The story of Britain's best-loved mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonington, made into a biopic by Keith Patridge and Brian Hall starring Bonington himself. From the years of rock climbing in Britain , to the visionary ascents of the high peaks of the Himalayas: this is an account of the simultaneously remarkable and moving life of one of the greatest figures of our time.
Under the editorial direction of Bonington himself, the film focuses on the most serious and significant expeditions of his long climbing career. "Bonington: Mountaineer is effectively a history lesson in avant-garde British mountaineering during its ‘golden’ 30-year period. A period not without its tragic moments and the severe trials faced by this generation of mountaineers. The tears almost never dry from Chris Bonington's eyes -we see him lose friend after friend in the mountains. Despite the losses he experiences, Bonington never loses his adventurous spirit - and after climbing Everest with Arne Naes' Norwegian expedition in 1985, he felt free to climb for the sheer joy of climbing - something he still does to this day, as we can see from the incredible climb he made at the age of 80 on the Old Man of Hoy massif.
A film about one of the most extraordinary and adventurous destinies of a man who won the imagination and respect not only of alpine communities but of the general public. In 1996, Chris Bonnington was knighted for his services to mountaineering, served as President of the National Parks Council for 8 years and is currently the Honorary Non-Executive Chairman of the sports and mountaineering equipment brand Berghaus.