I Chose to Climb

Mountaineering during the mid-20th century bred a new race of climbers when the era that began with Whymper¿s ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 ended with the British ascent of Everest in 1953. In those days climbing had for most people the quality of heroic myth and climbers were larger than life figures. But peaks which were previously so inaccessible became increasingly available post-1953 and Chris Bonington was recognised then, as now, as one of the outstanding members of this generation. In I Chose to Climb, first published in 1966, he tells of his first climbing experiences as a schoolboy ¿ his first serious climbing at Harrison¿s Rocks in Kent and his progress to climbs in Wales and Scotland. Then, with celebrated mountaineering personalities such as Hamish MacInnes, Don Whillans and Ian Clough, Chris Bonington went on to make successful ascents all over the world, including the first British ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in 1962, Annapurna II in 1960 and in an unhappy expedition in 1961, Nuptse, the third peak of Everest. The story of Chris Bonington¿s many exploits finishes in this book at 1962 but is continued in his subsequent works of autobiography, The Next Horizon and The Everest Years, also reissued on 12 July 2001 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.