east of a great gorge cut through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River,...
.
Biography
Educated at
University College SchoolUniversity College School, generally known as UCS, is an Independent school charity situated in Hampstead, north west London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views...
in
HampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, located north-west of Charing Cross. It is located within Inner London. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is known for its intellectual, artistic, musical and literary associations and for the large and hilly parkland Hampstead Heath...
, he joined the Royal Fusiliers before attending
Royal Military Academy SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
, and on graduation was commissioned in the
Royal Tank RegimentThe Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
in 1956. After three years in North Germany, he spent two years at the Army Outward Bound School as a mountaineering instructor.
In 1958, Bonington was part of the party that made the first British ascent of the South West Pillar of the
Aiguille du DruThe Aiguille du Dru is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps, lying to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley.The mountain has two summits:...
in 1958, and the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Freney on the south side of
Mont BlancMont Blanc or Monte Bianco is the highest mountain in the Alps and in Western Europe. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
in 1961 with
Don WhillansDon Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...
, Ian Clough and Jan Dlugosz. In 1960 he was part of the successful joint the British-Indian-Nepalese forces expedition to Annapurna II.
On leaving the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
in 1961, he joined
Van den BerghsThe Dutch company Margarine Unie grew in the 1920s through mergers of several margarine companies, among which Centra and Schicht and above all the companies of Antonius Johannes Jurgens and Samuel van den Bergh. It operated until 1930 when it merged with a British company, Lever Brothers, to form...
, a division of
UnileverUnilever is a multinational corporation, formed of British and Dutch parentage, that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products...
. 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
SangaySangay is a constantly active stratovolcano in southeastern Ecuador. It is the southernmost and most active volcano in the country, and is known for its explosive venting of thick ash clouds, which has built a dome since 1976.-See also:...
in
EcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America that...
; hunting Caribou with Eskimos on
Baffin IslandBaffin Island in the territory of Nunavut is the largest member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world, with an area of and has a population of 11,000...
. In 1968 he accompanied Captain
John Blashford-SnellColonel John Nicholas Blashford-Snell OBE is a British army officer and explorer.John Blashford-Snell was educated at Victoria College, Jersey and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, then commissioned into the Royal Engineers....
and his British Army team in the attempt to make the first ever descent of the
Blue NileThe Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile...
.
Writing
He has written fifteen
bookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, made many
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
appearances, and received many honours, including, since January 2005, the
chancellorChancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
ship of
Lancaster UniversityLancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Lancaster is the 7th highest ranking research institution in the United Kingdom according to the last Research Assessment Exercise. The University has an annual income of £149...
. He is honorary president of the Hiking Club and has a boat named after him among Lancaster University Boat Club's fleet. Furthermore he is the Honorary President of the British
OrienteeringOrienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain. Participants are given a map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points...
Federation. He has lived in
CumbriaCumbria is a shire county in the North West of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
with his wife, Wendy since 1974. He is a patron, and former president (1988-91), of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC). He succeeded
Edmund HillarySir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE was a New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest,...
as the Honorary President of
Mountain WildernessMountain 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 pyrenean regions...
, an international NGO dedicated to the worldwide protection of mountains.
Personal life
Married to Wendy, a freelance illustrator of children's books. The couple have two sons: Daniel and Rupert.
Tributes
In 1974 Bonnington received the Founder's Medal of the
Royal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical sciences, under the patronage of King William IV...
. Bonington has been recognised as one of the great explorers of modern times by
St. Helen's SchoolSt. Helen's School, founded in 1899, is a selective independent day and boarding school in Northwood, North-West London for girls aged 3 to 18. It is also the sister school of Merchant Taylors' School.- Facilities :...
, Northwood, England. One of its four houses is named after him, and has yellow as its House Colour. 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 a forum for writers and photographers specialising in the outdoors, mainly in the UK...
.
Honours
- Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1996 for his services to the sport.
- Made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1976 in recognition of the previous year's successful ascent of Everest
Notable climbs
- 1961 Central Pillar of Freney, Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco is the highest mountain in the Alps and in Western Europe. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
(First Ascent) with Ian CloughIan Clough was a British mountaineer who was killed on an expedition to climb the south face of the Himalayan massif Annapurna.-Climbing career:...
, Don WhillansDon Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...
and Jan Długosz
- 1962 North Wall of the Eiger
The Eiger is a notable mountain in the Bernese Alps, rising to an elevation of 3,970 m It is the easternmost peak of a ridge-crest that extends to the Mönch at 4,107 m , and across the Jungfraujoch pass to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
(First British Ascent) with Ian Clough
- 1963 Central Tower of Paine, Patagonia
Patagonia is a geographic region containing the southernmost portion of South America. Located in Argentina and Chile, it comprises the southernmost portion of the Andes mountains to the west and south, and plateaux and low plains to the east. The name Patagonia comes from the word patagón used by...
