Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
istic and lightweight approach. And for the privateers, it meant exposure to the
professionalism and commercial potential of sponsored expeditions, which in turn
impacted on their own attitudes and career opportunities.
Until invited on a Bonington trip, the independently minded climber thought his
management style dictatorial and corporate. But most came to recognise that Bon-
ington's style was broadly consensual; he may have taken the final decisions, but
without such an approach, he knew his expeditions would fail. It was good busi-
ness; good leadership was the way Bonington could gain the confidence of spon-
sors and raise finance. The summit was the product the sponsor was buying to add
value to their brand.
Of course, he needed to manage the story for the media as well, whether the
news was good or bad. This management was not just external; it also applied to
team members. His anxiety about presentation could backfire at times. While I
was working for Ken Wilson at
Mountain
, we published an article by Mike
Thompson called 'Out with the Boys Again.' It was a genuinely funny, alternative
look at the workings and dynamics of Bonington's 1975 Everest expedition by one
of its members. Thompson was known for his wry humour and his attitude that
climbing should be something unfettered and independent of any bureaucratic or
authoritative control.
In the article, he describes how two groups formed during the expedition's walk-
in to base camp. The first group includes the managers of the expedition, those
close to Bonington running base camp and logistics, the media representatives,
doctors and so forth. The second group - the 'lads' - included more raucous and
anarchistic individuals like Jim Duff, Braithwaite, Scott and, of course, Thompson
himself. Bonington was described as the leader glimpsed in his tent typing out or-
ders for the day on a porridge-encrusted computer. Peter Boardman, the newly ap-
pointed national officer of the BMC, was also targeted for ridicule, as a climbing
bureaucrat working on the seventeenth floor of the BMC's headquarters. It is a
seminal piece of satire that captured the changing face of British mountaineering.
The morning after
Mountain
hit the shelves, Ken answered the phone to an out-
raged Bonington shouting at him down the line about misrepresentation. As soon
as Ken had regained his composure, he went on the offensive, talking about free-
dom of the press, but more importantly, pointing out that the Thompson story car-
ried a second underlying theme that was, in fact, a homage to the organisation of
both people and materials on the expedition. Thompson may not have entirely ac-
cepted his role as a high-altitude porter for the summit teams, but he appreciated
the planning that made it so successful. Chris soon calmed down and both
Thompson and Wilson were once again friends. Just as his team eventually real-
