The Hellman deserves the upmost respect, even when he is paddling on the inside of a two foot day and riding waves with a stance as wide as a freeway. For when it gets big, and the crowd disappears, and the Hellman paddles out, alone, all is forgotten. On just those ten days a year, the Hellman earns his get out of jail card for the other 355.
– unknown
Surfers use the word Hellman to describe serious hardcore big wave riders. Some people might use the term daredevil, but it’s far, far beyond that.
In climbing we have a similar term. Hardman. If you have to ask the question… it’s not you. It’s sure as hell not me; that’s also for sure. And if someone tells you that they are a hardman… they are most certainly not one; and at very best a wanker. It’s not something that entirely defies description, yet it’s also not something you can easily draw a box around either. It’s not gender or age specific.
Probably not a person afraid of a wee drink or two, a cigarette, or potatoes. No stranger to long days and even longer nights. This is the type of climber you’d want to be with when the shit hits the fan; on a climb, on the road, or in a bar. The person that always takes the sharp end, especially when that shit does hit the fan. The person that does scary runout and chossy climbing at their on-sight level and cruises it. The person who only takes a half liter of water and a light jacket on a long route. The person that starts those long routes at noon. The person that does all that shit and more and still smiles. The person that looks Mr. Death in the eye and doesn’t blink… ever. That person…
Some would say that the very definition of hardman died with the likes of Ricardo Cassin, Lionel Terray, Doug Scott, Walter Bonatti, Charlie Fowler, Jim Bridwell, and a few others of their ilk. And probably Don Whillans, even if just for his harness…
Here’s a classic example. Look up Hardman in the dictionary and you are likely to see the following picture:
If there was ever a card-carrying member of the Hardman union it was Doug Scott. Below is a partial list of accomplishments…
- 1965: Tarso Tiroko, Chad with Ray Gillies, Clive Davies and Pete Warrington
- 1967: South face of Koh-i-Bandaka, Hindu Kush with Ray Gillies
- 1970: Salathé wall, El Cap with Peter Habeler
- 1972: Mt. Asgard, Baffin Island with Dennis Hennek, Paul Nunn and Paul Braithwaite
- 1974: Changabang, first ascent with Bonington, Haston, et al.
- 1974: Pic Lenin, Pamirs, with Clive Rowland, Guy Lee, Braithwaite
- 1975: Southwest face of Mt. Everest, with Haston
- 1976: South face Denali, Alaska, with Haston
- 1977: Baintha Brakk (The Ogre), Karakoram, with Bonington, and descent with both legs broken at the ankle*
- 1978: Mt. Waddington, British Columbia, with Rob Wood
- 1979: North ridge of Kangchenjunga, with Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker. One of the early no-oxygen ascents of an 8,000m peak
- 1979: Nuptse, North face, with Georges Bettembourg, Brian Hall and Alan Rouse
- 1981: Shivling, India, with Bettembourg, Greg Child and Rick White
- 1982: Shishapangma, South Face, Tibet with Alex MacIntyre, and Roger Baxter-Jones
- 1983: Lobsang Spire, Karakoram, with Child and Peter Thexton
- 1984: Chamlang, East ridge, Nepal, with Michael Scott, Jean Afanassieff and Ang Phurba
- 1988: Jitchu Drake, Bhutan, with Sharavati Prabhu and Victor Saunders
- 1992: Nanga Parbat, Central Mazeno Peaks, with Sergey Efimov, Alan Hinkes, Ang Phurba and Nga Temba.
- 1990’s Mt Vinson, Antarctica
- 1990’s Carstensz Pyramid via a new route (completing the 7 summits)
- 1998: Drohmo, South pillar, Nepal, with Roger Mear
- 2000: Targo Ri, Central Tibet, with Julian Freeman-Attwood and Richard Cowper
*This story alone is one of the greats in the annals of Hardman history. The story itself is well worth your time in finding and reading it, but the summary, and no spoiler alert to any climber reading this is that Scott survived a fall high on the Ogre, resulting in two broken legs and his subsequent 8 day descent and crawl from the mountain, assisted by the tireless efforts of Clive Rowland, and Mo Anthoine.
Besides decades of hard rock climbing in the U.K., and a lengthy apprenticeship on tough routes in the Alps, and elsewhere, Doug Scott took part in 45 expeditions to Asia which resulted in 40 summits; half of them being first ascents. This is what in part contributed to him becoming the third recipient of the Piolet d’Or Lifetime Contribution Award, after Walter Bonatti, and Reinhold Messner.
Hardman…