"...and then we ran out of food, again, but we were used to that..."

Chris Bonington (Apologies, SIR Chris Bonington) is a true British mountaineering legend... His list of first ascents spans at least four decades and includes numerous big Alpine routes, Himalayan peaks of over 7000m, and even the Old Man of Hoy in 1966.


 Myself, Lorna, my brother Ed and Mum and Dad all attended a talk by Sir Chris on Friday night, at the Sheffield Uni Octagon centre. It was a great talk, with photos and videos covering his whole life, from growing up in London, climbing at Harrison rocks, then working as an Outward Bound instructor before (after a short stint working at Unilever!) starting a career in expedition journalism, followed finally by becoming a professional mountaineer.


However, for me the best bit was after the talk. I had brought an old book called "Quest for Adventure", written by Chris Bonington and published in 1982. It belonged to my parents and I remember this book being on the shelves in my room growing up, though I don't think I first read it until I was in my teens. Anyway, it's a compilation of adventures from around the world, and across many disciplines, from the summit of Annapurna, the Kon-Tiki, to the joining of the Keld Head and Kingsdale caves. It's a great book, and after his talk Chris agreed to sign it for me, as well as Ed's book about Annapurna South Face, which is equally special to him as he bought it in Kathmandu.

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