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Blashford-Snell, the first-ever descent of the Blue Nile. Bonington continued to pioneer new climbs and became one of the most recognisable British adventurers thanks to his first ascent of the Old Man of Hoy (1966) and Kongur Tagh (1981), as well as climbing Everest in 1975 and again ten years later. At this latter ascent, he became, at 50, the then-oldest person to climb the mountain. Bonington was also much in demand as an expedition leader, to Everest three times, Annapurna and K2. The danger of mountaineering in the Himalayas was illustrated by the deaths of team members on four of the five expeditions.
Chris Bonington has written and edited 19 books on mountaineering as well as appearing in numerous television programmes. Awarded the CBE in 1976 for leading the previous year’s successful ascent on Everest and CVO in 2010 for services to the Outward Bound Trust, he was knighted in 1996 for his services to mountaineering. Sir Chris Bonington lives in the Lake District and, in 2014, to mark his 80th birthday and raise awareness of motor neurone disease (a disease which claimed his first wife, Wendy), he reprised his ascent of the Old Man of Hoy.
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