The Everest Years: The challenge of the world's highest mountain

by Chris Bonington

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.

Genres: Mountaineering, Nonfiction, Adventure, Travel, Photography, Biography, History

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Chris Bonington was educated at University College School, London and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He was commissioned in the Royal Tank Regiment in 1956. He spent three years in North Germany in command of a troop of tanks and then two years at the Army Outward Bound School as a mountaineering instructor.It was during this period that he started climbing in the Alps, making the first British ascent of the South West Pillar of the Drus in 1958 and then the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Freney on the south side of Mont Blanc in 1961 with Don Whillans, Ian Clough and the Pole, Jan Dlugosz. At that time this was one of the most difficult climbs in the Alps and even today is considered one of the great classics of the Mont Blanc region.He made the first British ascent of the North Wall of the Eiger in 1962.

Reviews

[Yiorgos Touma · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1975 Chris Bonington led the British expedition in an attempt to reach the summit of Everest via the South East Ridge: “leading the South-West Face Expedition was the most complex, demanding, and rewarding organizational challenge I ever faced”. The demanding task of his role as an expedition leader not only did not discourage him but instead equipped him with more experience and thirst for adventure. The following decade will be for Bonington a continuous and strenuous mountaineering journey that will test his limits physically and mentally. From the Orge in Baintha Break Glacier and K2 until the North East Ridge of Everest, and Mount Vinson in Antarctica, this journey is marked by successful ascents and forced retreats, by strong friendships and tragic losses.
Ten years after the successful ascent of 1975, Bonington returns to Everest, having broken the promise he gave in 1982 after the dramatic events in the attempt on the North East Ridge of Everest: “But immediately after getting home, I did make one promise - that I would never go back to Everest”. The Everest Years is the distillation of the mountaineering life of a person dedicated with exemplary passion and morality to what he loved most.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chris Bonington is a mountaineer and climber and writes about his experiences in the 1970s and 1980s. He seems to be thoughtful and somewhat introspective in addressing issues that interest me such as why do people climb, how do they deal with the overwhelming number of deaths of friends and colleagues, and how is climbing/mountaineering changing. I liked that he notes the problems and issues of dealing with different personalities on climbing trips and I like that he seems to have great regard and friendship for the Sherpas.

[Joseph Tomkiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Some typos but minor problem.

Enjoyed the adventure and personal reflections. Wish author would have provided definitions of terms when first introduced. Would have made extra research unnecessary.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited is feeding me mountain climbing books now. This was a good one. It took place before Everest became commercialized. The book actually covers many years and many different mountains, including one in Antarctica. The writing was sometimes clunky but I enjoyed it.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Everest Years is Part III of a series of autobiographical books by Chris Bonington. It is a very honest and human account of the period of his life that culminated in him finally summiting Everest at the age of 50, back in 1985. It also covers the details of the deaths of several close friends on climbs, which is always a hard read. He has chosen to have a reflective approach, as some of the expeditions have already had their own books written by him, and here he shows how the expeditions related to each other, and he to the participants on them. In the book Bonington admits his style of leadership is not to everyone's liking, and he is good at highlighting the highs and lows of the inter-personal relationships, particularly on his smaller teams. This is a reprint, under a different imprint, of a book first published in 1986. It does unfortunately suffer from a number of typos, and hyphenations that do not survive different line lengths in the new setting. It is also disappointing that Bonington's excellent photography is poorly reproduced in this edition. On the plus side it is great to have maps of expeditions, and some route overlays on some of the photos. Overall it is an excellent read, detailing some of the ground-breaking expeditions he led (or took part in, as he was not always the leader) in a period when he was arguably the highest profile mountaineer of his time.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book forms a collection of short stories detailing a number of interesting climbs that Bonington participated in over what he dubs 'The Everest Years'. Not as gripping a read as previous climbing books I've read but it was still very enjoyable. The writer has a very gentle nature and is honest about events as he saw them and quick to point out his shortcomings when he thinks he may have acted on impulse on occasion. I love reading about Himalayan climbing and expedition planning and this book really helps you get to know Bonington, the great British climber, much better. If this kind of topic interests you then you'll enjoy it too!

[Nigel Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great account of some of the authors more dramatic moments during his illustrious climbing career. As with many of his contemporaries there is a refreshing candour around the, at times, selfish behaviour that big mountain climbing requires and particularly in the 70's and 80's when there was still some element of innovation and entailed some degree of exploration. Much of this has gone now with many of the routes being done several times over. If you enjoy books on climbing then this is a good if not outstanding example.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different from most of this style of books in that its about his lifelong campaign, or well the moments that he found the most memorable during his career.

As its a remarkable career, its a remarkable book. Enjoyed it a lot.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting history from the old days.