Erling Kagge
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Erling Kagge (b. January 15, 1963) is a Norwegian lawyer, explorer/adventurer and publisher.
Among Norway‘s most acclaimed living polar explorers and one of the greatest adventurers of our time, Erling Kagge was the first person to surmount the "three poles" – North, South and the summit of Mt Everest.
Kagge had already sailed across the Atlantic twice, around Cape Horn and to Antarctica and back by the time he received a law degree from the University of Oslo in 1989.
He had also begun training for his record-breaking expeditions: In 1990, he became the first man – together with Børge Ousland – to reach the North Pole unsupported.
Three years later, in 1992-93, he completed the first unsupported solo expedition to the South Pole, covering the 814-mile (1340 km) route in 51 days.[1] He achieved this feat by simply covering a solid amount of ground daily, listening to music (including Jimi Hendrix) on his headphones. This exploit got him featured on the cover of Time magazine.
In 1994, he summited Mount Everest, thus becoming the first person ever to reach those three extremes of Earth.
After his exploring career came to an end, Kagge founded an Oslo-based publishing house which quick grew to become one of Scandinavia‘s most profitable publishing houses
In addition to running his business and collecting contemporary art and Russian icons, Kagge lectures frequently to geographical societies and business organisations. His three books on his polar expeditions have sold more than 60,000 copies.
[edit] Further reading
- Kagge, Erling (1994). Pole to Pole & Beyond. N. W. Damm & Son. ISBN 82-517-8082-9.
- Kagge, Erling (2007). Philosophy for Polar Explorers: What They Don't Teach You in School. Pushkin Press. ISBN 1-901285-69-3.
- Kagge, Erling (1990). Nordpolen: Det siste kappløpet. J.W. Cappelens forlag. ISBN 82-02-12406-9.
- Kagge, Erling (1993). Alene til Sydpolen. Cappelen. ISBN 82-02-14087-0.
- Kagge, Erling (1994). På eventyr. N. W. Damm & Son. ISBN 82-517-8081-0.
