Chris’s Blog

Thank you Pertemba SherpaToday’s summit is from a very, very special climber! This is Pertemba Sherpa, or PT, as he’s affectionately known. PT was the head Sirdar (lead Sherpa) on Chris Bonington’s original 1975 Everest expedition.
He was only 29 back then, and he helped lead the team to their historic summit. He also summited in the second summit team behind Dougal and Doug.
He has been a supporter of Community Action Nepal for years now, and has worked closely with them on developing a Sherpa Heritage Home - a memorial and museum for all of the mountain Sherpa’s. It was heavily damaged during the 2015 earthquake, but has been restored to its original glory.
It’s great to see PT climbing his stairs for this challenge!! We thank you so much for getting involved!!
There’s an exclusive interview with Pertemba to be released once we collectively climb to base camp at 5,600m. I’ll be announcing our position later on today!!! 🙌🏻🙏🏻🧗🏻‍♀️🏔#everestchallenge2020 #climb4can ... See MoreSee Less

3 months ago

Here's the official information for the Everest Challenge 2020 - please share it with all of your friends and family and get involved to support this incredible cause!!

Thank you from Doug Scott and all of the team at CAN 🙏🏻

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/caneverest2020 ... See MoreSee Less

4 months ago

“I am hugely inspired and impressed by Margaret’s wonderful effort in climbing Suilven on her stairs at home. Suilvan also is my very favourite mountain which I first climbed in 1952 as a school boy with a friend. The view from the top of Suilven is one of the most wonderful in the world and one that I have always held in my heart. It gives me special pleasure therefore to share Margarets love of this mountain when she climbed it all those years ago and her wonderful efforts today."
@margaretsmountainclimb Berghaus nhs.uk ... See MoreSee Less

5 months ago

youtu.be/Ql8KZ-ZvusA check out this clip Mountain Heritage Trust Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

5 months ago

and the reverse has images of the mountains which meant most to Joss in his long climbing career. The one at the bottom
is ”The Little Sugar Loaf”. which can be seen from Black Rock just. south of Dublin and was the first mountain I ever climbed on my own as a school boy of 15. This makes this award even more treasured by my self. @mountaineeringireland #mountainawards2019 Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

I received my medal from the grandson in the presence of other members of the Lynam family at the end of the lecture.
It’s a beautifully crafted medal in high grade silver @mountaineeringireland #mountainawards2019 Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

I gave my “Life and Times” lecture. Always a challenge cramming 70 years of climbing into 75 minutes!! @mountaineeringireland Berghaus #mountainawards2019 ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

We had a full house of 450 participants for the lecture, a lively question time and I was then taking to one of the many fabulous Dublin pubs @mountainingireland Berghaus #mountainawards2019 ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

"Mountaineering Ireland” holds the Joss Lynam Memorial lecture every year to honour a mountaineer for his contribution to our sport and he gives a lecture. Amongst my predecessors were Mick Fowler and Stephen Venables.
Joss Lynam, whom I’d known and climbed with over the years contributed to Irish mountaineering in so many different ways and was a warm, giving character. @mountaineeringireland Berghaus #mountainawards2019 ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

And I’m standing outside Weir and Sons Dublin’s oldest jewellers who made my medal @weirandsons #mountaineering #dublin Berghaus @mountaineeringireland ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

The Christmas lights are fantastic @mountaineeringireland #dublin #christmaslights Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

You feel you in the country in the middle of Dublin @mountaineeringireland Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

It’s a really beautiful compact city. My hotel, “Stauntons on the Green” opposite St Stephens Green Park is delightful Berghaus #mountaineeringireland @stauntonsonthegreen ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

I’m in Dublin to receive the Lynam Memorial Medal Berghaus @mountaineeringireland #dublin ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

Had a great morning yesterday with QuoLux, an amazing organisation and business which councils and develops leaders in the Cheltenham Gloucester area taking some of them up to the MBA level but helping people in business or the non profit sector to work and live more effectively.

