Peter Boardman
| Peter Boardman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 December 1950 Stockport, England |
| Died | 17 May 1982 (aged 31) The North-East Ridge, Mount Everest, Tibet |
| Occupation | Mountaineer |
Peter Boardman (25 December 1950 – 17 May 1982) was a British climber, Everest summiteer, and author of several mountaineering books.
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[edit] Early life
Boardman was born in Stockport, England, and attended Stockport Grammar School, where he now has a climbing wall dedicated to his name.[1] He began climbing in his teens, and at the age of 16 made his first visit to the Alps. He studied English at the University of Nottingham, where he was President of the Mountaineering Club, and quickly became a proficient Alpine climber, and made the first British ascents of the North Face Direct of the Olan, the North Face of the Nesthorn and the North Face Direct of the Lauterbrunnen Breithorn.[citation needed]
[edit] Expeditions
He undertook his first expedition to the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, climbing the North Face of Koh-I-Khaaik and making the first ascent of Kohi-Mundi.[2] After Nottingham, Peter studied for a diploma in education at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he learnt some Welsh. He became a British mountain guide, and worked for the British Mountaineering Council. He was subsequently President of the British Association of Mountain Guides and Director of the International School of Mountaineering at Leysin.
A number of expeditions followed and, in 1975, he reached the summit of Mount Everest via the south-west face, as part of the second assault team, on an expedition on which fellow climber Mick Burke was killed.
In 1976 he joined forces with Joe Tasker and climbed the west face of Changabang, at its time probably the hardest Himalayan climb in the world. His book about the experience, The Shining Mountain, is one of the outstanding works of mountaineering literature, and won the 1979 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for literature.
After a failed attempt at K2, in which climber Nick Estcourt was killed in an avalanche, Boardman successfully climbed Kangchenjunga in 1979 via the north ridge. He returned to K2 in 1980, reaching a height of 7975 metres.
He made the first ascent of Kongur Tagh in 1981 with Chris Bonington, Al Rouse, and Joe Tasker.
[edit] Death
He was killed on the north-north-east ridge of Mount Everest in 1982, along with his climbing partner Joe Tasker. In 1992 Boardman's body was found by climbers from Kazakhstan in a sitting position near the Second Pinnacle "looking like he was asleep". Boardman's body was identified through photographs by relatives in the UK.
A second book Sacred Summits, detailing his climbing exploits of 1979, was published posthumously. The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was established in memory of him and Joe Tasker, also a gifted writer.
[edit] References
- ^ "Stockport Grammar School - an independent school near Manchester, England - Stockport Grammar School pupils reach new heights!". http://www.stockportgrammar.co.uk/index.php?content_id=646. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ "Kabul:City Number One", bbc.co.uk, 18 September 2009
[edit] External links
- Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
- José Luis Bermúdez, ‘Boardman, Peter David (1950–1982)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006
