Doug Scott, C.B.E.

Douglas Keith Scott, CBE, has made 45 expeditions to the high mountains of Asia, out of which most were climbed by new routes or for the first time in alpine style. He ascended Everest in 1975 (new route), Kangchenjunga (new route) and Nuptse (new route) in 1979, Shisha Pangma (new route) in 1982 and Broad Peak in 1983. Among other difficult climbs he participated in the first ascents of Changabang (6864 m) in 1974 and Baintha Brakk (‘Ogre’, 7285 m) in 1977. He also finished the Carstensz-version of the Seven Summits in 1995. Following on from Walter Bonatti and Reinhold Messner he received the 3rd Piolet d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award in Chamonix in 2011. 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. Doug is the recipient of Himalayan Club Kekoo Naoroji Book Award for his autobiography Up and About. He was BMC representative on the UIAA and a member of the UIAA Management Committee; Member of UIAA Mountaineering Commission and Chairman of the Traditional Values Working Group 2011–present. Scott edited the well-received document ‘The UIAA’s Recommendations for Preserving Natural Rock for Adventure Climbing’. During Scott’s climbing career, his understanding of the culture and the people in the regions where he climbed grew as he formed strong bonds and relationships. In 1991 he raised funds and organised installation of 17 fresh water standpipes in Askole, the last settlement before K2 that reduced infant mortality by half. Scott founded the charity Community Action Nepal (CAN) and spends much of his time fundraising for this cause and regularly visits some of the 60 CAN projects in Nepal. Scott is an advocate of Responsible Tourism, setting up Community Action Treks (CAT) in 1989 to help improve conditions of labour in the trekking industry. He received the British Guild of Travel Writers Tourism and Community Merit Award, 1996 and CAT received the Responsible Tourism Award 2008. CAN was awarded the first British Expertise International (BEI) Charity Project of the Year Award along with CAN’s partner, WYG in 2017.