Bonington, Chris (1934-…), one of England’s foremost mountaineers, also won fame as a writer and photographer. Bonington’s expeditions were the first to climb many of the world’s most difficult peaks, including the 26,047-foot (7,939-meter) Annapurna II in the Himalaya (1960). Bonington took part in the first British ascent of the North Wall of the Eiger, Switzerland, in 1962. In 1975, he led the British expedition that made the first ascent of the southwest face of Mount Everest.
Christian John Storey Bonington was born on Aug. 6, 1934, in London. He was educated at University College School, London, and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England from 1954 to 1956. Bonington has written several books about his experiences as a mountaineer and the history of mountain climbing. He wrote four volumes of autobiography, I Chose to Climb (1966), The Next Horizon (1973), Mountaineer (1989), and Boundless Horizons (2000). Bonington published The Climbers: A History of Mountaineering (1992), a book based on a six-part British television series he wrote. His other books include Quest for Adventure (1981) and Tibet’s Secret Mountain (1999), written with Charles Clarke. Bonington was knighted in 1996.
