One of three brothers, today marks the 85th anniversary of the birth of Douglas Keith Scott (1941 – 2020), a mountaineer and author, who, in September 1975, wrote his name in the history of his sport by being a member of the first team to make ascent of the southwestern face of Mount Everest.

Mankind has always had the wherewithal to challenge themselves, be it in the oceans, on the mountains, or in outer space, and Doug Scott chose the mountains with which to make his name.

Born to George and Edith Scott, in Nottingham, 29 May 1941, his was already a sporting family, his father, George, an amateur boxer and policeman.

As a boxer, George Scott was the 1845 ABA Heavyweight champion, defeating L. Fowler of the APTC & Wales BC, at the famed Royal Albert Hall, London, Scott Snr fighting for Nottingham Police & APTC ABC.

He gave that up though to focus on a career, and family life, the Scott’s welcoming two further sons into the fold, Brian and Garry Scott being Doug’s younger siblings.

Educated at Cottesmore, then the Mundella Grammar School, throughout the forties and fifties, the Scott brothers were said to be encouraged into a life outdoors, with Doug’s early employment being in teaching, graduating from Loughborough Teachers College in the early sixties, returning to Cottesmore for the next decade.

Whilst employed at Cottesmore, Scott taught geography, history, physical education and games, but his heart was in the mountains, and it’s there that he made his name, becoming a founder member of the Nottingham Climbers Club as early as 1961.

Over the next four decades or so, Scott could be found in mountain ranges across the globe, going on to receive numerous awards for his achievements on a mountain-face, these included the Royal Patron’s Medal via the Royal Geographical Society (1999), the Golden Eagle Award from the Outdoor Writer’s and Photographer’s Guild (2005), the John Muir Trust Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), and the Piolet d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award (2011).

Throughout his mountainous career, Scott would achieve climbs at the following (and more) between the mid-sixties and early noughties – Tibesti Mountains (Chad, 1965), Salathe Wall, El Capitan (Yosemite National Park, 1970), Mount Asgard (Baffin Island, 1972), Changabang (Garhwal Himalayas, 1974), South-West Everest (1975), Baintha Brakk (The Ogre, Pakistan, 1977), Mount Waddington (Canada, 1978), Kangchenjunga (Himalayas, 1979), Nuptse (Nepal, 1979), Shishapangma (Tibet, 1982), Chamlang (Tibet, 1984), Nanga Parbat (Shina, 1992), and Targo Ri (Tibet, 2000).

Scott quit his job as a teacher at Cottesmore in the early 1970s after he was refused a leave of absence in order to pursue the climb of Mount Asgard, on Baffin Island, the most famous of the Baffin Mountains in Canada.

Throughout all of that though, he found time to wed his first wife, Janice Brook (1962-88), with whom he had three children; he married his second wife, and fellow climber, Sharavati Prabhu (1993-2003) with whom he had another two children; and his third wife, Patricia Lang (2007-2020) – he also authored half-a-dozen books, and contributed to just as many, other publications, about life in the mountains, the last of which, ‘Kangchenjunga: The Himalayan Giant,’ was completed before his passing in 2020, and published, posthumously, the following year.

The story of the climb of Everest’s south-west face, or the ‘hard way’ as it was better known, is well-detailed in the obituary of Scott published by The Guardian, on Monday 7 December 2020, the day of his death.

Read ‘Douglas Scott; Obituary’ HERE

Said to have found Buddhism during his many ascents of the mountainous regions of Asia, in particular in Nepal, Scott was a keen fundraiser for the peoples of those regions, founding with his second wife, the Community Action Nepal (CAN) charity, amongst involvement with numerous other, charitable projects.

Whilst also having one of the city’s famed trams named after him, Scott was awarded Freeman of the City of Nottingham (1976), awarded numerous, honorary degrees, and, in 1994 was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).

His passing, at the age of 79 years, was a great loss to many, not only family and friends, but for those of a mountaineering-ilk, and left behind a legacy that will, without question, not be forgotten – he truly was, ‘A Himalayan Giant.’

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @UKClimbing Doug Scott was born on 29 May 1941.