Göran Kropp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Göran Kropp (November 12, 1966 - September 30, 2002) was a Swedish adventurer and mountaineer, born in Jönköping in south Sweden. He is most famous for his May 23, 1996 solo ascent of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen or Sherpa support.

1 Early life
2 Mount Everest
3 Controversy
4 Death
5 External links
6 Reference

[edit] Early life

In 1972, at the age of 6, Kropp's father took him up Galdhøpiggen, the highest peak in Norway and Scandinavia. In 1993, he became the first Scandinavian atop K2, the second highest mountain in the world, without the aid of bottled oxygen.

[edit] Mount Everest

For his famous 1996 ascent, Kropp left Jönköping on October 16, 1995, on a specially-designed bicycle with 108 kg (240 lb) of gear. He traveled 8,000 miles on the bicycle and arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 1996. In a big powwow, all of the Everest expeditions currently on the mountain agreed that Kropp would attempt to summit first. On May 3, Kropp blazed a trail through thigh-deep snow and reached 300 feet of the summit. However, Kropp decided to turn around, believing that he would be too tired to descend safely if he went up further. Three weeks later, on May 23, Kropp again tackled the mountain, this time successfully summitting. He then triumphantly cycled home.

Kropp's 1996 ascent was covered in two books; his own autobiography, Ultimate High, and in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Because Krakauer's book only describes the events in relation to the May 10 disaster, Kropp's successful ascent is not covered; the first failed ascent is covered because guide Rob Hall (who guided Krakauer to the top) was very impressed with it, citing how Kropp showed sound judgment in not pushing beyond his limits.

He returned to Everest in 1999 with girlfriend Renata Chlumska to undertake a cleanup, during which they removed 25 discarded canisters from the mountain. They also made a successful summit attempt together.

[edit] Controversy

In early 2000 Kropp and fellow Swede, Ola Skinnarmo attempted to ski unsupported to the North Pole. During the expedition, Kropp shot a polar bear which had been stalking the two men. This led to accusations in the Swedish press by writer Jan Guillou that Kropp was a criminal. Kropp sued for libel, and when he lost decided to move to Seattle.

Later in the same year, in London, the publisher of Kropp’s autobiography was successfully sued for libel by 1996 Everest expedition leader, Michael Trueman. Kropp mixed Trueman's name up with that of expedition member Mike Burns and thereby made false allegations about Trueman's character. As a result of this, the book is banned in the UK.

[edit] Death

On September 30, 2002, Kropp died from head injuries when he fell 60 feet while ascending the Air Guitar route near Frenchman Coulee in Vantage, Washington. While being belayed by Seattle climber Erden Eruç, his protection pulled out from a crack and the carabiner of the next piece of protection broke [1]. According to Eruç, Kropp died on impact.

Before his passing, Göran had sponsored the Göran Kropp Bishwa Darshan Primary School in Taptin, Chyangba, Solukhumbu, Nepal, which serves 165 pupils and eight teachers. A tax-exempt non-profit organization named Around-n-Over established by Erden Eruç now aims to continue to support that school and the surrounding community. Around-n-Over will also create educational and inspirational content for young students based on human powered journeys worthy of Göran's legacy.