Doug Scott, left, and Hamish MacInnes in an icefall on Everest in 1975. Photograph: PA
Famous English mountaineer has died from cancer aged 79
First Englishman to climb Everest who dedicated his later years to Buddhism and helping the people of Nepal
Doug Scott, who has died aged 79 from cancer, was the first Englishman to climb Everest, but it was what happened afterwards that made him famous in the mountaineering world.
Scott and his Scottish partner, Dougal Haston, were part of Chris Bonington’s 1975 expedition to climb Everest the “hard way”, via the south-west face. Having left their top camp soon after dawn, the pair faced testing delays as Haston’s oxygen equipment iced up and unconsolidated snow, chest-deep in places, slowed their progress. It was already 3.30pm when they finally reached the lower south summit where the two climbers paused to melt snow for a much-needed drink.
Should they go on? Haston suggested stopping for the night but Scott reasoned it was better to push on and get it done. Two hours later, at around 6pm, they were at the top.
Understandably, famous stories of hardship and human endurance are sometimes overshadowed the complexities of a man who saw his life in the mountains as part of a spiritual journey, studied Buddhism and dedicated his later years to helping the people of Nepal.
Always generous with his friendship, as he entered middle age Scott became a mentor to new generations inspired by the idea of lightweight climbing and the ideas he espoused. Sir Chris Bonington called him “a tribal chieftain” – when his climbing career wound down he was president of the Alpine Club, standing up for what he saw as the sport’s ethical soul.
- 1965: Tarso Tiroko, Tibesti mountains of Chad with Ray Gillies, Clive Davies and Pete Warrington
- 1967: South face of Koh-i-Bandaka, Hindu Kush with Ray Gillies
- 1970: Salathe Wall of El Capitan with Peter Habeler
- 1972: Mount Asgard, Baffin Island with Dennis Hennek, Paul Nunn and Paul Braithwaite
- 1974: Changabang, 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, Alaska, with Haston
- 1977: Baintha Brakk (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, Canada, with Rob Wood
- 1979: North ridge of Kangchenjunga, with Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker.
- 1979: Nuptse, North face, Nepal, with Georges Bettembourg, Brian Hall and Alan Rouse
- 1981: Shivling, India, with Bettembourg, Greg Child and Rick White
- 1982: Shishapangma, Tibet, south face, with Alex MacIntyre and Roger Baxter-Jones
- 1983: Lobsang Spire, Karakoram, with Child and Peter Thexton
- 1984: Chamlang, East ridge, Nepal, with Michael Scott, Jean Afanassieff and Ang Phurba
- 1988: Jitchu Drake, Bhutan, with Sharavati Prabhu and Victor Saunders
- 1992: Nanga Parbat, Central Mazeno Peaks, with Sergey Efimov, Alan Hinkes, Ang Phurba and Nga Temba.
- 1994: He was made a CBE in 1994.
- 1998: Drohmo, South pillar, Nepal, with Roger Mear
- 1999: In 1999 he was awarded the Patron’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society
- 2000: Targo Ri, Central Tibet, with Julian Freeman-Attwood and Richard Cowper
Source: Wikipedia
RIP Douglas Keith Scott
Mountaineer
Born 29 May 1941; died 7 December 2020
Source
Ed Douglas
The Guardian
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