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  • The Ogre

  • Biography of a Mountain and the Dramatic Story of the First Ascent
  • By: Doug Scott
  • Narrated by: Saethon Williams
  • Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)
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The Ogre cover art

The Ogre

By: Doug Scott
Narrated by: Saethon Williams
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Summary

Some mountains are high; some mountains are hard. Few are both. 

On the afternoon of July 13, 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 more than 7,000 meters in the center 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 24 years for a second ascent and a further 11 years for a third. 

The Ogre, by legendary mountaineer Doug Scott, is a two-part biography of this enigmatic peak: 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 weeklong 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.

©2017 Doug Scott (P)2018 Vertebrate Publishing

What listeners say about The Ogre

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

Personally speaking the balance of the book was wrong for me - such an epic story to be told but not enough time given to that. As for the narrators performance, I nearly abandoned listening on several occasions - surely could have been someone so much better.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Does not do the author proper justice

It has to be said that this is not one of Doug Scott's best books, but he is badly let down, in my view, by how it has been rendered into this audiobook. Scott was famous for his bluff Nottinghamshire manner. To give the narration to the plummy-voice of Saethon Williams was a significant mistake. Apparently not letting him practice or get assistance with the pronunciations of non-English names and place-names was another error. Surely someone could have helped him get these right, given how much at the start of this book is given to a quite detailed review of the topography of this part of the Himalaya. The narrator's unnatural, declamatory style made matters worse, and frankly, spoiled this audiobook for me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great listen

great listen slow to start but interesting history and geography then the main story enjoyed it

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Survival against all the odds

Absolutely amazing story of human survival and human kindness. Doug Scott tells of his struggle with extreme pain calmly and matter of factly- one to read over and over again. The one paragraph that stands out is his obvious love for the mountains and the great outdoors.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Story

In the 1970's I was a pupil at the Lakes School, Windermere in Cumbria. At that time I was lucky enough to hear the story of both the Everest and Ogre expeditions first hand from Doug Scott in talks he gave at the school. This book has been a joy to listen too and the story continues to inspire.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting and insightful if a bit rushed

I really enjoyed listening to this and it gives a good account of the ogre, history around the mountain and their ascent of said peak.
My only criticism is that it felt a little more franticly composed and tangent grabbing than I expected so took me a little longer to get into, but once I did, I throughly enjoyed it and almost overshot my motorway exit as a result.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent, dramatic and fascinating

Doug Scott’s ascent, accident and escape from the Ogre, one of the worlds most difficult mountains, rates about as high as you can get on the epic scale. Brilliant audio book.

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