© Chris Bonington Picture Library
L-R: Joe Tasker, Pete Boardman & Dick Renshaw at base camp on K2 in 1980
1975 was a particularly significant year for both Pete and Joe. They already both had established reputations as alpinists of the top rank, but events that year were to have significant impact on both their lives, and on the relationship between themselves. Pete was selected for Chris Bonington’s large scale expedition to climb Everest’s South West Face, as part of a team that included Martin Boysen, Tut Braithwaite, Nick Estcourt, Mick Burke, Doug Scott, and Dougal Haston. It was a reflection of Pete’s ability, despite being only 24, that he was included in such esteemed company.
The expedition proceeded well, and after Paul Braithwaite and Nick Estcourt made a huge effort to force the route through the rock band, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston became the first British climbers to reach the summit of Everest on September 24th. Pete was chosen to make the second summit attempt along with Martin Boysen, Pertemba and Mick Burke. Chris Bonington described the events of the day:
“The second summit team reached Camp Six and set off the following morning for the summit. Martin turned back with malfunctioning oxygen equipment but Pete and Pertemba reached the summit at one o’clock. They assumed that Mick had returned to Camp Six with Martin so were amazed to meet up with him just above the Hillary Step as they descended. Mick even tried to persuade them to come back to the top so that he could film them. They agreed instead that Pete and Pertemba would wait at the South Summit. I’m sure that Mick reached the summit, but by four-thirty he still hadn’t returned. A storm was brewing, growing stronger by the minute. Daylight would soon begin to fade. Pete and Pertemba were dangerously exposed. If they had waited any longer they would most likely have perished. It seems likely that Mick stepped through a cornice on his way down from the top.”
Pete and Pertemba had an appalling time getting down to Camp Six, and it was a mark of Pete’s strength and ability that he got them both down safely, albeit utterly exhausted. Martin Boysen described to me the awful night the three of them spent in the tent at Camp Six, as he produced endless brews to help Pete and Pertemba recover as the storm raged on into the next day. This horrible experience and the death of Mick, had a profound effect on Pete, and it was heart-breaking for Martin, as Mick was an old friend from way back.
During that autumn of 1975, Joe Tasker was also out in the Himalayas, making his first visit there with Dick Renshaw. Driving out there in a badly beat up Ford Escort van, they made an audacious lightweight ascent of Dunagiri by its south-east ridge and spending ten days in ascent and descent of the mountain. The ascent went well, but during the descent they became separated and once back at Base Camp it was clear that Dick had suffered quite serious frost-bite, which required extensive treatment into the next year. Their ascent of Dunagiri was a superb achievement that brought Joe and Dick to the attention of the world’s mountaineering elite.
For some time, Joe had harboured a desire to climb Changabang and in the latter part of 1975, he approached Pete with a mind to attempting to climb the mountain’s unclimbed West Face. Joe and Pete had first met back in 1971 on a route at Chamonix. Joe was climbing with Dick; Pete was partnered by Martin Wragg. By 1975 they really only knew each other in passing and by reputation, but in the absence of Dick, Joe felt that Pete would be the ideal partner to attempt the route with on Changabang. Thus was the partnership of Pete and Joe formed in the last weeks of 1975. They would go on to have an enormous influence on the development of High Altitude climbing over the next seven years.
© Doug Scott’s Photography Collection
L to R: Dick Renshaw, Doug Scott, Pete Boardman & Joe Tasker
2025 is also the 45th Anniversary of Pete and Joe’s visit to K2 with Doug Scott and Dick Renshaw. It was Pete and Joe’s second visit to the mountain following the ill-fated 1978 Expedition when Nick Estcourt was killed. In 1980 the team was again attempting to climb the mountain by its West Ridge. Doug Scott’s biographer Catherine Moorhead takes up the story:
“The Expedition reached 7000m before biting hard winds then running out of time as the technical difficulties mounted. Scott proposed an Alpine-style ascent of the remaining 1,600m, but the others disagreed (Renshaw was anxious about frostbite, after a bad experience on Dunagiri). Scott had to return home, just 9n time to lead an expedition to Makalu. The others tried a switch to the Abruzzi Spur route, resulting in a near-fatal three-night epic in a storm just below 6000m.”
The epic Catherine mentions came very close to claiming the lives of Pete, Joe, and Dick. The team was avalanched at night in their tent only 1500ft below the summit. Joe’s description in Savage Arena (pages 282-304) tells a truly gripping story. The boys were very lucky to come home after that one, and they never did return to K2.
References:
‘Savage Arena’ by Joe Tasker
‘Ascent’ by Sir Chris Bonington
‘Mountain Guru’ by Catherine Moorehead
Steve Dean
April 2025