Bonita Norris on Manaslu

Bonita Norris on Manaslu

Ever woken up with a crazy idea? Personally, I find it an effort even to realise what day it is, but one young woman did indeed awake with a dream.

Bonita Norris decided she wanted to be the youngest British woman to summit Everest. The drawback was, she’d never climbed before. But on 3 April she sets off for Nepal, hopeful for a May summit.

In the eighteen months since she decided to follow her dream, the novice climber from Wokingham, Berkshire, has worked on her new quest, and in autumn last year climbed to the summit of Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest peak, at 8,156m (26,759 ft), no stroll in the park.

She is making her Everest attempt to raise money for Global Angels, an international foundation for children’s causes. The individual projects to benefit from the novice mountaineer’s venture will be Child Voice International and the White Lodge Centre.

Ms Norris said: “One morning in 2008, I woke up with a crazy idea – the kind of idea you dismiss as a pipe dream. The kind of idea that you feel embarrassed to have even considered yourself able to put into action.
“But it stuck. My idea was to climb Everest in its spring season of 2010, and raise a shed load of cash for charity along the way. I had less than two years to get ready, and a slight issue of finding £50,000 to cover the costs of such a trip.

“It seems crazy looking back, but with a little determination I was soon heading out to the Alps and getting sponsorship in place to cover these huge costs. Despite many people telling me that I couldn’t do it, I knew I could prove them wrong. I just had to get onto a big peak and put my training into action.

“By the skin of my teeth, in August 2009 I was flying to Nepal to attempt to climb the world’s 8th highest mountain – at only 645m shorter than Everest, Manaslu, for me, was a ‘baptism of fire’.

“I learnt that mountaineering is definitely mind over matter. It was the hardest thing I had ever done, but also with the greatest achievement. I am the youngest woman to have climbed the peak, and was the youngest climber on the mountain by many years.”

Ms Norris has also set up an eBay auction of three flags which will carry the winning bidders’ names and which she will take with her on her summit effort.

More details of Bonita Norris’s venture are on her website, along with links to the charities.

Some articles the site thinks might be related:

  1. Bonita salutes woman who took her Everest record
  2. British teenager aims for Seven Summits record with Everest attempt
  3. Cool eighth summit helps Bonita to Everest record
  4. Nine ascents and 135 characters for a Cool Everest record
  5. That Everest brawl: the Sherpas’ view