The Ogre

by Doug K. Scott (contributor)

Some mountains are high; some mountains are hard. Few are both. On the afternoon of 13 July 1977, having become the first climbers to reach the summit of the Ogre, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington began their long descent. In the minutes that followed, any feeling of success from their achievement would be overwhelmed by the start of a desperate fight for survival. And things would only get worse. Rising to over 7,000 metres in the centre of the Karakoram, the Ogre - Baintha Brakk - is notorious in mountaineering circles as one of the most difficult mountains to climb. First summited by Scott and Bonington in 1977 - on expedition with Paul `Tut' Braithwaite, Nick Estcourt, Clive Rowland and Mo Anthoine - it waited almost twenty-four years for a second ascent, and a further eleven years for a third. The Ogre, by legendary mountaineer Doug Scott, is a two-part biography of this enigmatic in the first part, Scott has painstakingly researched the geography and history of the mountain; part two is the long overdue and very personal account of his and Bonington's first ascent and their dramatic week-long descent on which Scott suffered two broken legs and Bonington smashed ribs. Using newly discovered diaries, letters and audio tapes, it tells of the heroic and selfless roles played by Clive Rowland and Mo Anthoine. When the desperate climbers finally made it back to base camp, they were to find it abandoned - and themselves still a long way from safety. The Ogre is undoubtedly one of the greatest adventure stories of all time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Climbing, Adventure, History, Memoir, Sports

192 pages, Hardcover

Published November 23, 2017

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

[Steve Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knew the story well, but wanted to read this because I had just seen his lecture on it at RGS, and it promised some new material that had been found, and a history of the mountain itself. The description of the accident and the descent was excellent, but I found the buildup about the mountain and early Karakoram explorers a little dry.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read this book we all lived in a different world – one where deciding to climb a dangerous mountain was more life-threatening than leaving your own house. Strange times we live in, folks…

Anyhoo – the book. The Ogre is an account of one the people who did indeed try to climb the titular mountain, one that is apparently notorious amongst climbers for being extremely difficult. The first half of the book gives us an overview of the mountain, the region it inhabits and the history of climbing. It’s interesting if a tad dry, but the second part is better.

Giving an account of the ascent of his group, it already wasn’t plain sailing when they finally reached the summit. But here’s where things got really ‘interesting’ as Scott slips during the descent and manages to smash his legs to smithereens. And then the friend who’s helping him down the mountain smashes his ribs to dust. But there’s no hope for help – just a painfully grim inching down the mountain only to find base camp abandoned as everyone thinks you’re dead.

While The Ogre is never going to be up there with the best books on mountaineering – it’s too slight for that – the second part still made it a worthwhile read (especially if you’ve ever laboured under the illusion that climbing mountains is a Good Idea)

Apparently planned as one of a series of other mountain books, Scott would do well to ditch the two part format and just stick to the stories of the climbers as, let’s face it, that’s all I’m really here for.

**Also posted at Cannonball Read 12**

[Crystal Liddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I finished this book, I nearly put it down a few times. Like most readers, I found the first half of the book to be very dry. And although it was written in 2017, it felt very dated. I enjoyed the second half of the book more, but even then I felt the writer glossed over some details of the ascent and descent which would have added to the story. Surprisingly, the part I enjoyed the most was at the end where Scott briefly describes his Community work. I would have loved to hear more about it.

[Eme Morato · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book on human resilience and spiritual fortitude. You don't have to a climber, mountaineer or alpinist to find valuable life lessons in Doug Scott's tale of perseverance, strength and a burning desire to live.

[Apriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an expert armchair mountaineer and have read a ton of mountaineering books. Plenty has been written about Everest and K2 and modern disasters that have happened on them but books about less popular mountains and climbs gone awry in the past are harder to find so I was pretty happy to stumble upon this book.

This is an excellent little book which includes a brief history of the first exploration, mapping, and climbing of the Karakoram region by westerners before diving into the ill fated climb of The Ogre.

[Alex Ekins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well produced book with loads of pictures to accompany the writing on the culture and history of the region and its exploration. The story of Doug Scott's survival on the mountain is one of the great epics of mountaineering history.

