The Everest years

This final volume in the series explores the dangerous and fraught terrain of
Tibet and a love affair with the world’s highest peak. In 1985 Chris Bonington
crowned an already distinguished mountaineering career by reaching the summit
of Everest at the age of fifty – an achievement which won him enormous popular
acclaim and affection. Here he tells of his fascination with the highest point
on earth and why it meant so much to him to finally stand there himself.

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.
Edition: 2017 POD edition