I am hugely impressed by the work they do and have worked with them over a period of years with a workshop on leadership. Using my leadership of the 1975 Everest South West Face Expedition and getting an audience of over a hundred very bright minds to help me lead our expedition to success, by telling them the story illustrated by slides and video sequences taken on the climb to immerse them on the challenges of leadership and decision, making which in principle are the same in running any organisation. It was great to see how previous delegates had developed over the years.

www.quolux.co.uk/lead/ #inspirebelief #leADalumni Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago

And sold many books Berghaus @speakersfromtheedge Vertebrate Publishing Simon & Schuster Bonington: Mountaineer ... See MoreSee Less

11 months ago

Great audience @speakersfromtheedge Berghaus Vertebrate Publishing #stirling ... See MoreSee Less

11 months ago

Last lecture of the series in Stirling in the same hall I lectured in 7 years ago Berghaus Speakers from the Edge Vertebrate Publishing Simon & Schuster Books UK #mountaineer @bonington:mountaineer ... See MoreSee Less

11 months ago

The lecture at Aberdeen Music Hall a huge success with audience of 740. Very special for me having the family of my old friend Tom Patey one of Scotland’s greatest pioneering climbers with whom I did some of the best climbs of my life attending the lecture and having a few drinks together and talking about old times Berghaus #aberdeen #speakersfromtheedge ... See MoreSee Less

11 months ago

It was Chelsea v West Ham, the first time we’d been to a football match. It was fantastic, exceeding all our expectations - the atmosphere, roar of the crowd and the sheer skill of the players. We were totally hooked! Berghaus Chelsea Football Club ... See MoreSee Less

11 months ago

My nephew, James Bonington, Company Secretary of Chelsea, invited us to the Directors Box for a match Berghaus Chelsea Football Club ... See MoreSee Less

11 months ago

More Christmas stock just arrived, Ascent by Chris Bonington to order www.bonington.com Bonington: Mountaineer Simon & Schuster Speakers from the Edge Berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

Signing books at a packed house in Chelmsford Speakers from the Edge Berghaus Bonington: Mountaineer Simon Ashton ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

Full house in Chelmsford Speakers from the Edge Berghaus Bonington: Mountaineer Simon & Schuster ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

Less than 24hours left to give the gift of adventure this Christmas. Donate to Bendrigg Trust before 12pm Tues 4th Dec & not only will you help people with disabilities to achieve through adventure but your donation will be DOUBLED bit.ly/Bendrigg @chrisbonington Berghaus Simon & Schuster ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

Great nights at High Wycombe with audience of 500 and 400 at Horsham. Thank you everyone! @TheRealBerghaus #mountaineer @SpeakersEdge @ChrisBonington @simonschusterUK ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

It's #GivingTuesday and #donations to @BendriggTrust are being #DoubleD today! Please join me in helping them raise vital funds to enable disabled people to achieve through adventure. Donate here: bit.ly/Bendrigg ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

“ I have lived at Nether Row for over forty years and have come to love its gentle hills and the villages of Caldbeck and Hesket Newmarket with a real passion. To focus on Caldbeck it has everything a village should have, a Church, a school, a village hall, green and duck pond, a pub, a shop, a post office and so much more - a warm, friendly communal spirit that has led to a cricket, bowling and tennis and Amateur dramatics club with quite a few more thrown in. It has such a rich history both industrial and rural that goes back to Roman times,and whose traces can be traced to the present day in the diversity of its architecture and society, the successful blending of different waves of incomers. ~This is truly a unique and very special village society in so many ways.”

