Remembering Dougal Haston – Explorersweb »

Dougal Haston, one of the most skilled and fearless mountaineers of his time, would have turned 86 today. Born on April 19, 1940, in Currie, a small village near Edinburgh, Haston was the son of a baker and grew up in modest circumstances. From a young age, he developed a strong passion for the outdoors and began climbing in his mid-teens. By 1954, when he was 14, he made his first notable ascent on Curved Ridge, one of Scotland’s most famous and popular scrambling routes, in Glencoe. He joined the Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland and improved his skills on hard routes, often in bad weather, with climbing partners such as Robin Smith. Haston and Smith formed one of the most dynamic and audacious climbing partnerships of the 1960s, bringing the so-called  “Scottish style” (climbing in severe, mixed conditions) to an outstanding level. In 1959, Haston made the first ascent of The Bat, a difficult rock route on Carn Dearg at Ben Nevis. While at Edinburgh University, he continued climbing in Scotland, the Lake District, and the Alps. He grew to prefer winter climbs and mixed routes. Robin Smith, left, and Dougal Haston. Photo: SMC Image Archive Car accident and
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