Sir Chris Bonnington, one of the most accomplished and celebrated British mountaineers of all time, will help commemorate the ceremonial "Olympic Handover" this Sunday, by planting a flag on top of Scafell Pike, in the Lake District, long the climbing epicenter of the U.K.
This Sunday marks the end of the 2008 Olympics, and the beginning of the official countdown to the 2012 games to be held in London. At the end of the closing ceremonies, Chinese officials will pass the Olympic Flag onto British officials, who will carry with them back to their home country.
Scafell Pike, at 3,209 feet, is the tallest mountain in England. Bonnington, who lives near by, will plant a flag as the summit at roughly 2:30 PM local time to coincide with the closing ceremonies in Beijing. Joining him at the summit will be 72-year-old fellrunner Jos Naylor and 16-year-old long-distance runner Laura Park.
To learn more about the event, check out this post over at Grough.co.uk. And to find out more about Bonnington, I'd recommend the excellent book The Boys of Everest, which I reviewed here and can be purchased from Amazon here.
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