This is a 300-page history of Caldbeck titled 'Caldbeck -A Special Part of Lakeland'.Launch event Saturday 17th November in the Parish Hall at 11am for further details contact Tony vauxt@aol.com ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

It’s a wonderful, exuberant festival that packed 2000 happy people into the Award ceremony. #23FG #ladekmtnfest Simon & Schuster Mountain Heritage Trust Speakers from the Edge #chrisbonington Keith Partridge Brian Hall Bonington: Mountaineer ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

All the prize winners with Andre Stremelj, the brilliant Slovenian mountaineer, winner of the 2018 Life Time Achievement in the centre Sir Chris Bonington​ Keith Partridge​ Brian Hall​ Simon & Schuster​ Ladek Mountain Festival​ @23FG Bonington: Mountaineer​ ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

I had the great pleasure of presenting Frédéric Degoulet, Niçois Benjamin Guigonnet and Hélias Millerioux the Piolet d’Or for their superb Alpine Style Ascent of a new route on the South Face of Nuptse, of which I made the first ascent in 1961. #ladekmtnfest #23FG Bonington: Mountaineer Keith Partridge Brian Hall #berghaus Simon & Schuster Speakers from the Edge ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

Here I am, somewhat battered from tripping over in a walk in Little Langdale and landing on my head, just before coming out to Ladek. Brian Hall on my left, who with Keith Partridge produced his autobiographical film Mountaineer, Victor Saunders, Alpine Club and Joanna Croston, Program Director Banff Mountain Festival. Some great. socialising!! #23FG #ladekmtnfest #chrisbonington Brian Hall Keith Partridge Berghaus Simon & Schuster Vertebrate Publishing Bonington: Mountaineer ... See MoreSee Less

2 years ago

Film available from today to buy DVD www.bonington.com and download #boningtonmountaineer #berghaus ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Collecting donations with the local Mountain Rescue Team at Kendal Mountain Festival. #mountainrescue #KMF17 #chrisbonington #Ascent #boningtonmountaineer #berghaus #simonandschuster #vertebrate #climbing #mountains ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Here I am with some of the Kendal Mountain Film Festival organisers. Thank you for a wonderful festival. #kendal17 #berghaus #Ascent #chrisbonington #boningtonmountaineer ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Packed audience at Q&A at #kendal17 #berghaus #ascent ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Book signing at the Berghaus stand #kendal17 #berghaus #Ascent #simonandschuster #vertebrate ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

We had a wonderful night at the UK Premiere of Bonington: Mountaineer at #kendalmountainfestival On stage with #eddouglas and #keithpartridge DVD is for sale at the festival this weekend, and out on www.bonington.com from 20th November #berghaus #chrislines ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Have a look at this great book, published today written by Jo Woolf @sandstonepress @TheHazelTreeUK #greathorizon @rkbookpublicist @RoyalScotGeoSoc ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Little-known fact: 20,000 lovers of all things mountain-related will be descending on Banff for the next #nineepicdays. We had a whopping 382 films submitted from 36 countries and whittled them down to 82 finalists. For book enthusiasts, we had 171 books from 11 countries and managed to pick the top 28 articles and books now in competition for the grand prize.

There are tons of free events to take in now until November 5th👌Head here to check 'em all out → goo.gl/5wJjEv ... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

... See MoreSee Less

3 years ago

Come and meet Sir Chris Bonington at Kendal Mountain Festival this weekend.

Life & Times Lecture Saturday 19th November
in Kendal Town Hall 12noon - 1.30pm

Book Signings - Chris's revised edition of Mountaineer published November 2016 with five new chapters!

Berghaus Stall at the Brewery Arts Centre - Saturday 19th November 4.30pm - 6pm

Vertebrate Stall at The Brewery Arts Centre - Sunday 20th November 12noon - 1pm

Q & A at Basecamp Brewery Arts Centre - Sunday 20th November
1.00pm - 2.00pm ... See MoreSee Less

4 years ago

Mel Nicholls - Wheelchair Racer, many thanks for these wonderful kind words about my lecture at Brecon. Meeting you, after the lecture was every bit as inspiring for me. What you have achieved since those strokes you had, matches climbing six Everests or more.

