Commercial Sponsorship in Mountaineering: A Case Study of the 1975 British Everest Expedition

Abstract

In the 1960s and 1970s a new generation of British mountaineers embraced commercial opportunities in a major departure from the sport's amateur roots. For a time, expeditions in the greater ranges became popular among the British public, receiving coverage in the mainstream media and prime-time television. This demand created new commercial interest in the sport as businesses realized the potential value of association with expeditions. Climbers became widely known and began to endorse products and fund their activities through sponsorship. The new ‘career climbers’ changed the sport's focus and profile and Britain's role in mountaineering on the world stage. However, this created tensions within parts of the climbing community who clung on to the sport's amateur roots. This paper analyses these significant changes in British mountaineering through a case study of the 1975 Everest south-west face expedition. This climb, led by Chris Bonington, was generously backed by a high-street bank and the sponsors pursued a variety of commercial lines to maximize their return and portray their desired image. This paper examines what these new commercial opportunities were, how they came about and how successful they were in generating publicity and income. The paper also discusses the reaction that this extraordinary expedition prompted among the often critical climbing community.

Notes

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4. Walt Unsworth, Everest: The Mountaineering History (London: Bâton Wicks, 2000), 342.

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9. Chris Bonington, Everest the Hard Way (London: Arrow Books, 1977), 28.

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11. Bonington, Everest the Hard Way, 33.

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13. Bonington, Everest the Hard Way, 34.

14. ‘Barclays Sponsorship of British Everest Expedition: Opening Remarks’, undated, MHT, CB0/01/08/06/01.

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16. Unsworth, Everest, 33; 307, notes the purchase of exclusive reporting rights by The Times in the 1920s and 1953.

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19. Polley, Moving the Goalposts, 69–71. Polley has noted that cycling, show jumping, darts and snooker were all obtaining sponsorship, particularly encouraged by television coverage in the 1960s and 1970s.

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29. Birrell, ‘Approaching Mt. Everest’, 15.

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32. Nerys John, ‘The Campaign Against British Bank Involvement in Apartheid South Africa’, African Affairs 99 (2000), 419.

33. ‘Money Book Decisions – Zaire River Expedition’, May 15, 1975, Money Book Decisions, BGA, 80/5220.

34. ‘Barclays Sponsorship of British Everest Expedition: Opening Remarks’, undated, MHT, CB0/01/08/06/01.

35. ‘International Money Book Minutes’, June 10, 1974, Chairman's Copy – Letter Book, BGA, 80/3120.

36. ‘International Money Book Minutes’, July 29, 1974, Chairman's Copy – Letter Book, BGA, 80/3121.

37. Barclays International Quarterly 7, no. 1 (1978), 9, refers to sponsoring this event for the fifth consecutive year.

38. J.P. Bowden, ‘British Everest Expedition’, July 19, 1974, Money Book Decisions, BGA, 80/5216.

39. Michael Thompson, ‘Aesthetics of Risk: Culture or Context’, in Societal Risk Assessment: How Safe Is Safe Enough?, eds Richard C. Schwing and Walter A. Albers Jr. (New York: Plenum Publishing, 1980), 276.

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41. Thompson, ‘Aesthetics of Risk’, 276.

42. Bonington, Everest the Hard Way, 34.

43. ‘Barclays Sponsorship of British Everest Expedition: Opening Remarks’, undated, MHT, CB0/01/08/06/01.

44. ‘Information – Everest: The South-West Face Problem’, Mountain, January 1975, 9.

45. Tritton, The Half-Closed Door, 285.

46. Letter from A Tuke to A Goldberg, October 24, 1974; letter from A Tuke to C.B. Fitzhugh, October 24, 1974, Chairman's Copy – Letter Book, BGA, 80/3123.

47. Bonington, Everest the Hard Way, 35.

48. P. Rodgers, letter to the editor, Daily Express, November 8, 1974, 3.

49. Unsworth, Everest, 446.

50. Colin Wells, Who's Who in British Climbing (Buxton: Climbing Company, 2008), 300.

51. Ian McNaught-Davis, ‘Why Everest?’, Mountain, January 1973, 17.

52. ‘Information – Everest: The Financial Dilemma’, Mountain, November 1974, 9.

53. Letter from Dougal Haston to Ken Wilson, undated, MHT, CBO/01/08/06/02.

54. Trevor Braham, ‘The Himalaya – Winds of Change’, Alpine Journal 78 (1973): 58.

55. Braham, ‘Winds of Change’, 58.

56. Dennis Gray, ‘The Himalayan Ethic – Time for a Rethink?’, Alpine Journal 76 (1971): 156.

57. Dennis Gray, ‘The Himalayan Ethic – Time for a Rethink?’, Alpine Journal 76 (1971): 160.

58. Rob Ferguson, ‘Editorial’, ACG Bulletin (1977), 5.

59. Letter from Dennis Gray to John Hunt, October 17, 1975, MHT, ATR/2/1.

60. Roger Baxter Jones, Rab Carrington, Brian Hall and Alan Rouse, The British Jannu Expedition 1978 Expedition Report (Alan Rouse Library expedition report collection, R626E, 1978), 10–11.

