Douglas Keith Scott (29 May 19417 December 2020) was an English

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

and climbing author, 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 or ice covered (e.g. ice climbing or mixed climbing) conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its sim ...

Lifetime Achievement Award, his personal style and his 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 ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, 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 mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the Timeline of M ...

, 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 Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

. 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 considered 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 (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

and, on the descent, he survived an unplanned bivouac with Dougal Haston 100 metres below the summit, without oxygen, sleeping bags and, as it turned out, without

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when someone is exposed to extremely 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 occ ...

. 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 climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large climbing route, routes (e.g. multi-pitch climbing, ...

. He pioneered

big wall climbing Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long and sheer multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch climbing routes, routes (of ''at least'' 6–10 pitches or 300–500 metres) that require a full day, if not several days, to ascen ...

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...

and in the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

, famously on the "fearsome Karakoram peak" The Ogre in Pakistan 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 ( , 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. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

in the

Indian Himalayas The Indian Himalayan Region (abbreviated to IHR) is the section of the Himalayas within the Republic of India, spanning thirteen Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, We ...

Abseiling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...

from the summit of The Ogre, Scott slipped and broke both his legs at 7,200 metres. With rescue not a possibility at that height, Scott crawled on his knees back to base camp through a storm, on a mountain of considerable difficulty, helped down by his teammates Mo Anthoine and Clive Rowland. It remains one of the great survival stories in world mountaineering. 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 Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

(1999–2001). He was made a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. In 2005 he was presented with the Golden Eagle Award by the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. Also in 2005, following on from

Tom Weir Thomas Weir Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 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 a ...

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 people, Italian mountaineer, alpinist, explorer and journalist. He was noted for many climbing achievements, including a Solo climbing, solo climb of a new alpine climbing route ...

and

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from the German-speaking province of South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent o ...

he received the

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, the last settlement before K2, that reduced infant mortality by half. He along with his wife Sharu Prabhu 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 & Prabhu were also advocates of responsible tourism & set 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 The British Guild of Travel Writers Limited is described as a community of accredited writers, photographers, and broadcasters; the trusted body for independent editorial comment and expert content on worldwide travel. The organisation was founde ...

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

(BMC) representative on the

UIAA The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union internationale des associations d'alpinisme (UIAA; ), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France when 20 mountaineering associations met for ...

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 26,000 members. The club is housed in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in Golden, Colorado. Through its members, the AAC advocates for American climbers d ...

. 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 ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

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 Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

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 Division, Garhwal Himalayas 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 ...

, 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 (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, 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 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 Alaska ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, with Rob Wood * 1979: North ridge of

Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga 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 Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...

, 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 mount ...

and

Joe Tasker Joe Tasker (12 May 1948 – 17 May 1982) was a British Climbing, climber, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He died while climbing Mount Everest. Early life Born into a Roman Catholic family in 1948, Tasker was the second of ten ...

. * 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 WSW of Mount Everest. The main peak, Nuptse I at an elevation of , was first climbed ...

, North face,

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, with Georges Bettembourg, Brian Hall and

Alan Rouse Alan Paul Rouse (19 December 1951 – 10 August 1986) was the first British climber to reach the summit of the second highest mountain in the world, K2, but died on the descent. Education Rouse was born in Wallasey and began climbing at the age ...

* 1981:

, India, with Bettembourg, Greg Child and Rick White * 1982:

Shishapangma Shishapangma, or Shishasbangma or Xixiabangma ( zh, s=希夏邦马, p=Xī xià bāng mǎ), is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. The lowest 8,000 metre peak, it is located entirely within Tibet. Name Geologist Toni H ...

, Tibet, south face, with Alex MacIntyre and Roger Baxter-Jones * 1983: Lobsang Spire,

, 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 Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

, Central Mazeno Peaks, with Sergey Efimov, Alan Hinkes, Ang Phurba and Nga Temba. * 1998: Drohmo, 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 part of the Cumbrian Mountains in the Lake District of England. 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 ...

of the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. In March 2020, Scott was diagnosed with inoperable cerebral lymphoma. He died at his home in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England of the disease on 7 December 2020, aged 79.

Books

He authored: *Doug Scott, ''Big Wall Climbing'', (1981) *Doug Scott and Alex MacIntyre, ''The Shishapangma Expedition'', (1984) *Doug Scott, ''Himalayan Climber: A Lifetime's Quest to the World's Greater Ranges'', (1992, Diadem) *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) * ''Changabang'' Published 1975 by Heinemann.

References

External links

Personal websiteDoug Scott Obituary - 1941-2020
by Stephen Venables
Everest 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 Boardman Tasker Prize winners Sportspeople from Nottingham Recipients of the Royal Geographical Society Patron's Medal Deaths from lymphoma in England Alumni of Loughborough College Piolet d'Or winners Climbing and mountaineering writers