Arne Næss, Jr.

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Arne Næss, Jr. (December 8, 1937 – January 13, 2004) was a Norwegian mountaineer and businessman. Outside of Norway he may have been more known for being the former husband of Diana Ross. He is the father of 7 children, most notably singer/songwriter Leona Naess; former professional skier Katinka Naess (married to Jason Gissing); and up and coming young actor Evan Ross (in the movie ATL).

Næss was born in Germany in 1937 by Norwegian mother Kiki Næss and German father Raab, a physician and major of the Wehrmacht. Næss' mother was the sister of philosopher and mountaineer Arne Næss senior, who had a strong influence on his like-named nephew. Næss's family lived in Germany during World War II, but when his parents were divorced after the war, he moved to Norway with his mother.

In 1966 he married Filippa Kumlin d'Orey of Sweden, and they had one son and two daughters together, one of whom is folk/pop singer Leona Naess. After the divorce from d'Orey, he had a relationship with Norwegian actress Mari Maurstad. In 1985 Næss met pop and soul singer Diana Ross on a trip to the Bahamas. He and Ross married in 1985 and had two sons, until parting in 1999. The last five years of his life Næss lived together with Camilla Astrup of Oslo, Norway, with whom he had two sons.

At the age of 19 Næss already had twenty first ascents of Norwegian mountains under his belt. He then mostly left this sport and went for a career in the shipping industry, starting out with his uncle Erling Dekke Næss in 1964 in New York. In the seventies he went back to mountain climbing, and in 1985 he led the first Norwegian expedition to Mount Everest, reportedly one of the more successful Everest climbs to have taken place. Also participating was British mountaineer Chris Bonington.

On January 13, 2004, visiting friends while on a business trip, he died in a climbing accident during descent of a peak in the Groot Drakenstein mountains near the town of Franschoek outside Cape Town, South Africa. According to police reports, Næss' anchoring equipment loosened from the porous mountainside, leading to a 100 m fall. Arne Næss Jr was survived by seven children, his last child born as late as March 2003.

After his death, some media observers noted that Næss could be said to have died doing what he enjoyed most in life. In a television interview in the late 1990s, being confronted about the risks of mountaineering, Næss told the reporter: "If I hadn't liked risks, I would rather have played tennis or golf."