61. Terance Staley, letter to the editor, Mountain, March 1976, 41.

62. Letter from Lord John Hunt to Chris Bonington, August 14, 1974, MHT, CBO/01/08/01/02.

63. Jeff Connor, Dougal Haston: The Philosophy of Risk (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003), 175–6.

64. Ken Wilson and Mike Pearson, ‘Everest: Post-Mortem of an international expedition’, Mountain, September 1971, 14.

65. Some adverts for the mountaineering school revolved specifically around Haston. For instance lines such as ‘Dangle with Dougal in the Alps’ in Mountain, March 1971, 6, and ‘Higher with Haston in the Alps’ in Mountain, September 1971, 42.

66. Mike Parsons and Mary B Rose, Invisible on Everest: Innovation and the Gear Makers (Philadelphia, PA: Northern Liberties Press, 2003), 225.

67. John Burns and Declan Cunningham, ‘High and Mighty Proud’, Daily Express, September 26, 1975, 1.

68. ‘British Climbers Conquer Everest’ Barclays Bank press release, September 25, 1975, Head Office Circulars, BGA, 0029/1525.

69. ‘Barclays Backs Bonington’, Spread Eagle 49, no. 11 (1974), 541–2, BGA. Spread Eagle was Barclays’ in-house magazine.

70. ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Minutes of Meeting’, November 5, 1974, MHT, ATR/1.

71. ‘Estimated Income from Media’, appendix to ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Minutes of Meeting’, 12 February 1975, MHT, ATR/1.

72. ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Papers – Progress Report on Media Contracts’, November 4, 1974, MHT, ATR/1.

73. ‘BBC ‘Audience Research Report on ‘Everest the Hard Way’’, January 6, 1975, MHT, ATR/2/1.

74. Everest the Hard Way. Directed by Ned Kelly and Chris Ralling, BBC, 1975. Transmitted 17 December, 1975.

75. ‘Everest Man Coming – But He Can't Talk About Epic Climb’, Walsall Observer, November 14, 1975, MHT, ATR/3/2.

76. Barclays Bank International Limited, Everest – The Hard Way: British Everest Expedition 1975 Sponsored by Barclays Bank International – Souvenir Brochure (1975–6), 15.

77. David Potter, ‘British Exploratory Mountaineering in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century’ (PhD diss., Nottingham University, 2007), 249–71.

78. ‘Note for Mr J P G Wathen, British Everest Expedition 1975’, December 1, 1975, MHT, ATR/2/1.

79. ‘Evaluation of Barclays Bank International's Sponsorship of the 1975 British Everest Expedition’, enclosed in letter from J. P. Bowden to Alan Tritton, September 13, 1976, MHT, ATR/2/3.

80. ‘Progress Report on Media Contracts as at 4th November 1974’, appendix to ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Minutes of Meeting’, November 5, 1974, MHT, ATR/1.

81. Parsons and Rose, Invisible on Everest, 235–6.

82. ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Minutes of Meeting’, November 5, 1974, MHT, ATR/1.

83. ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Minutes’, 11 December 1974, MHT, ATR/1.

84. Wilson and Pearson, ‘Everest: Post-Mortem’, 12.

85. Barclays Bank International Limited, Everest – The Hard Way:

86. Advert in Mountain, January 1976, 7.

87. Adverts in The Times, October 25, 1975, (Everest feature), 3.

88. Letter from C. Bonington to A. Tritton, November 26, 1975, MHT, ATR/2/1.

89. Michael Frenchman, ‘Bullet-Proof Boxes in the Snow’ (Everest feature), The Times, October 25, 1975, 3.

90. ‘Evaluation of Barclays Bank International's Sponsorship of the 1975 British Everest Expedition’, enclosed in letter from J.P. Bowden to Alan Tritton, September 13, 1976, MHT, ATR/2/3.

91. ‘Barclays Sponsorship of British Everest Expedition: Opening Remarks’, undated, MHT, CB0/01/08/06/01.

92. Letter from A. Tritton to J.P. Bowden, September 17, 1976, MHT, ATR/2/3.

93. Letter from A. Tritton to J.P. Bowden, September 17, 1976, MHT, ATR/2/3.

94. ‘Barclays puts Britain on Top of the World’, Barclays International Quarterly 4, no. 4 (1975), 223, BGA.

95. ‘Evaluation of Barclays Bank International's Sponsorship of the 1975 British Everest Expedition’.

96. ‘Evaluation of Barclays Bank International's Sponsorship of the 1975 British Everest Expedition’.

97. Letter from A. Tuke to A. Platts, October 24, 1974, Chairman's Copy – Letter Book, BGA, 80/3123.

98. ‘Italian Everest Expedition’, American Alpine Journal 19 (1974), 203–4.

99. Unsworth, Everest, 479; 748.

100. Unsworth, Everest, 365–6.

101. ‘British Everest Expedition 1975 Minutes of Meeting’, February 12, 1975, MHT, ATR/1.

102. ‘New Grant’, Belfast News, [no date] March, 1977, MHT, ATR/3/2.

103. John Earle and I. M. Peters, Tierra Del Fuego '79, BMC expedition reports collection, ExpAc(i)3, 1979.

104. Stephen Venables, Everest: Kangshung Face (London: Pan, 1991). Rolex part-sponsored a late 1980s Everest expedition.