Douglas Keith Scott (29 May 19417 December 2020) was an English
mountaineer
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
, noted for being on the team that made the
first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. In receiving one of mountaineering's highest honours, the
Piolet d'Or
An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...
Lifetime Achievement Award, his personal style and climbs were described as "visionary".
Over the years he was on 40 expeditions to the high mountains of Asia, during which he made some 30 first ascents. In 2020 he was diagnosed with cancer, and he died of the disease in December 2020.
Early life
Scott was born in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, England, and was the eldest of three sons. Scott would later discover that his mother was born at almost the exact same time as famed mountaineer
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reache ...
, which Scott felt was an uncanny coincidence.
Scott was educated in Nottingham at Cottesmore Secondary Modern and
Mundella Grammar schools. He started climbing at the age of 13, his interest sparked by seeing climbers on the
Black Rocks in Derbyshire whilst hiking with the Scouts. His father, George Douglas Scott, was a policeman and amateur boxer, who was the
Amateur Boxing Association 1945
British Heavyweight Champion.
His father gave up the game to focus on the family.
Scott lived on the outskirts of Nottingham with his father and mother, Edith Joyce Scott, and younger brothers, Brian and Garry. All were encouraged towards the open countryside, particularly the
Peak District
The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...
.
After two years at Loughborough Teachers' Training College (1959–61), Scott taught geography, history, PE and games for ten years at his old secondary modern school.
Career
Mountaineering
Scott was regarded as one of the world's leading high-altitude and big-wall climbers and was the recipient of numerous awards for his achievements. He was the first English person to reach the summit of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...
and, on the descent, he survived an unplanned bivouac with
Dougal Haston
Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...
100 metres below the summit, without oxygen, sleeping bags and, as it turned out, without
frostbite
Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...
.
Apart from his
first ascent of the southwest face of Everest with Haston in 1975, all his other Himalayan climbs were achieved in lightweight or pure
Alpine style
Alpine style is mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter and equipment as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style (or siege style) mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked ...
. He pioneered
big wall climbing on
Baffin Island,
Mount Kenya and in the
Karakoram, famously on
The Ogre with
Chris Bonington
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer.
His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest.
Early life and expeditions
Bonington's father, ...
, and later on
Shivling
A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional i ...
in the
Indian Himalayas
The Indian Himalayan Region (abbreviated to IHR) is the section of the Himalayas within the Republic of India, spanning seven Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West ...
.
Scott was a founder member of the Nottingham Climbers Club (1961), president of the Alpine Climbing Group (1976–82), vice president of the
British Mountaineering Council
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...
(1994–97) and president of the
Alpine Club
The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as:
:"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...
(1999–2001).
He was made a
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in 1994.
In 1999 he was awarded the
Patron's Medal
The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...
of the
Royal Geographical Society. In 2005 he was presented with the Golden Eagle Award by the
Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild The Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild was established in 1980 as the Outdoor Writers Guild - a professional group for writers specialising in the outdoors. In 2006 the Guild changed its name to Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild to recog ...
. Also in 2005, following on from
Tom Weir
Thomas Weir MBE (29 December 1914 – 6 July 2006) was a Scottish climber, author and broadcaster. He was best known for his long-running television series ''Weir's Way''.
Early life and career
Weir was born in Springburn, Glasgow, and the ...
and
Adam Watson, he became the third recipient of the
John Muir Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his mountaineering accomplishments and commitment to conservation and supporting
mountain people
Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains.
This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation.
The climate is generally harsh, with s ...
and mountain environments around the world. Following on from
Walter Bonatti
Walter Bonatti (; 22 June 1930 – 13 September 2011) was an Italian mountain climber, explorer and journalist. He was noted for many climbing achievements, including a solo climb of a new route on the south-west pillar of the Aiguille du Dru ...
and
Reinhold Messner
Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental ...
he received the
Piolet d'Or
An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow, ice, or frozen conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its simplest role it is used like a walking ...
Lifetime Achievement Award in Chamonix in 2011.
Scott was made a Freeman of the City of Nottingham in 1976 and has since had a Nottingham tram named after him. He was awarded an honorary MA by the universities of Nottingham and Loughborough, 1993; Hon. MEd Nottingham Trent, 1995; Hon Dr. Derby University, 2007; and Hon Dr. Loughborough University, 2017.
