Chris Bonington
Sir Chris Bonington is one of the worlds most famous British mountaineers, achieving both the first British ascent of the North Wall of the Eiger and conquereing the challenging Southwest Face expedition of Everest. As a keynote speaker he uses his extraordinary mountaineering achievements to inspire and motivate businesses with a strong message of leadership, teamwork, resilience and planning.
Mountaineer, photographer and adventurer Sir Chris Bonington, is one of the worlds most famous mountaineers who made the first British ascent of the North Wall of the Eiger and conquered the Southwest Face expedition of Everest, one of the hardest climbs in the world. He uses these inspirational stories of his world-defining climbing expeditions, to relate to businesses by looking at the basic principles of leadership, teamwork, planning and perseverance.
Chris started climbing in Snowdonia as a school boy and developed as a rock climber, which helped him get nearer to the alps, successfully completing the challenging and classical assent of the Alps in 1958.
Pioneering numerous slopes in the mountain range, it was only when he left the army that Chris decided to tackle his greatest challenge – Everest.
He took on Nuptse (7,861 metres), the third peak of Everest, making the first ascent by its dominant South Face, which was one of the most challenging climbs in the Himalayas at that time. Testing his limits, Chris reached the Summit of Everest at the age of fifty.
Continuing to climb, Chris seeks out challenges to overcome both mentally and physically.
Chris the author has written seventeen books, and wrote and presented the award winning TV series Lakeland. He is also the non-executive Chairman of Berghaus.
In 1996, he was knighted for his services to climbing and in 2010 was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order for his services to the Outward Bound Trust.
Determined and skilful, Chris will motivate a corporate audience through his tales of treacherous environments and sheer perseverance.