Up and About: The Hard Road to Everest

by Doug K. Scott

At dusk on 24 September 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston became the first Britons to reach the summit of Everest as lead climbers on Chris Bonington's epic expedition to the mountain's immense south-west face.As darkness fell, Scott and Haston scraped a small cave in the snow 100 metres below the summit and survived the highest bivouac ever - without bottled oxygen, sleeping bags and, as it turned out, frostbite. For Doug Scott, it was the fulfilment of a fortune-teller's prophecy given to his mother: that her eldest son would be in danger in a high place with the whole world watching.Scott and Haston returned home national heroes with their image splashed across the front pages. Scott went on to become one of Britain's greatest ever mountaineers, pioneering new climbs in the remotest corners of the globe. His career spans the golden age of British climbing from the 1960s boom in outdoor adventure to the new wave of lightweight alpinism throughout the 1970s and 1980s.In Up and About, the first volume of his autobiography, Scott tells his story from his birth in Nottingham during the darkest days of war to the summit of the world.Surviving the unplanned bivouac without oxygen near the summit of Everest widened the range of what and how he would climb in the future. In fact, Scott established more climbs on the high mountains of the world after his ascent of Everest than before. Those climbs will be covered in the second volume of his life and times.

Genres: Climbing, Mountaineering

384 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2015

About the author

Douglas Keith Scott CBE, known as Doug Scott, is an English mountaineer noted for the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. Scott and Dougal Haston were the first Britons to climb Everest during this expedition. In receiving one of mountaineering's highest honours, the Lifetime Achievement Piolet d'Or, his personal style and climbs were described as "visionary".

Reviews

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early parts of this book about Doug's childhood and early life was very evocative if a bit slow maybe. However I think it was a useful introduction to the man and his life. I have read a fair few climbing books over the years. Generally they have tended to focus on big climbs/expeditions rather than climbing per se. You won't get details of routes here but you will get a wide spread of climbing locations - far more than in most previous books I've read. Sure - I expected and got early climbing in England, followed by trips to Wales and the Scotland. Yes there is climbing in the Alps however Doug Scott ranged far more widely than that.

Chad and Morocco, Turkey and Kurdistan, Norway's Troll wall, Yosemite and other climbs in the USA, Baffin Island, the Pamirs all feature and I found that insight into some very wild places very enjoyable. This guy was very at home in very remote areas and very happy in simple expeditions with friends. All the climbing areas interested me however his climbing in the Pamirs was particularly interesting as he was there during the 1974 season when a large number of people died. While Doug was peripherally involved in attempted rescue efforts it still shone a light on a significant climbing incident.

This guy was a big wall climber and as such was less involved in the big high level expeditions. However in 1975 Doug was one of the climbers who made the first ascent of Everest's South West face and this was a good read (though quite understated).

I've commented before on the personality of successful climbers. They tend to be so driven that being with them might be a challenge. Scott, while denying that he was a hippy, certainly behaved like one in both good and bad ways. He managed to be very caring and at times frankly unpleasant. His marriage (at least the first one) was treated - to me - very badly. I never really warmed to him and this is a book for climbing aficionados - but I did enjoy this partial biography. I say "partial" as this ends rather abruptly in 1975. I think there is another book of the next part of his life and I'll hopefully get to that in the future. 3.5/5

[MR ALAN MACKAY · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Towering Achievement

Doug Scott rightly deserves his legendary status. This book cements his climbing achievements and also illuminates his honesty. He is as fearless in his self assessment as he is on a climb. Added to this is compelling social commentary. I'm very much looking forward to the next volume.

[Sarah]

A good book, but not what I expected.
I found it quite difficult to keep up with what age he was at certain points, struggling to envision the narrative. I also found some bits uncomfortable, such as the story of his first erection and a line or two where he quickly described how he had to kill a Border Collie with a rock after a truck had hit it. These bits felt rushed and pretty callous. As did a line where he pulled the dead body of a 9 year old boy out of the water, then suddenly went on to talk about his next month at college. It’s a fairly long book, but slightly more emotional detail would have been nice in these parts, so as to not make it feel as cold. However, overall I did enjoy it. He gave a good amount of detail of his time climbing and in the mountains. It’s clear why he is one of Britain’s best loved climbers and I look forward to reading more of his books.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit hard to rate as it is definitely a book for those that are interested in climbing!! As is often the case some of the detail regarding the alpine climbing is difficult without knowing the climbs referred to.

However, as it is such a lovely book aesthetically it will stay on the bookshelf for another read in the future.

If volume 2 was published I would give it a go.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Mountaineering Book

Doug Scott has chronicled his mountain and rock climbing exploits through his historic climb of Everest on 1975. Starts a bit slow, but continue reading and you will be rewarded.

[Eme Morato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doug Scott was a legend and I enjoyed reading thoroughly about his life.

[Douglas Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first part of Doug Scott's extended biography. Have always admired him and he deserves his status as one our leading climbers and innovators. This book seems to be very honest about himself and his (and others) faults. It also has plenty of social commentary. Looking forward to further volumes.

[Lee Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I must admit I didn't fully appreciate the extent of Doug Scott's climbing achievements beforehand. It was an inspiring read, particularly given the low key style of his climbing trips which I can more readily identify with. The book was well-written and considered, although the final part concerning the south-west face of Everest seemed oddly brief compared to the book's general pace, particularly given the title of the book. Maybe he thought that everybody knew the story already?