Göran Kropp
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Göran Kropp (December 11, 1966 – September 30, 2002) was a Swedish adventurer and mountaineer, born in Eskilstuna in south Sweden. He is most famous for his May 23, 1996 solo ascent of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen or Sherpa support.
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[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 pow-wow, 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 a point 300 feet from the summit. However, Kropp decided to turn around, believing that he would be too tired to descend safely if he went up further. To note is that he did not use extra oxygen. Three weeks later, on May 23, Kropp again tackled the mountain, this time successfully summitting (without extra oxygen support). He then cycled home.
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 poacher, since shooting polar bears was an inevitable consequence of skiing across the North Pole. 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.
[edit] References
- Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey, Göran Kropp with David Lagercrantz
