OXFORD doesn’t have much in common with the Himalayas – the highest peaks are the dreaming spires.

But next month people in the city will get an insight into Nepal from the man who led the first successful expedition up Everest’s deadly south-west face.

Sir Chris Bonington CBE, who organised the ascent in September 1975, will be joined by Doug Scott CBE, one of the first two men in his team who reached the summit. Alongside him will be expedition members Pertemba Sherpa, Paul Braithwaite, Mike Thompson and Charlie Clarke for the 40th anniversary talk at the Sheldonian Theatre.

Speaking from his home in the Lake District, Sir Chris, now 81, recalled the perilous climb from four decades ago.

He said: “It was a race to beat the winter cold so we needed our supply line running really well.

“We couldn’t afford a moment of delay – it was a huge planning and leadership operation.”

Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to climb Everest in 1953, but the route that Sir Chris wanted to climb was even more challenging.

By 1975 the unforgiving vertical cliffs of the south-west face had already defeated five expeditions consisting of some of the strongest mountaineers of the time.

As leader, Sir Chris had to pick which two men he would send up the cliffs first to reach the summit.

They were Doug Scott and Dougal Haston. Sir Chris said: “Doug and Dougal didn’t take walkie-talkies with them because they were just too bulky, so they were left at top camp.

“It was one hell of a climb and an extraordinary achievement.”

He last saw the pair at 4.30pm on Wednesday, September 23, as they headed off. He and the rest of the team would not know whether the pair were even alive, let alone if they had achieved the summit, until the next morning.

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Sir Chris added: “We kept the radio open the whole time, but we didn’t hear from them until 9am. It was an extremely emotional moment.

“Obviously, one was worried. I didn’t get much sleep that night, so it was just a fantastic wave of relief.”

The huge success of the expedition thus far was to be tinged with sadness. Another expedition member, Mick Burke, died while attempting to reach the summit some days later.

Doug Scott went on to build a love affair with Nepal that led him to found Community Action Nepal, which funded 40 hospitals, schools and aid stations in the country.

Some 28 of these were destroyed damaged beyond repair in April’s devastating earthquake, and the Sheldonian lecture, one of a series, will raise vital funds to help rebuild them.

Sir Chris added: “It will be quite a night. We’ve got a presentation from the team and we have all got our own bits of the story to tell.

“The audience is in for a real treat.”

The talk is on Wednesday, September 23.

For tickets, visit canepal.org.uk and search under 'lectures & events'.