Doug Scott was an English mountain climber who was part of the first team to summit Mount Everest via its challenging southwest face.
- Died: December 7, 2020 (Who else died on December 7?)
- Details of death: Died of cerebral lymphoma at the age of 79.
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A life of adventure
Scott joined Chris Bonington’s famed Everest expedition in 1975. It was the first British team to summit Everest, as well as the first to use the southwest face to get there, and Scott himself became the first Englishman to reach Everest’s summit. The night after he achieved the summit, Scott and his climbing partner, Dougal Haston, were caught away from camp and without oxygen for the night. They lived through brutal cold and low oxygen that night, surviving to continue their descent. Two years later, climbing Pakistan’s The Ogre, Scott broke both legs and crawled to base camp, again surviving a near-impossible situation. Scott made first ascents of many mountains, and he climbed the highest peak on all seven continents. In 1989, Scott founded Community Action Nepal, a nonprofit that works to improve working and living conditions in Everest’s country.
Scott on why he climbed mountains
“I get grumpy when I don’t.” —from a 2019 interview with the Explorers Web
Tributes to Doug Scott
Full obituary: The Guardian
