He started off spectacularly in the Alps in the late 1950s and early 60s. He made the first British ascent of the South West Pillar of the Drus in 1958. He was part of the party that made the first ascent of the Central Pillar of Freney on the south side of Mont Blanc in 1961. He made the first British ascent of the North Wall of the Eiger in 1962.
During the 60s he undertook numerous adventures including summiting Annapurna II and attempting the first ever descent of the Blue Nile.
The great mountaineering expeditions came in the 70s when his expedition attempted the huge, 12,000 ft. wall South Face of Annapurna and put Dougal Haston and Don Whillans on the summit on 27th May 1970.
Then came the attempts on the South West Face of Everest. The South west Face towering above the Western Cwm had defeated all comers. To add to the difficulty the expedition was attempting to summit Everest in the post monsoon season. No one had succeeded in summiting in the post monsoon season.
Bonington assembled a highly talented and closely knit team which included Dougal Haston and Hamish MacInnes. The expedition managed to establish five camps and whilst their goal was nearly reached appalling weather conditions and temperatures down to –40 degrees F were against them. Bonington is a brilliant organiser because he knows when to push on and when to retreat. He realised that to carry on would be to invite disaster. The team had pushed themselves to the limit of endurance. However they were all played out and so they prepared to leave the mountain. As they were preparing to leave Tony Tighe was tragically killed.
In this gripping account Bonington focuses on the reactions of the team to the mountain and how they coped with the exceptional demands on their physical and mental strength.
