Adventurer who really lived the high life
Doug Scott, first Englishman to conquer Everest, dies at 79
TOUGH as teak, he was the first Englishman to conquer Everest.
Even when gravely ill, Doug Scott still managed to haul himself up his stairs at home to raise money for the charity he founded.
But last night Scott finally succumbed to brain cancer, aged 79.
In reaching the summit of Everest on September 24, 1975, he became the first mountaineer to successfully climb the route along the south-west face.
He and Scottish climber Dougal Haston completed the ascent in 33 days, setting a record for the fastest time up the peak.
The south-west face was considered extremely difficult because of its length and exposure to winds.
After Scott’s expedition reached the 29,028ft (8,848m) summit, the Queen sent a message to the team offering her warm
‘Tireless advocate for the spirit of adventure’
est congratulations on a ‘magnificent achievement’.
But, four days after Scott and Haston reached the summit, climber and cameraman Mick Burke was lost. His body was never found.
Scott, who was born and grew up in Nottingham, was diagnosed with cerebral lymphoma in March and confined to the ground floor of his house in the Lake District.
Despite his illness, he battled up the 12 steps of his home in August to raise money with other climbers for Community Action Nepal in the 2020 Everest Challenge.
He wore the same blue nylon suit he used on the Everest expedition and carried the same ice axe which he used on the descent to dig out a cave in which he sheltered – without a tent, sleeping bag, or oxygen – for nine hours.
Scott made 45 ascents in the mountains of Asia. In 1977 he and Sir Chris Bonington made the first ascent of Baintha Brakk, known as the Ogre, in Pakistan.
Scott broke both legs on the expedition, but still managed the descent, crawling on his knees through a storm until he made it back to base camp. The tale of survival become a part of mountaineering lore. Community Action Nepal, which Scott founded with Sir Chris, paid tribute to him last night. It said: ‘It is with a very heavy heart that we inform you that our founder, leader and great friend, Mr Doug Scott, passed away peacefully this morning, at his home with his family around him.’
The British Mountaineering Council described Scott as a ‘tireless advocate for the spirit of adventure’. He was made a patron of the organisation in 2015.
BMC president Lynn Robinson, said: ‘Doug Scott was one of our most talented mountaineers. His Himalayan climbing adventures are l egendary, but he was so much more than the mountains he climbed.
‘Doug was a passionate and tireless advocate for both the spirit of adventure and the mountain people of Nepal.’
Mr Scott was twice divorced. He is survived by his third wife Trish; children Michael, Martha and Rosie, from his first marriage to Jan; and sons Arran and Euan, from his marriage to Sharu.
On May 29, 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the top of Everest.