Book review: Mountain Guru — The Life of Doug Scott
Review by Paul Geddes
Take a peek inside Catherine Moorehead’s new biography of Doug Scott, and learn about how Scott’s mountaineering and climbing career overlap with the history and people of The Alpine Club of Canada.
Doug Scott was a legend, even among the world’s most accomplished mountaineers.
In this authorized biography, author Catherine Moorehead (known for her 2013 biography on the life of Godwin-Austen) provides an in-depth overview of Doug Scott’s life in the mountains. Three years worth of interviews with Scott’s climbing peers as well as excerpts from his field diaries add colour to this deeply-researched portrait. The archive of his climbs and expeditions, spanning 37 countries, requires a whopping 11 pages just to list and is illustrated with 59 photographs and 18 maps.
Highlights of Scott’s story
The book opens with Scott’s Nottingham upbringing and an introduction to his athletic father and proud mother. His early academic struggles are no match for his persistence, and he eventually becomes a teacher; a career that provides him summers off to pursue his climbing interests.
In 1961, at the age of twenty, he becomes a founding member of the Nottingham Climbers Club, the beginning of a lifetime of involvement with several UK climbing clubs and mountaineering organizations, including a stint as President of The Alpine Club from 1999-2001.
Interest piques with the opening of chapter three which covers the years 1955-60 as Scott gains the rock climbing and mountaineering experience that eventually launches him onto the world stage. The Alps and Himalayas were the main destinations for British climbers at the time, and were Scott’s playground for several decades.
Doug made his first trip to North America in the spring of 1970 to climb several routes at Yosemite, and returned to climb The Nose on El Cap in 1972.
On April 29, 1976, after consulting Alaskan pioneer Bradford Washburn and Washburn’s aerial photographs on new route possibilities, Doug and Dougal Haston flew to Anchorage, AK. Their goal was to put up a new route on the South Face of Mount McKinley (now Denali) the highest mountain in the US. After five bivouacs on the mountain, they reach the summit on May 12 (see also American Alpine Journal 1977). The euphoria of their success was shattered during their descent when they became involved in the rescue of two inexperienced young Americans who had become separated from their party of 10 while attempting the West Buttress Route. The two were disoriented and severely frostbitten (see also Accidents in North American Mountaineering, 1977).
Scott loved the remoteness of Canada’s mountains. In July 1971 with assistance from ACC member Pat Baird, he organized an expedition to Baffin Island (see also Canadian Alpine Journal, 1973). Their team achieved two first ascents south of Mount Asgard. 1972 saw Scott’s group return to Baffin Island in June with a first ascent on the north peak of Mount Asgard and an attempt on its west face. His next trip to Baffin was in the summer of 1973 when he climbed a dozen unnamed peaks, and in May 1976 he bagged a first ascent of the South-West Buttress of Overlord Peak. (See Scott’s 1974 book, Big Wall Climbing, for more on climbing the world’s tallest rock faces including Yosemite and Baffin Island.)
During April–May 1978 Doug and friend Rob Wood climbed Mount Waddington via the previously unclimbed South-East Chimney. In January, 1985 with Rob Wood and Greg Child, they completed the first winter ascent of the Grand Central Couloir of Mount Colonel Foster on Vancouver Island (see also Island Alpine Guide, 2021). (Mount Colonel Foster was named after a prominent ACC member who in 1912 became the first chair of the Vancouver Island Section. William Foster moved to Vancouver in 1923 and later became President of the ACC.)
During his career he gave hundreds of talks around the world, often about his early famous climbs, the South-West Face of Mount Everest in 1975, and his epic retreat from the summit of The Ogre after its first ascent in 1977. Scott visited Banff on several occasions to participate in the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. In 1982 he was the festival’s opening speaker with his presentation, “Himalaya – Alpine Style.” He visited the festival in 1997. And again in 2018 when Geoff Powter interviewed Doug for the “Voice of Adventure” series as he toured his 2017 book, The Ogre.
Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival ,2018 – Geoff Powter “Voice of Adventure” interview with Doug Scott. Photo Pat Morrow.
He last visited Canada in October 2018 on a west coast tour to reconnect with his climbing mates living in British Columbia. On this trip, with assistance from the ACC National Office, he gave fundraising talks for his Community Action Nepal charity, in North Vancouver, Squamish, Saltspring Island and Courtenay.
Hiking up Grouse Mountain: Anders Ourom, Paul Geddes, Ross Nichol, Doug Scott. Photo Geddes collection.
If you were fortunate enough to meet Doug, you remember his stature and his Nottingham accent. Several of his presentations were in Canada’s largest cities, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, often organized by the local ACC Section. He would stay in a member’s home and enjoyed getting out for a local climb before giving his evening talk.
Honouring a legend
While Doug was not one to indulge in social media, after his passing on December 7, 2020, the world was abuzz with online tributes.
The American Alpine Club bestowed their Honorary Membership on Doug, as did The Alpine Club (UK). Recognizing his Canadian ascents and world class status was (in this writer’s opinion) a missed opportunity for The Alpine Club of Canada. Scott’s highest honours occurred with the awards Commander of the British Empire (CBE) 1994, the Royal Geographic Society’s Patron’s Medal 1999, the Piolet d’Or Lifetime Achievement 2011 and UIAA Honorary Member 2020.
Published in the UK, Mountain Guru - The Life of Doug Scott, is available to purchase in book stores across Canada. It is a recommended read for both the active climber and the armchair mountaineer who want to know how it was done by one of the greatest mountaineers of all time.
Paul Geddes
Paul has been active with the ACC for over four decades. He has served on numerous committees at both the national and section level of the club. Paul has been recognized for his contributions, receiving both the Silver Rope for Leadership and Distinguished Service Awards. In recent years he enjoys spending more time on Canadian mountaineering history and archives.