Chic Scott was born in Calgary in 1945 and is a fourth generation Albertan and a third generation Calgarian. The Scott family has been very active organizing amateur sport over the years. Charles F. Scott (Chic’s father) was Calgary Sportsman of the Year in 1971 and was elected to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.
Chic was very active as a golfer in his youth and represented Alberta at the Canadian Junior Golf Championship in 1961. However, in 1962 he took up mountain climbing and skiing and these two passions have dominated his life ever since. He was part of the first wave of homegrown Canadian climbers who were to earn their place in this British and European dominated sport.
The following pages illustrate some
highlights and accomplishments of his career:
1965 |
New routes on Ships Prow Buttress near Canmore and the north buttress of Mount Stephen, near Field, BC. 1966. |
1966 |
First winter ascent of Mount Hungabee, a leading edge winter climb in the Rockies at the time. |
1967 |
Jasper to Lake Louise High Level Ski Traverse. This was the first successful completion of this tour and introduced Nordic equipment into ski mountaineering in Canada (300 km, 21 days). First winter ascent of Mount Assiniboine. This was the most serious winter climb to date in the Rockies and a great prize. |
1968 |
In this year Chic travelled to Europe. For five of the next seven summers he climbed extensively in the Alps making ascents of many serious routes such as the Dent d’Herens north face, the Gervesutti Pillar on Mont Blanc du Tacul, the north face of the Aiguille du Dru, the north face of the Aiguille de Triolet, the Swiss Direct route on the north face of Les Courtes and a new route on the north face of the Aiguille d’Argentiere. During these summers he was employed by the International School of Mountaineering (Director Dougal Haston) in Leysin, Switzerland, and, in a guiding capacity, made ascents of routes such as the Sentinel Rouge on the Brenva Face of Mont Blanc, the north buttress of the Aiguille du Chardonnet, the Hornli Ridge on the Matterhorn and the Whymper Couloir on the Aiguille Verte. His last summer in Europe was spent working for Universal Studios making the Clint Eastwood film ‘The Eiger Sanction’. |
1973 |
Completed the high level ski traverse from Rogers Pass to the Bugaboos (130 km, 15 days). Represented Canada at the International Climbers Meet in Chamonix, France. Joined a British expedition to Nepal, which attempted to climb Dhaulagiri IV (25,133’/7661 m). Reached the summit of Myagdi Matha (21,000’/6400 m) the first Himalayan mountain climbed by a Canadian. |