An Edinburgh man, born in 1863, William Douglas joined the newly formed Scottish Mountaineering Club
(SMC)
in 1890, and immediately became one of its most energetic and likeable
characters. Only two years after joining that club he took over the post
as Journal Editor, a task he performed diligently for 18 years; from
1892-1909. As a publisher, he was presumably well-equipped for this
task. Having married Phyllis Procter in 1908, he probably found that
family life was taking up too much time and energy for such a
time-consuming job!
As a mountaineer Douglas was very
experienced, having climbed, between 1895 and 1912, in Switzerland, the
Dolomites, France and Italy, the Canadian Rockies, Norway, and the Jura
Mountains. One of his most notable climbs was a 21-hour traverse of the
Meije, with J Rennie, a fellow club member. It was of this climb, in the
classic book by Raeburn ‘Mountaineering Art’, that Raeburn asserted it
was one of the few Alpine routes for which a rope was probably useful.
As a climber, wrote his friend Rennie, Douglas was bold, but not rash,
and willing to take a chance.
In Scotland his ascents ranged over
a wide area; from the Southern Highlands to the far North-West. On Ben
Nevis he has a permanent memorial as the 700-foot
Douglas Boulder is
named after him. This rock feature lies at the foot of Tower Ridge, and
in 1896, on an Easter Meet of the SMC at Fort William, four climbers
made an ascent of the Very Difficult Direct Route on the Boulder. The
party consisted of William Douglas (who in an amusing account of the
climb referred to himself as the ‘baggage’, William Brown, who led the
crux pitch, Lionel Hinxman, and Harold Raeburn, who made an early
appearance as a guest on the meet.
It was a mark of Douglas’
popularity that the Boulder be named after him; even his photographs
indicate his good nature. Lord Mackay, writing descriptions of some of
the earlier climbers, describes Douglas as ‘always modest but
indispensable’. At his wedding, the cake was designed in the shape of a
mountain, with climbers wielding ice axes dotted about its surface.
Other ascents on which Douglas played a key role included:
Naismith’s Route on Crowberry Ridge on the Buachaille. This was climbed
in August 1896, and as Naismith later remarked, one of the most
difficult parts of the day was in getting Douglas past the ripe clumps
of crowberries growing everywhere. It was the first ascent of the
formidably appearing Crowberry Ridge; Black Spout Gully, Left Branch
(March 1893, and the first recorded ascent on Lochnagar. The day before
this ascent, they made an incredibly bold attempt on a formidable gully
further left on the cliffs, only to retreat before the 60m headwall.
This was only climbed in 1950, and is now a grade 5. In their honour it
is called Douglas Gibson Gully.)
Douglas was interested in every
aspect of the Scottish hills, and he wrote 50 or so articles or notes on
their topography, history, ornithology and other aspects. He was one of
the first climbers to describe the Brocken Spectre in Scotland, and
included along with his note a delightful little sketch of the
phenomenon.
William Douglas died in 1932, leaving his wife and
two sons. Phyllis, who was also a keen climber, became one of the
original members of the Ladies Scottish Climbing Club.
Finest
Moment: First Ascent Naismith’s Route, Crowberry Ridge.
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