I was a huge daydreamer and imagined myself as a successful general leading his troops into battle.
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CB
Chris Bonington
b. 1935
Sport
About
Born in London, Chris Bonington, 90, joined the army and became an Outward Bound instructor. In 1975, he led the first expedition to successfully climb Everest via its south-west face. Ten years later, he reached the summit himself. In 1996, he was knighted for services to mountaineering, and his many books include the memoir Ascent. He has two surviving children by his late wife and is married for the second time. He has been an ambassador for Berghaus for 40 years. He lives in Cumbria.
11 answers
The loss of Conrad.
Compassion, resourcefulness and resilience form a rounded good person. So that’s what I’d like to leave my children and grandchildren.
There are so many instances when I’ve come very close to death that it’s difficult to pick one.
Becoming more physically active.
Everest the hard way in 1975: leading the expedition that succeeded where so many people had tried and failed. That was the most complex mountaineering challenge I ever faced. I spent hours at night in a little tent thinking about what the next problem would be and how to solve it.
It’s my snoring that keeps Loreto awake!
Whenever things seem absolutely terrible, to see that you’re alive and that’s all that matters.
I left the army and got a job with Unilever in Northern Ireland. They were very strict and you had to have a hat, and when you went into a shop you had to raise your hat to the shopkeeper and then sell your wares. I was selling margarine.
When I was climbing I was absolutely happy. I can use a climbing wall, but that’s not the same as real climbing.
Resourceful, resilient and compassionate.
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