Everest the Hard Way

The First Ascent of the South West Face

By: Chris Bonington

Narrated by: Stewart Crank, Chris Bonington

50th Anniversary Edition

Everest–the highest peak in the world, the ultimate challenge to a mountaineer's skill and endurance. It had been climbed before, but never like this. Chris Bonington and his team had ambitions to climb it–the hard way.

Yet before Bonington and his team set out in August 1975, even their well-wishers gave them only a fifty–fifty chance of success. The South West Face of Everest had already defeated five expeditions, including one led by Bonington himself.

Everest the Hard Way is an exhilarating story of courage, endurance and teamwork. Bonington's narrative celebrates the big moments and recreates the excitement and danger of the climb with vivid immediacy. He shares the logistical problems involved in keeping a large expedition moving, and the very real psychological ones of balancing and pairing lead climbers and giving each a chance to make the route on the face. He describes the constant avalanche threat and the attack on the notorious Rock Band at 27,000 feet which had barred the way to the summit for all previous attempts.

How Bonington's team climbed on Everest in 1975 bears no relation to how Everest is climbed fifty years on, with endless resources and helicopter support. It was much riskier in 1975. Weather forecasts were threadbare and, although equipment was improving, it was much more basic than today, so the risk of frostbite was much greater for mountaineers in the 1970s. These climbers, the best of their generation, were leading hard new ground in the only style which gave them a meaningful chance of success. Chris Bonington's Everest the Hard Way is a beautiful, fascinating and tragic story of their legendary achievement.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©1976, 2025 Vertebrate Publishing (P)2025 Vertebrate Publishing

I have been looking for this book on Audible for years!

I first read this book in High School in the mid 70's. I had à large library of mountaineering books (over 200+ titles) and Bonnington's books were front and center in my collection along with David Roberts and Reinhold Messner and others. When I had my stroke and realized that handling books was hard to do anymore, Audible was a true god send. I got the enjoyment I had always gotten from reading, just in a different way. I gradually have built up a pretty good selection of climbing books on Audible (I gave my in-print climbing library to a climbing gym that I used to frequent. They were thrill and my books are giving enjoyment to a whole new audience). Anyway, I was beyond excited when Everest: The Hard Way became available on Audible. As good as I remembered. My climbing "heros" Doug Scott and Dougal Haston made the ascent and unfortunately Mick Burke was lost in a storm at the summit of Everest. I will continue looking for new, and old, climbing books to add to my on-line mountaineering literature collection.