Wednesday 21st October 2009
7.00 pm
Elgin Town Hall, Supper Room
Tickets: Climbers and mountaineers: £10.00; Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children): £40, all others £15 – available from Elgin Library, Active Outdoors and MMC Committee members at any of the forthcoming bus or weekend meets.
THE THREE PEAKS
Everest – K2 – Kangchenjunga
Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest mountaineers of all time, Doug Scott has made numerous significant first ascents in the Himalaya. In a brand new and stunningly illustrated talk, Doug tells of his adventures and insights on the world’s three highest mountains.
This is not simply a talk for committed climbers and mountaineers however. With his dry humour, tales of death-defying bravery, heart-tugging accounts of the lives of the mountain peoples he encounters, added to his spectacular photography, everyone should be riveted.
The price of a ticket is in a very good cause: Funds from the lecture will be split equally between two charities: Community Action Nepal (CAN), which Doug set up, and the Rokpa Trust, which supports education and training projects for Tibetans in China and Nepal.
Doug will be joined at this event by Ven Gelong Karma Jiga, founder and director of Rokpa Dundee, Aberdeen & Highlands who will give a fascinating introductory talk on the work of the Rokpa Trust throughout Scotland. Karma Jiga is a lifelong Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher and has worked alongside Doug for the last 5 years to raise money for both CAN and ROKPA.
A mountaineering legend
Doug Scott has conquered more new Himalayan routes and more in lightweight style than any other British climber, and possibly any other man alive. His respect for the earth and his passion for the far wild places has led him to take an “environmentally responsible” attitude to his mountaineering and whenever possible he tackles routes in Alpine-style – climbing fast and light and without ropes and oxygen, or indeed “expedition” back-up, thereby removing the risk of leaving debris on the mountains – a problem that is increasingly being recognised on Everest.
With his more extreme climbing days behind him now, however, Doug uses his incredible energy, drive and determination in another very positive way. But it is one which has not seen him turn his back on the Himalayas. For with Community Action Nepal, he has set about helping some of the poorest peoples of the world. Touched by the tales of challenging conditions experienced in the impoverished mountain homes by the porters and sherpas who became his friends on many of his expeditions, he has established over 40 on-going projects to allow these resilient and ever-cheerful people to help themselves. Nepal has been recognised by UNESCO as the fourth poorest country in the world, the poorest in Asia and the mountain villages CAN helps are in the areas which receive the least of any funding which is available.
Traditionally, young men from these communities go into the trekking industry. Community Action Nepal projects bring aid in the form of clean water supplies, schools and healthcare posts to these regions.
Funds raised by Doug through his work for CAN go directly to the people it is designed to help, with overheads being met by the sale of goods including fair trade Nepalese crafts in the West.
Doug also sells and auctions large posters and limited edition singed prints of his superb photography at the lectures to further assist with fundraising and will have a selection of these, and books he has written, with him in Elgin.
Doug is also speaking at other venues around Scotland during October.
More details of all of Doug’s talks can be found here or by telephoning 0845 458 9527.
The work of Ven Karma Jiga is highlighted at www.dundee.samye.org.
Everest: At sunset on the 24 September 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston reached the summit of Everest, having made the first ascent of its very difficult South West Face – they were also the first Britons to climb the mountain. On their descent, they survived without oxygen or sleeping bags, the highest bivouac ever and at 28,700 feet just one hundred metres down from the summit. This was a ground breaking effort etched into the annals of mountaineering.
It also marked the end of an era. This siege style expedition, brilliantly led by Chris Bonington, demonstrated that with enough experienced climbers and resources and with reasonable weather, anything was possible. Since uncertainty of outcome is the essence of adventure and one of the main ingredients of a great climb, Doug and his friends naturally tackled their next big climb in lightweight style.
Kangchenjunga: This is the world’s third highest summit, but a much more technically demanding and dangerous mountain than Everest. After two and a half months of climbing through one storm after another Doug Scott with Peter Boardman
The Moray Mountaineering Club 