When he was in his adolescent years, his father would put together science projects for Doug and his siblings to work on, it "taught them to have open and investigative minds".
[1] Their father's assigned projects led the Ammons kids' to several places, like the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, Coppermine on the Arctic coast, the desert of Oregon, and the Columbia River Gorge.
[1] From an early age, Ammons was comfortable in the water; he was paddling lakes and easy local rivers in folding kayaks.
[3] Ammons also was a competitive swimmer, making it to nationals several times in high school and then competing in college on the varsity Grizzly team.
[6] Doug's solo descent on the Stikine shows commitment and perseverance, the sports ultimate test.
"[2] Doug Ammons states in an interview with Michael Moore from The Missoulian: "These sports like climbing and kayaking, they have this patina of greatness about them because, frankly, most people can't do them at the highest levels.
[2] Doug Ammons is a recognized author of books, essays, and articles about kayaking, philosophy of adventures sports, and Montana history.
His books include The Laugh of the Water Nymph, Whitewater Philosophy, and, most recently, A Darkness Lit by Heroes.
Ammons has given presentations about the topics featured in his books at speaking events throughout the USA and internationally in Europe.
His parents started Ammons Scientific, an independent psychological publishing company in Missoula, Montana, in the 1940s.
[8] With an interview with Kriti Niemeyer for Lively Times, Doug commented about not being a fan of lists, "but it is a huge honor to be compared to Reinhold Messner".