Shisha Pangma: The alpine-style first ascent of the south-west face

About Alex MacIntyreDoug Scott

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 made 42 expeditions to the high mountains of Asia. He reached the summits 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 made all his climbs in lightweight or Alpine style without the use of artificial oxygen. He reached the highest peaks on all seven continents 'the seven summits'. He was a 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 6572 metres in Tibet. Up until his death in December 2020 he continued to climb write and lecture avidly supporting the charity Community Action Nepal.Born in 1954 'Dirty' Alex MacIntyre was one of the legendary early 1970s Leeds University climbers noted for their big hair lycra tights and habit of calling on another 'youth'. A popular climber he was a leading figure Alpine climbing's 'front-point revolution' in the 1970s when a group of British climbers pushed standards dramatically higher. Ascents such as The Shroud on the Grand Jorasses were made in a day and formerly-sieged routes such as the Harlin Direct on the Eiger were climbed in Alpine-style. MacIntyre was a great supporter of Alpine-style ethics and took them to the Himalaya where he made several superb ascents and attempts on major objectives - Changabang Shishapangma and Makalu. Alex MacIntyre died in 1982. He and Rene Ghilini were retreating from a fine attempt on the South Face of Annapurna where a solitary falling stone struck him square on the head and knocked him down 800 feet. A memorial stone at Annapurna Base Camp reads: 'It is better to live one day as a tiger than a hundred as a sheep.'