(First Ascent) with Don WhillansDon Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...
- 1965 Coronation Street, Cheddar Gorge (First Ascent)
- 1966 Old Man of Hoy
The Old Man of Hoy is a sea stack of red sandstone perched on a plinth of Igneous Basalt rock, close to Rackwick Bay on the west coast of the island of Hoy, in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is a distinctive landmark seen from the Thurso to Stromness ferry, MV Hamnavoe, and is a famous rock climb...
(First Ascent) with Tom PateyTom Patey was a Scottish climber, mountaineer and writer. Although he was a leading Scottish climber of his day, particularly excelling on winter routes, he his probably best known for his humorous songs and prose about climbing, many of which were published posthumously in the collection One...
- 1973 Brammah
Brammah is a mountain massif in the Kishtwar Himalaya of Jammu and Kashmir, India, east of the town of Kishtwar and near the border with Himachal Pradesh...
(6411m) (First Ascent)
- 1974 Changabang
Changabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it are serious undertakings. It has been the site of many significant climbs...
, Garhwal Himalaya (6864m) (First Ascent) with Don WhillansDon Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...
, Doug ScottDouglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott is a British mountaineer famous for the first ascent of the Southwest Face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975...
& Dougal HastonDougal Haston, , was a Scottish mountaineer born in Currie, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.-Climbing achievements:...
- 1977 Baintha Brakk (7285m) (First ascent) with Doug Scott
Douglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott is a British mountaineer famous for the first ascent of the Southwest Face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975...
- 1981 Kongur Tagh
Kongur Tagh or Kongkoerh is the highest peak of the Kunlun Mountains in China, and the highest peak with its summit wholly within the state of Xinjiang. Sometimes it is considered as a part of Pamir mountains. It is situated in a small subrange, known as the Kongur Shan, which forms the western...
(7719m) (First ascent)
- 1983 West Summit of Shivling
Shivling is a mountain in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the western Garhwal Himalaya, near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier. It lies in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, south of the Hindu holy site of Gaumukh . Its name refers to its status as a sacred symbol of the god Shiva...
, GangotriGangotri is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi...
(6501m) (First Ascent)
- 1983 Vinson Massif
Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, located about 1,200 km from the South Pole. The mountain is about long and wide. At the highest point is Mount Vinson, which was named in 2006 by US-ACAN...
(4897m) (First British Ascent - solo)
- 1985 Mount Everest
Mount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
(8850m) as member of Norwegian Everest Expedition
Expedition leader
- 1970 Annapurna
Annapurna is a series of peaks in the Himalayas, a -long massif of which the highest point, Annapurna I, stands at 8091m, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world and one of the 14 "eight-thousanders". It is located east of a great gorge cut through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River,...
(south face), successful, summit reached by HastonDougal Haston, , was a Scottish mountaineer born in Currie, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.-Climbing achievements:...
and WhillansDon Whillans was an English rock climber and mountaineer. Born and raised in a two-up two-down house in Salford, Lancashire, he climbed with both Joe Brown and Chris Bonington on many new routes, and was considered the technical equal of both. He was an apprentice plumber when he first started his...
; death of Ian Clough
- 1972 Mount Everest
Mount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
, (south-west face), unsuccessful
- 1975 Mount Everest (south-west face), successful, summit reached by Scott
Douglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott is a British mountaineer famous for the first ascent of the Southwest Face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975...
, HastonDougal Haston, , was a Scottish mountaineer born in Currie, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.-Climbing achievements:...
, BoardmanPeter Boardman was a British climber, Everest summiteer, and author of several mountaineering books. Born in Stockport, England, he began climbing in his teens, and at the age of 16 made his first visit to the Alps...
, Pertemba Sherpa and Mick BurkeMick Burke was an English mountaineer and climbing cameraman who covered many British led mountaineering expeditions during the 1960s and 70s including those led by Chris Bonington to Annapurna and an unsuccessful attempt on Mount Everest's South West face in 1972. Burke was part of Bonington's...
; death of Burke
- 1978 K2
K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth . With a peak elevation of , K2 is part of the Karakoram range, and is located on the border between the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China and Gilgit, in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan.K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the...
(west face), unsuccessful; death of Nick Escourt
- 1982 Mount Everest (north-east ridge), unsuccessful; death of Boardman and Tasker
Joe Tasker was one of the most talented British climbers during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Born into a traditional Roman Catholic family, he was one of ten children and spent his early childhood in Port Clarence, Middlesbrough then attended Ushaw Seminary, County Durham between the ages of 13...
- Note: Although expedition leader, Bonington did not reach the summit of these peaks on these expeditions
External links