Bonington: Everest queue is not worth it

CHRIS BONINGTON, the veteran mountaineer, has said climbers should abandon their dreams of conquering Everest because the mountain is so crowded.

Bonington made the first successful ascent of the south-west face of Everest in 1975, but said climbers now should look elsewhere. “For a lot of my fellow climbers, it’s awful. Thank God I don’t have to go back there,” he said.

Asked at the Hay Festival what advice he could give to someone wanting to climb Everest, Bonington said: “Quite honestly, if you have this dream of climbing Everest, you’re going to be doing it with about 500 or 600 other people. You see those photographs with the long lines of people going up fixed ropes to get to the top.

“I would say, best of all, don’t do Everest. There are literally hundred of unclimbed peaks in the Himalayas, places where you can actually go away from people and actually learn that adventure. Start modest and build up. If you really do want to climb Everest, then fair enough, but be prepared to stand in a long queue.”

However, he does not begrudge amateur climbers trying their luck.