Doug Scott: who was the climber and first Brit to reach the summit of Everest alongside Scotland’s Dougal Haston?

The mountaineer, who had cancer, has died aged 79 at his home in the Lake District

Mountaineer Doug Scott, the first Brit to reach Everest's summit, has died, aged 79. (Pic: Getty Images)

Doug Scott, one half of the first UK pairing to climb Mount Everest alongside Scottish mountaineer Dougal Haston, has died from cancer aged 79.

Mr Scott and Mr Haston made history when they were part of an 18-person team to summit the Himalaya mountain from the notoriously difficult south-west face in 1975.

Despite recent illness, Mr Scott helped to raise funds for his charity Community Action Nepal (CAN) by climbing the stairs of his home during lockdown.

Doug Scott and the other members of the successful 1975 Everest expedition pictured at Heathrow Airport. Left to right: Peter Boardman; Chris Bonington, a sherpa, Dougal Haston and Doug Scott. (Pic: Getty Images).

His death follows that of another famous Scottish climber, Hamish MacInnes, known for inventing an all metal ice axe and a lightweight foldable stretcher.

MacInnes, from Gatehouse of Fleet, who was deputy leader of the 1975 Everest expedition but never made it to the top, passed away in November aged 90.

Who was Doug Scott?

Nottingham-born Mr Scott had a keen sense of adventure from a young age and discovered climbing during an Easter scout camp in 1955.

He was also inspired by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay after the pair became the first people to record a successful climb to Everest’s summit in 1953.

Though his professional career took him in another direction, as he completed teacher training in Loughborough, his love of the great outdoors remained.

He went on several expeditions with friends to various destinations, including the Tibesti mountains of Chad in 1963 and the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan in 1965.

He made the first European ascent of El Capitan’s Salathe Wall.

He received an invitation to be part of Chris Bonington’s expedition party to climb Everest's south-west face in 1972 and performed strongly, leading to his place in the 1975 group.

Scott junior’s climbing reputation was enhanced two years later when he was forced to crawl back to base camp having sustained two broken legs after reaching Karakoram’s peak Ogre.

Who is Doug Scott’s family?

Doug was the son of a policeman, George Scott, who was crowned the British amateur heavyweight boxing champion in 1945.

It is said that Doug inherited his father's physical frame, which he used to his advantage as a builder in the late 1960s after he quit teaching.

He married young, aged 20, to Jan Brook with whom he had three children; Michael, Martha and Rosie. He is twice divorced and had two sons, Arran and Euan, from his second marriage to Sharu (nee Prabhu) before marrying Trish (nee Laing) in 2007.

When did Doug Scott climb Everest?

On 24 September 1975, Mr Bonington reported that Doug Scott and Edinburgh-born mountaineer Dougal Haston had reached Everest’s summit and were on their way back down.

The pair endured a tough time having set off from the south-west face with the 18-strong group led by Mr Bonington.

Challenges included frozen oxygen equipment, chest high snow, failed headlamps and sub-zero temperatures at high altitude.

Yet they succeeded to write another chapter in Everest’s long history book.

Who is Dougal Haston?

Mr Haston, who was born in Currie, also had a great appetite for adventure and climbed many of Scotland's hardest routes.

These climbs included Gob on Carnmore in Wester Ross and Turnspit on Aonach Dubh in Glencoe before he conquered Everest.

Mr Haston died two years after his Everest climb when he was caught up in an avalanche while on a skiing day trip from his home in Switzerland, aged just 36.

Who is Hamish MacInnes?

Mr MacInnes was an experienced mountaineer, having taken part in more than 20 expeditions from the Caucasus to the Amazon, but is best remembered for his Everest attempt in 1953.

He attempted to scale to the top of Everest alongside a fellow climber, a porter, a sack of potatoes and a sheep. He didn’t make it to the top on that occasion and in 1975 he was thwarted by an avalanche.

But his adventure continued.

He set up the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team and co-founded the Search and Rescue Dog Association - achievements which received the highest recognition.

The Kirkcudbrightshire-born mountaineer was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1962 and an OBE in 1979.

What is the Community Action Nepal?

In 1994, Mr Scott founded the charity Community Action Nepal (CAN) to help people in the Himalayas.

The charity supports local people by creating schools, health posts and providing teachings, as well as funding equipment for sustainable living.

During lockdown, Mr Scott climbed the stairs of his home to raise funds for CAN and invited others to do the same on the 45th anniversary of his Everest climb.

The charity is close to reaching its £50,000 target from the Everest Challenge 2020. Visit its Just Giving page HERE.

How tall is Everest?

Everest is 29,035 feet or 8848 metres high, making its summit the highest point on Earth. It was formed by the movement of the Indian tectonic plate pushing up and against the Asian plate, and the mountain grows by about a quarter of an inch every year.

Where is Everest?

Everest is a peak in the Himalaya mountain range and is located between the borders of Nepal to the south and Tibet to the north, in an autonomous region of China.

Why is Everest named Everest?

Everest is named after George Everest, a former surveyor general of India.

Who were the first people to climb Everest?

The first recording of people climbing Everest were Edmund Hillary, a mountaineer from NZ, and his Tibetan guide Tenzing Norgay. They did it in 1953.

When do people climb Everest?

Mountaineers have two windows a year to climb Everest - one in mid-May and the other in November.

This is due to the changing weather conditions at the top of Everest, which experiences a jet stream with winds of up to 200mph and temperatures as low as -80F.

The jet stream moves north in May and November, causing the winds to calm and temperatures to warm enough, and allowing time for people to try to reach the summit.