Charity work in Nepal
During Scott's climbing career, his understanding of the culture and the people in the regions where he climbed grew as he formed strong bonds and relationships. In 1991 he raised the funds and organised the installation of 17 fresh-water standpipes in
Askole
Askole, Askoli, or Askoly ( ur, اسکولی) is a small town located in Shigar Valley, in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Askole is located in a remote region of the Karakoram mountains 3040 meters above sea level. It is notable for ...
, the last settlement before
K2, that reduced infant mortality by half. He founded the charity ''Community Action Nepal'' (CAN), and spent much of his time fundraising for this cause and regularly visited some of the 60 CAN projects out in Nepal. Scott was also an advocate of
responsible tourism, setting up Community Action Treks (CAT) in 1989 to help improve conditions of labour in the trekking industry. He received the
British Guild of Travel Writers Tourism and Community Merit Award 1996, and CAT received the Responsible Tourism Award 2008. CAN was awarded the first British Expertise International (BEI) Charity Project of the Year Award along with CAN's partner, WYG, in 2017.
Volunteering
Scott held various volunteering positions within the mountaineering community. He was a member of the Hunt Committee contributing to the Hunt Report on Outdoor Education 1976. He was
British Mountaineering Council
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC ...
(BMC) representative on the
UIAA
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA, lit. ''International Union of Alpine Clubs''), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, Franc ...
and a member of the UIAA Management Committee 2008–2012; member of UIAA Mountaineering Commission and chairman of the Traditional Values Working Group 2011 until his death.
He was chairman of Mount Everest Foundation 2014–2017 and vice chairman of the Mountain Heritage Trust 2014–2017.
He was an honorary member of the Climbers Club, the Alpine Club and the
American Alpine Club
The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...
.
He was a vice president of the BMC between 1994 and 1997 and went on to become a patron of the BMC in 2015.
Career highlights
Highlights of Scott's climbing career include:
* 1965: Tarso Tiroko,
Tibesti mountains
The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and i ...
of
Chad with Ray Gillies, Clive Davies and Pete Warrington
* 1967: South face of
Koh-i-Bandaka,
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...
with Ray Gillies
* 1970:
Salathe Wall of El Capitan with
Peter Habeler
Peter Habeler (born 22 July 1942) is an Austrian mountaineer. He was born in Mayrhofen, Austria. He developed an interest in mountain climbing at age six.http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/habeler
Among his accomplishments as a mountaineer a ...
* 1972:
Mount Asgard, Baffin Island with Dennis Hennek, Paul Nunn and
Paul Braithwaite
* 1974:
Changabang
Changabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it are serious unde ...
, first ascent with
Bonington,
Haston et al.
* 1974: Pic Lenin, Pamirs, with Clive Rowland, Guy Lee, Braithwaite
* 1975:
Southwest face of Everest, with Haston
* 1976: South face
Denali
Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the th ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, with Haston
* 1977:
Baintha Brakk
__NOTOC__
Baintha Brakk ( ur, بائنتھا براک) or The Ogre is a steep, craggy mountain, high, in the Panmah Muztagh, a subrange of the Karakoram mountain range. It is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.This region is disputed, and is ...
(more commonly known as The Ogre), Karakoram, with Bonington, and descent with both legs broken at the ankle with the selfless help of Mo Anthoine and Clive Rowland
* 1978:
Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although it is lower than Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the United States border between Alask ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, with Rob Wood
* 1979: North ridge of
Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā (), and Khangchendzonga, is the third highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the ...
, with
Peter Boardman
Peter Boardman (25 December 1950 – 17 May 1982) was an English mountaineer and author. He is best known for a series of bold and lightweight expeditions to the Himalayas, often in partnership with Joe Tasker, and for his contribution to moun ...
and
Joe Tasker
Joe Tasker (12 May 1948 – 17 May 1982) was a British climber, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He died while climbing Mount Everest.
Early life
Born into a traditional Roman Catholic family in 1948, Tasker was the second of t ...
.
* 1979:
Nuptse
Nuptse or Nubtse ( Sherpa: नुबचे, Wylie: Nub rtse, ) is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Mahalangur Himal, in the Nepalese Himalayas. It lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest. Nubtse is Tibetan for "west peak", as it is the ...
, North face,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
, with
Georges Bettembourg, Brian Hall and
Alan Rouse
* 1981:
Shivling
A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional i ...
, India, with Bettembourg,
Greg Child
Greg Child (born 12 April 1957) is an Australian-born rock climber, mountaineer, author and filmmaker.
