Peter Boardman
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Peter Boardman (1950-1982) was a British climber, Everest summiteer, and author of several mountaineering books. Born in Stockport, England, he began climbing in his teens, and at the age of 16 made his first visit to the Alps. He 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.
After Stockport Grammar School, he studied English at the University of Nottingham, where he was President of the Mountaineering Club, here 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. 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 summited Everest via the South West face, on an expedition on which fellow climber Mick Burke was tragically killed.
In 1976 he joined forces with Joe Tasker and climbed the West Wall 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 was killed on the North-North East ridge of Everest in 1982, along with his climbing partner Joe Tasker.
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.