[Cat Strawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I’m surprised by how taken in I was by this book and how much I enjoyed reading it. Located in the Karakoram mountain range is the Ogre, a notoriously difficult mountain to climb. Nobody managed to reach the summit until Doug Scott and his climbing partner Chris Bonnington in 1977, however the joy of reaching the top was to be over-shadowed by the dramatic events of their descent.

The book is split into two parts, the first explains the history of the mountain from the geography and geology all the way through to the people who first discovered it and helped to map out the surrounding area. This part of the book was surprisingly interesting for me especially as being new to reading about mountaineering I didn’t know much about where the Ogre was let alone the history of it and the surrounding area. There is some basic geography on how the Karakoram mountains were formed along with some stunning images of the area, the book then moves on to explain the history of how the mountains and the Ogre was discovered. Although I was keen to read the second part of the book in which the author and his team make the dramatic ascent and descent of the Ogre, I really enjoyed this first half as it made me understand the area more and somehow made the individual story of climbing the mountain feel more real.

The second part of the book contains the story of the author and his group’s ascent and descent of the Ogre. At the start there is a brief biography of each man involved followed by the story of their march to base camp and then the actual climb. It’s this part of the book that is my favourite. I won’t go into the details of their climb but it was an amazing story to read. Although the actual journey of the group’s descent is dramatic the entire story of their march and climb is exciting to read too, and what I enjoyed is the honesty and personal feel the story had. Throughout the tale you not only learn about the technical difficulties they faced with the climb but you get to read about all the wonderful personal moments that they shared including the dark humour which I enjoyed.

There are lots of photographs placed throughout the text of the book. In the first part there are many photographs of the people who explored the Karakoram mountain area as well as some images of the area, both new and old. It’s the second half of the book that has the majority of the photographs though as these are all photos taken during the 1977 climb of the Ogre. These photographs really help you imagine the climb and how hard it was for Scott’s group. There are some stunning images of the mountain itself as well as a few of them labelled so you can see the route taken. All the pages of the book are thick and glossy which makes the images stand out even more. I really enjoyed looking at these pictures and I can’t help but keep looking back at this book after reading it just to see the photographs.

There are a couple uses of the s swear word but there isn’t anything else that would be considered offensive. The inside covers have maps of the area showing not only the countries but some of the most well known mountains. These are great to have especially if, like me, you don’t know the area well.

I’m still surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. It’s so easy to get into, especially when reading about the climb and I loved the afterword and how Scott has dedicated some of his later years to helping the people in the area. This book has been mentioned as the first of a series and I really do hope to read more. Not only is it exciting and interesting to read about the climb to the top of the mountain but it’s also a wonderful extra to have such detailed information about the history of the mountain’s discovery.
-Thanks to Vertebrate Publishing for a free copy.

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a two part book. The first part provides a detailed history of exploration of the Karakoram and the early ascents.

The second part of the book describes the 1977 climb of the Ogre by Doug Scott, Tut Braithwaite, Clive Rowland, Mo Anthoine, Nick Estcourt and Chris Bonington. It involved the hardest climbing ever done at the time at that altitude. Not far below the summit, Scott took a fall and broke both lower legs, resulting in a tortuous retreat down the mountain, only made possible by the excellence of the climbing team.

The Karakoram is considered to be the loftiest mountain range of all, with the highest concentration of peaks over 26,000 feet (7,900 metres) giving the range an average height of 6,100 metres/20,000 feet, The range is situated much further from the equator than the central Himalaya of Nepal. The highest mountain in the Karakoram, K2 (35 degrees 52' N), is nearly eight degrees north of Everest (27 degrees 59' N). The climate as a consequence is more severe with glaciation reaching down to lower altitudes than in the central Himalaya.

Scott has a great chapter on "The Great Game". On Afghanistan: "It is impossible not to admire the spirit of this country made up of mountain dynasties, all fiercely independent, consisting of mountain warriors up in the clouds, well versed in manipulating the invaders crowding their space."

On the East India Company: "General James Dalhousie drastically changed social mores where women were concerned. He passed laws banning child marriage, polygamy and the killing of unwanted female children, and established, for the first time, schools for girls. In effect, he introduced more changes in seven years than had been enacted in centuries."

"The dual nature of the new British empire was now laid bare for all to see; on the one hand radical, humanitarian reforms but on the other, if challenged, the British did not hesitate to use force to maintain peace and order to keep India British."

