Himalayan Climber

Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

The photos are of the climbs that have captured my imagination, have taken me out of myself, gripped with fear, shattered with exhaustion, or filled with wonder just to be there. If they stimulate and motivate others to take a step into the unknown, then this book will have been of some value. Doug Scott's historic ascent (with Dougal Haston) of the South-West Face of Everest in 1975 sparked a revolution in mountaineering, opening the way for climbers everywhere to adopt the rapid alpine style of ascent as they tackled the world's highest peaks. As part of an elite international group of climbers, Scott soon completed a string of major climbs on Shishapangma, Shivling, Nuptse, and notably on Kangchenjunga, where his ascent of the north ridge (with Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker) ranks among the greatest of the Himalayan climbs. Himalayan Climber is a stunning pictorial record of Scott's remarkable climbing career, covering 26 visits to the most fabled regions of the Greater Himalayan range, including the Hindu Kush, Tibet, the Karakoram, Ladakh, and Bhutan. Illustrated with over 400 dramatic colour photographs, Scott also narrates his adventures in other parts of the world: rock climbing in Derbyshire at the age of 11, bivouacking in freezing temperatures in the Alps and exploring the Atlas mountains as an aspirant climber. In over 30 years of Climbing, Scott has survived nights without oxygen at over 8,700 metres, a nine-day crawling descent from the Ogre with two broken legs and an avalanche on K2 that swept away his climbing partner. Despite this, he is still passionate and lighthearted in his depiction of a life spent in the mountains.

Born in 1941, Doug Scott began climbing at the age of 12 at Black Rocks in Derbyshire. He progressed to the cliffs of Ogwen in Snowdonia and became a climbing instructor. Aged 17 he completed his first Alpine season. In the 1960s Doug began new routing on the Derwent Valley limestone, putting up many lines such as Cataclysm and Highlight, and in 1965, aged 24, went on his first expedition to the Tibesti Mountains. Doug Scott has made 45 expeditions to the high mountains of Asia. He has reached the summit of 40 peaks. Apart from his climb up the South West Face of Everest with Dougal Haston during Chris Bonington's Expedition of 1975, he has made all his climbs in lightweight or alpine style, without the use of artificial oxygen. He has reached the highest peaks on all seven continents - 'the seven summits'. He is a past President of the Alpine Club and was made a CBE in 1994. In 1999 he received the Royal Geographical Society Patron's Gold Medal, and in 2000 made the first ascent of Targo Ri, 6,572 metres, in Tibet. He continues to climb, write and lecture, avidly supporting the charity Community Action Nepal.