High Achiever: The Life and Climbs of Chris Bonington by Jim Curran
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Chris Bonington is the most famous British mountaineer and alpine climber. In 1970 he led the successful British expedition on the South Face of Annapurna, and in 1975 the expedition that he led conquered the South-West Face of Everest. His climbing record includes hundreds of peaks and extremely difficult routes on many continents.

On Goodreads, I reviewed Bonington's account of the 1970 expedition, titled Annapurna South Face. My interest in the British climber results from a slight personal connection. Almost half a century ago, I worked in a research group with Jan Wolf, a prominent Polish climber and mountaineer, who told me stories about Bonington's colorful persona.

High Achiever is a solid account of Bonington's life and climbing career. We read about his difficult childhood in a wartime, single-parent family and about the awakening fascination with mountains. We learn about his short British military career and follow his increasingly difficult climbs. Then comes the mature period, when he became one of the world's most accomplished climbers and a successful leader of large mountaineering expeditions.

The biography confirms my friend's stories about Bonington, particularly about his absent-mindedness and propensity for changing decisions. Yet it is a very sympathetic biography (Jim Curran, the author, participated in several adventures together with Mr. Bonington), and the reader gets the picture of a tough, strong-willed, yet sensitive and honest person with great organizational skills, equipped with a gift of perseverance until the task at hand is completed. Yes, there were some conflicts when he was leading large expeditions, yet, eventually, all sides agreed that his leadership was effective and his actions were most likely to achieve the goals.

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