The main Survey of India was begun in 1802 with the ‘Great Trigonometrical Survey’ of the subcontinent. The backbone of the survey was the great arc of the meridian about 2,500 kilometres in extent from Cape Comorin at the southern tip of India to Dehra Dun in the north. This was completed in 1841 under the watchful eye of George Everest, the surveyor general from 1830–1843.

The policy of the Survey of India and the Royal Geographical Society was ‘the nomenclature of a mountain region should not be forced: it should grow spontaneously, and we should never invent a name until its absence has become inconvenient.’ Thirty-two peaks were labeled with a K. K1 became known by its local name, Masherbrum, but K2, so remote that no local name had been attributed to it, remained K2. K3 was eventually renamed Broad Peak, K4 Gasherbrum II, K5 Gasherbrum I and K6 was first named Bride Peak by Conway but then renamed Chogolisa.

Montgomerie, more than any of the senior surveyors, trained local hill men to carry on the survey of the north of India and beyond, where the British surveyors were forbidden to travel. They were specially chosen for their fitness, intelligence and loyalty. They were known as the pundits and bravely went about their business disguised as pilgrims visiting holy sites. Pundit ‘AK’ made the first circuit of Everest.

"Not until the people of Hunza and those of Nagar were pacified was there any realistic expectation of organising private expeditions into the mountains in the region of the Hispar and Biafo glaciers. There had been almost constant conflict between these two adjacent areas and, even today, there is a degree of tension between the two who share the same country but quite a different version of their religion."

[Damir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is divided in two sections. The first, is a dry description of, mainly, the british history surrounding the territory where The Ogre is located. It's understandable that most of the references are associated to british people there, because of -maybe- being more documented, but for a book written in 2017 it's surprising how dehumanizing it is towards the locals, and how the author supports the colonialist perspectiveof this whole history. This is notorious and I even had some bursts of uncomfortable laugh while reading some passages.

The second part, about the story of the first ascent, is the heart of this book. As several other british climbing books that refer to the same era, it's a bit confusing when describing the preparation, the people and when remembering past expeditions. The author makes some leaps in time that require more context, and sometimes it explains in detail irrelevant topics, while providing one-liners to describe the death of a partner in the mountains. Weird, to say the least, but that is something that happens a lot with some climbing books.

The book is at its best when talking about the ascent and the descent. It's very honest, even contrasting his perspective with the accounts of his own teammates. The story is told without decoration, the author states facts so don't expect any profound poetic depiction of the amazing mountain they climbed. It's more, as the author says in the book, a band-of-brothers kind of story, where they are all part of a battle, and comradeship's ups and downs is the window to their true humanity.

The book ends with the closest bits of humanity in the whole book, thanking the locals and teammates for what they all did, and showing an inspiring humbleness of the author. Apart from that, it's just an account of events of one of the most amazing survival stories that has ever ocurred in a mountain. I recommend to read the second section, because even if it's dry, it's short and the story that it describes is incredible and unique.

[Carina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have some mixed feelings about this book.

Roughly 45% of the book is taken up with a history of the Karakoram, a lot of which I'd learnt in previous books focused on K2. Whilst I do enjoy learning about the history of the mountain being written about, the history here really wasn't specific to the Ogre so was a bit disappointing.

Additionally, the author seemed to go out of their way to say what changes for good the British rule over India and other parts of Asia did for the native communities, without really mentioning the negative impact on those people. Emphasis also seemed placed on the fates of some of the British at the hands of the local people that, to me, reading this with 2022 vision, feels very wrong. I *think* this book was published in 2017 so I'd have expected a more... balanced... view rather than this rather colonial one.

Once into part 2 my enjoyment of the book increased. However Scott seems to write in a very detached manner. His having broken two legs whilst above 24,000 feet, and having to get back down a freaking mountain, is passed over as if all he had was a stubbed toe. I may be unfairly comparing this book to one I read last year, in which Joe Simpson only broke one leg but also had to crawl to base camp Simpson was, I grant, in a worse position in terms of support (1 person v 3 people), but in his book I *felt* the pain, and suffering, and I understood how miraculous his survival was. Here there's no feeling of true peril, or pain. Don't get me wrong, I'm not into reading about other people's pain, but this total detachment isn't as memorable.