He has authored several books: ''Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas'', ''Mixed Emotions: Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child'', ''Postcard ...
and
Rick White
* 1982:
Shishapangma
Shishapangma, also called Gosainthān, is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. In 1964, it became the last of the 8,000-metre peaks to be climbed. This was due to its location entirely within Tibet and the restrictions ...
, Tibet, south face, with
Alex MacIntyre
Alex MacIntyre (1954–1982) was a British mountaineer in the 1970s. He is known for developing new climbing techniques that enabled ascents not previously accomplished.
Early life
MacIntyre was born in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, to S ...
and Roger Baxter-Jones
* 1983: Lobsang Spire,
Karakoram, with Child and Peter Thexton
* 1984:
Chamlang
Chamlang is a mountain in the Nepalese Himalayas, near Makalu. It lies in the southern section of the Mahalangur subrange of the Himalayas. Chamlang has an elevation of .
In 2021 a new, direct line up the sheer north face was climbed by two Fr ...
, East ridge, Nepal, with Michael Scott, Jean Afanassieff and Ang Phurba
* 1988: Jitchu Drake, Bhutan, with Sharavati Prabhu and Victor Saunders
* 1992:
Nanga Parbat
Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...
, Central
Mazeno Peak
The Mazeno Ridge is an arête, a long narrow ridge, and part of the Nanga Parbat massif in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan, in the Himalayan range. The ridge is the longest of any ridge on the eight-thousand-metre peaks in the Himalayas. A series ...
s, with Sergey Efimov,
Alan Hinkes
Alan Hinkes OBE (born 26 April 1954) is an English Himalayan high-altitude mountaineer from Northallerton in North Yorkshire. He is the first British mountaineer to claim all 14 Himalayan eight-thousanders (mountains above in height), whic ...
, Ang Phurba and Nga Temba.
* 1998:
Drohmo
Drohmo (also known as ''Drohmo Ri'') is a multi-peaked mountain located at in Eastern Nepal.
Location
Drohmo is located in Janak mountain range in Eastern Nepal Mountain Range. The peak is 3.5km north east of Tengkoma, 5.4km south of Janak Ch ...
, South pillar, Nepal, with Roger Mear
* 2000: Targo Ri, Central Tibet, with Julian Freeman-Attwood and Richard Cowper
Personal life
In 1962 he married Janice Brook, with whom he had three children, Michael, Martha and Rosie. The marriage was dissolved in 1988. In 1993 he married Indian climber,
Sharavati Prabhu, with whom he had two sons, Arran and Euan. The marriage was dissolved in 2003.
In 2007 he married Patricia Lang, residing together in the
Northern Fells
The Northern Fells are a mountain range in the English Lake District. Including Skiddaw, they occupy a wide area to the north of Keswick. Smooth, sweeping slopes predominate, with a minimum of tarns or crags. Blencathra in the south-east of the ...
of the
Lake District.
In March 2020, Scott was diagnosed with inoperable
cerebral lymphoma.
He died at his home in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
, England of the disease on 7 December 2020, aged 79.
Books
He authored:
*Doug Scott, ''Big Wall Climbing'',
*Doug Scott and Alex MacIntyre, ''The Shishapangma Expedition'',
*Doug Scott, ''Himalayan Climber: A Lifetime's Quest to the World's Greater Ranges'',
*Doug Scott, ''Up and About, The Hard Road to Everest'' (2015)
*Doug Scott, "The Ogre" (2017)
*Doug Scott, "Kangchenjunga"
(2021)
He contributed to:
* ''Everest the Hard Way'' (Chris Bonington, 1976)
* ''Great Climbs'' (Chris Bonington, 1994)
* General editor of ''Philip's Guide to Mountains'' (Philip's, 2005)
* ''Himalaya: The exploration and conquest of the greatest mountains on earth'' (Phillip Parker, 2013)
See also
*
List of 20th-century summiters of Mount Everest
Mount Everest, at is currently the world's highest mountain and is a particularly desirable peak for mountaineers. This is a list of people who reached the summit of Mount Everest in the 20th century. Overall about 1,383 people summited Evere ...
References
External links
Personal websiteDoug Scott Obituary - 1941-2020by
Stephen VenablesEverest historyShort biographyCommunity Action NepalDoug Scott's lecturesCommunity Action TreksAlpinist Magazine, Issue:2,Faces
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Doug
1941 births
2020 deaths
English mountain climbers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)
Summiters of the Seven Summits
British summiters of Mount Everest
Sportspeople from Nottingham
Recipients of the Royal Geographical Society Patron's Medal
Deaths from lymphoma
Deaths from cancer in England
Alumni of Loughborough College