Your courage in adversity, your determination to reach the top in your chosen Paralympic sport which led to your amazing success in the London Olympics, but you know, to me the most impressive of all is the way you handled being forced by illness to drop out of the finals in the Rio Paralympics. When we met after my lecture at Brecon, you radiated a wonderful positiveness and warmth or spirit that I know you have given to so many people. You truly are an inspiration and I do hope our paths cross in the future.I knew I would thoroughly enjoy and be inspired by my trip to Theatr Brycheiniog to see Sir Chris Bonington talk his 'Life and Times', but I was not prepared for an emotionally raw, spell binding journey that hit me hard to the point of tears and has left me moved and inspired by a man, a father, a husband, a grandfather and Britain's greatest ever mountaineer.
His accounts of first ascents of the North Wall of the Eiger, the South Face of Annapurna and being the First Briton to summit Everest from the SouthWest face were humble and real, the true bravery and danger taken by the climbers and the perilous mountains so often shown, comrades and close friends taken time and time again, this was very real and emotional and I found myself asking in my head "why does he keep going back to the mountains?" But as Chris continued to tell his story, he tells of his wife who became ill and after 52 years of marriage he lost to Motor Neurone Disease in 2014. My eyes could not hold back a tear and it was at that point I'd answered my own question. I knew every mountaineer, returning to the mountains, I knew that was what they loved, their passion and their dreams and that as awful as losing someone to the mountain, perhaps it was better doing what you love than to a cruel disease that breaks lives and takes dreams.
I wish I had the vocabulary to express just how incredible Sir Chis Bonington and his Life and Times is, I have never been moved to tears by a speaker before, and he himself also became visibly emotional.
He is now 82 years young, and shares the same mindset as myself, speaking on film from his recent climb of The Old Man of Hoy. He knows age is no barrier, he talks about by keeping going then there's no reason you can't keep doing it, this climb, at the age of 80, 48 years after his first ascent, Chris talks about wanting most, to make every single day of his eighties mean something. A long way from my eighties yet but no lesser truth in these words, about making every day count, making every day mean something. His next words rang true as they may for many no matter what age.. "Don't give up, just go for it, it's making life as rich and exciting as you can that keeps you going and gives you hope".
I was very fortunate to speak to Chris afterwards. Those that know me know my love for adventure and my love of mountains, Everest was always a dream growing up, and to me now the highest point on earth signifies so much to me personally. Something I was told while in hospital always stuck with me, the stroke rehab team telling me to take one step at a time and not try and climb the whole mountain in one, again, those that know me know I have never listened to their advice.
We spoke about my strokes and the games and how I was moved by his own story of London 2012 and what it meant to him to carry the torch up Snowdon where he first began his love for the mountains and would return with his whole family with the torch before his wife passed away.
He really was wonderful to talk to. To shake the hand of a first British ascent of the worlds highest mountain was something very special to me and his words back to me will stay with me for my lifetime. He smiled and said "well, you've climbed your own Everest", I smiled back. Because I know I have only just begun.

A truly wonderful evening and if anyone gets the chance to see him, do. ... See MoreSee Less

4 years ago

... See MoreSee Less

5 years ago

Yesterday I had a lovely gentle walk from Friar Row, Caldbeck along the banks of the Caldew and the Cumbrian Way towards Sebergham. With the gorse just beginning to bloom and new born lambs Spring is definitely here! In the background is my local and favorite fell, High Pike on the sky line. ... See MoreSee Less

6 years ago

Referring to my earlier post this is young Paul Ross on left with Hamish right just after he had been hit on the head with a stone. It was 1958 so Paul was just 22 at a time and I was a youthful 24. Nobody bothered to take a picture of me! ... See MoreSee Less

6 years ago

Timeline PhotosOur next Film/Lecture evening!

Sir Chris Bonington will be in with his brand new talk "Life & Times" which features his astounding ascent of the Old Man of Hoy, at the age of 80!

12th May, at the usual start time of 7pm at £12 per ticket. ... See MoreSee Less

6 years ago