The book is well written though, I could understand what the author was talking about and I enjoyed the pictures at the end (though seeing them on a Kindle screen wasn't great). I'd read other books by this author but wouldn't leap at buying them.

[Trevor Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 1 of the book takes a look at the history of the region and the mountain. Whilst this was reasonably interesting there was a distinct shortage of maps showing where all of the passes, glaciers and mountains were in relation to each other. This lack made it difficult to get a mental picture of the region.

Part 2 was altogether different with a great set of photos and diagrams showing routes up (and down) The Ogre. I think it too could have done with a few more pictures with graphics showing particular features mentioned in the text. However, the story of the ascent and subsequent trial of a descent had me hooked, reminding me of Touching The Void. The camaraderie between the climbers on that expedition really makes the reader appreciate how tight the climbing community is.

Altogether, this book was definitely worth trading and it’ll be going onto my bookshelf to be read again in a couple of years once I’ve forgotten the story.

[Alexandr Mudrov · Rating 3 out of 5]

До прочтения этой книги имел весьма смутное представление о деталях событий, которые эта книга описывает, но достаточно много слышал об авторе, одном из величайших альпинистов прошлого столетия.

Книга состоит из двух частей. Первая посвящена истории региона в целом, и самой горы в частности. И если история самой горы по понятным причинам не такая богатая (она не столь популярна, как восьмитысячники Каракорум и Гималаев), то истории региона уделено большое внимание. И, к сожалению, на мой взгляд это большой минус книги. Детально, подробно описывается история колонизации Пакистана и Индии, но подаётся всё под таким углом, что вроде бы это было благо для региона. Колонизация, какие бы цели она не преследовала - зло. Этим страдали многие империалистические державы, этим страдает, к прискорбию, моя текущая родина сейчас.

Однако, вторая часть книги, которая описывает непосредственно восхождения, трагедию на спуске и дальнейшие события по героическому спасению, написаны добротно. Язык лёгкий, присутствует тонкий английский юмор (браво переводчик!), нет такого официоза, который встречается в советской альпинистской литературе. Ну и само событие, безусловно, достойно того, чтобы быть увековечено на бумаге.

Автору (к сожалению, он уже не с нами) мои глубочайшие поклоны. Он был одним из величайших, повторюсь, альпинистов 20 века, оставившим неизгладимый след в истории. Если бы в книге была только вторая часть - поставил бы 5.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read. Prior to reading this book, I knew very little of the history of this region, and even less about mountain climbing. The author wrote a very thorough account of the historical events surrounding this mountain, as well as a very riveting and intense retelling of his own harrowing experience on the slopes. This is not in a genre I would typically read, but I’m very glad I did.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last 1/5 of the book - when the author details his ascent and descent of the mountain - was truly riveting and reads like an action movie. While the rest of the book was well written and provides exacting, but sometimes painful, detail of the history of mountaineering in Pakistan and other regions, it takes far too long to arrive at "the point" of the story - climbing the Ogre.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is not that great to be honest and it turns what was obviously an epic into something seemingly mundane. One of the most poorly written epics I've ever read, however the photos are stunning and there are very many of the,. Definitely a book of two sides - poor writing, amazing photos.

[Brian Slevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First hand account of one of the greatest mountain ascents ever. Best in mind that that first 40% or so of the book covers the history of the charting of the Karakoram Rage, The East India Company, and the British Empire in India. I'm a history buff so enjoyed this, but might not be for everyone.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with every Doug Scott book I’ve read so far, The Ogre is very well written and full of interesting stories from both the author and his friends. It’s not often I say this, but I wish this book was longer.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Climbing books — no matter how exciting the climbing tales were — are so much better when they include the historical context of the explorers, climbers, and peoples inhabiting the area of the climb. This exciting epic did so!👍🏼👍🏼

[Oleg · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book about friendship and humanity

[Pete George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great pictures, a good story

[Roger Saperas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Muy bien documentado, pero la lectura es muy lenta y complicada. Esperava mucho mas relato de la experiencia, la cual es muy corta y poco il·lustrativa a pesar de las muchas fotos que tiene el libro.

[Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I wanted from it so I mainly enjoyed the second half

[Frank McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good description of the climb. History at the start of the book is very dry but interesting if you like that stuff