Sir Chris Bonington is a household name as a result of his
distinguished mountaineering career during which he has lead pioneering
expeditions to the summits of some of the most stunning mountains in the
world. The Everest Years shares the story of his relationship with
the highest and most sought-after peak on the planet, Everest, and
his ultimate fulfilment upon finally summiting in 1985 at age fifty.
Bonington chronicles four expeditions to the Himalaya and Everest,
including the 1975 South-West Face expedition on which he was leader and
on which Doug Scott and Dougal Haston became the first Britons to summit
the mountain. Bonington also recounts expeditions to K2 and The
Ogre (Baintha Brakk) in the Karakoram, and Kongur, in China,
describing passionately each attempt: the logistics, glory, and tragedy,
seeking to explain his perpetual fascination with the highest points on
earth, despite repeatedly enduring the trauma of losing friends, and
often placing huge responsibility upon anxious loved ones left at home.
The Everest Years reveals Bonington's love and appreciation for
his ever-supportive wife Wendy, the loyal Sherpas, the companions
sharing his mountain memories including Doug Scott, Dougal Haston,
Peter Boardman, Joe Tasker and Mo Anthoine, and of course the
glorious peaks of the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges.
Following I Chose to Climb and The Next Horizon, this final
instalment of Bonington's autobiography will take you through a huge
spectrum of brutally honest emotions and majestic landscapes.
