Mountaineer Doug Scott has passed away at his home in the Lake District after a battle with cancer.
Part of the golden generation of British mountaineering, Scott achieved many notable feats over the course of his climbing career, including successfully scaling Everest via its south-western face in 1975 alongside Dougal Haston. Not only was this a first ascent via that particular route, ‘Everest the hard way’ as it was called, but it was the first time a British team had reached the summit.
Like many of the greatest mountaineers, particularly those from that era, his climbing career wasn’t without misfortune. Only two years after his ascent of Everest, Scott found himself in a situation that would eventually become one of the most famous survival stories in mountaineering.
Having just reached the top of the Ogre in the Karakoram range alongside his climbing partner Chris Bonington, Scott was abseiling down from the summit when he slipped and was sent crashing into the rock face. At 7,200 metres and with two broken legs his chances of survival looked slim, but through grit and determination he managed to slowly crawl down off the mountain. His journey took a week, with the first three nights spent out in the open. At basecamp, he and his team then had to wait another five days for an evacuation party to arrive.
Scott spent most of his later life devoting his efforts to his charity Community Action Nepal which he set up after receiving a spontaneous request in 1989 to help improve conditions of labour in the Himalayan trekking industry. Only a few months before his death, Scott managed to raise thousands of pounds for the charity by climbing the equivalent height of Everest via the stairs in his house.
Reactions From The Mountaineering, Climbing and Outdoor Community
Doug Scott, founder of @CommActionNepal , my dear friend of fifty years, with whom I shared some of the greatest adventures of my life, passed away peacefully at his home in Cumbria with his family around him after a brief but intense mortal illness this morning, 7 December. pic.twitter.com/cYjle96xpv
— Chris Bonington (@ChrisBonington) December 7, 2020
RIP Doug Scott
Possible the greatest mountaineer of his generation. pic.twitter.com/Eyg70VWYMA— Kenton Cool (@KentonCool) December 7, 2020
https://twitter.com/CommActionNepal/status/1335961169148989440
Another mountaineering legend gone. Doug Scott, who along with Dougal Haston, were the first Brits to climb Everest, has passed away. I'll never forget how kind he was to me in my early years as editor of Climber Magazine. He remained a good friend throughout the 35 years since.
— Cameron McNeish (@CameronMcNeish) December 7, 2020
Chris Bonington called him a ‘tribal chieftain’, which seems right. The village feels very empty right now. https://t.co/fiZUSC3sKF
— Ed Douglas (@calmandfearless) December 7, 2020
Sad news to hear Doug Scott has passed. He was a truly inspirational mountaineer who along with Haston and McIntyre led the charge for the generations to come. A giant of his time
— Joe Simpson (@TouchingTheVoid) December 7, 2020
RIP Doug Scott. I have fond memories of meeting him for the first time at The Alpine Club. This photo makes it look like he's pioneering the 'selfie' back in 2009, but I think it was taken by someone else! pic.twitter.com/PxZr4UpouZ
— Natalie Berry (@NatBerry18) December 7, 2020
‘At its finest moments,’ commented the mountaineer whose portrait I placed over my childhood bed, ‘climbing allows me to step out of ordinary existence into something extraordinary, stripping me of my sense of self-importance’.
Doug Scott, my explorer of the day
RIP, dear Doug pic.twitter.com/EolZuleD7U
— Benedict ALLEN (@benedictallen) December 8, 2020
