Doug Scott, Everest the Hard Way 25/10/2016 ADVANCE - Paul Esser Fundrasier

Everest The Hard Way is the story of one of mountaineering''s most extraordinary achievements told by one of the world''s most extraordinary men. By 1975 the South West face had already seen off five previous expeditions consisting of some of the strongest mountaineers of the time. In the autumn Chris Bonington and his British team returned to the face and finally succeeded.

Doug and Dougal Haston reached the summit just as the sun was setting and left at 7.00 pm. Their torches failed reversing the Hillary Step, wind had blown snow into their steps and they were out of oxygen. They decided it would be prudent to bivouac although it was only 300 feet below the main summit.

Doug commented, ‘the main thing was to get out of the wind so we dug a snow cave and sat on our rucksacks for the next nine hours in temperatures around minus 40 degrees centigrade. We managed to survive without sleeping bags, without oxygen, and, as it turned out, without getting frostbite. The net result for me was to really widen the range of where and how I would climb in the future. I knew for sure that from then on I would not be carrying cylinders of oxygen”.

This will be a Paul Esser Memorial Lecture, in association with UBSS and UBMC, in aid of Community Action Nepal.

*Please note that this in not included in the Wilderness Lectures Season Ticket*