In 1956, after finishing his education and then military academy, the 22-year-old Bonington was sent to the European mainland. Even during his time as a mountain climbing instructor in the British Army, he made a name for himself by carrying out difficult repeat ascents and first ascents in the Alps. Thus, in 1958, he was part of the first British expedition to the Bonatti pillar on the Petit Dru and in 1961, together with Don Whillans, Ian Clough and the Polish climber Jan Dlugosz, he was part of the first ascent of the central Freney pillar on Mont Blanc. Moreover, in 1963, he was the first to climb the central tower of Paine in Patagonia (with Don Whillans). In 1960, he was invited to be part of the joint British and Indian expedition to Annapurna-II. Together with Dick Grant and Ang Nyima he successfully completed the first ascent; it was his first »contact« with a Himalayan summit.

Sir Chris Bonington led 19 expeditions in the Himalayas. Many of these were successful. In 1968, Dougal Haston and Don Whillans were the first to climb the south wall of Annapurna under his leadership; at the time, no other large Himalayan wall had yet been conquered. In 1975, he also led the British expedition to Everest to success, with Doug Scott and Dougal Haston being the first to climb the south-west face. Bonington’s first ascent of the Ogre is also notorious, which he made in 1977 with Doug Scott. However, the notoriety is due to the descent; Scott broke both his legs in a fall and Bonington broke a rib during the descent from the summit. It took them six days to crawl down from the mountain. In 1985, Bonington realized a lifetime dream and climbed Mount Everest with a joint Norwegian and British expedition.