Göran Kropp
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Lars Olof Göran Kropp (11 December 1966 – 30 September 2002) was a Swedish mountaineer, the first Scandinavian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen. He made a solo ascent of
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
without bottled oxygen or Sherpa support on 23 May 1996, after traveling there from Sweden by bicycle and foot.


Early life

In 1972 Kropp's father took him up Galdhøpiggen, Norway, the highest peak in
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
. After finishing school, he served in the Swedish Parachute Rangers, where he trained rigorously and met his future climbing partner Mats Dahlin.


Mountaineering

In 1988, Kropp traveled to climb his first major peak,
Lenin Peak Lenin Peak or Ibn Sina (Avicenna) Peak (, ; ; , renamed () in July 2006
(Tajik); for Russian tex
Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...
and
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
. Kropp and his companions ascended the peak in a record time of 10 days. In 1989, Kropp had hopes of climbing
Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...
, but he had no permit. Instead, he went to South America and climbed
Iliniza Sur Iliniza Sur is a mountain in the Andes of Ecuador. It has a height of and is the higher of the two Illinizas. See also *List of mountains in the Andes A sortable list of mountains above 4,000 metres in the South American Andes. Consideratio ...
(5266 meters),
Cotopaxi Cotopaxi () is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located near Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about south of Quito, and northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador (after Chim ...
(5897 meters),
Illimani Illimani () is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real (part of the Cordillera Oriental, a subrange of the Andes) of western Bolivia. It lies near the cities of El Alto and La Paz at the eastern edge of the Altiplano. It is the second high ...
(6300 meters), Huayna Potosi (6088 meters), and
Illampu Illampu is the fourth highest mountain in Bolivia. It is located in the northern section of the Cordillera Real (Bolivia), Cordillera Real, part of the Andes, east of Lake Titicaca. It lies just north of the slightly higher Janq'u Uma, near the t ...
(6520 meters). In a 1990 Swedish expedition, he and Danish climber Rafael Jensen climbed
Muztagh Tower Muztagh Tower (), also Mustagh Tower; ''Muztagh'': icy mountain), is a mountain situated in Baltoro Muztagh, which is a segment of the Karakoram range. It straddles the border of the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Xinjiang Uyghur ...
(7273 meters) in Pakistan. The mountain is one of the most difficult 7000-meter mountains in the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
, and their ascent was the fourth of the mountain. In 1991, Kropp climbed Pik Pobeda (7439 meters) in eastern Kyrgyzstan. Together with Mats Dahlin, Kropp made a summit attempt, but Dahlin was forced to cancel his bid because of illness. Kropp continued and reached the top with a severe headache. In 1992, Kropp finally obtained permits to climb
Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...
. In preparation, he climbed with Dahlin in
Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...
. While climbing the
Aiguille Verte The Aiguille Verte (; ), which is French for "Green Needle", is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It was first climbed on 29 June 1865 by Edward Whymper, Christian Almer and Franz Biner, a fortnight before the fateful fi ...
, a stone fell from the top of the ridge and hit Dahlin just below the helmet, at the edge of his temple, killing him. Kropp decided to climb Cho Oyu nonetheless, on the grounds that his companion would have preferred that he do so. He drove his
Range Rover The Land Rover Range Rover, generally shortened to Range Rover, is a Sport utility vehicle, 4x4 Luxury car, luxury SUV produced by Land Rover, a marque and sub-brand of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Motors. The Range Rover line was launched ...
all the way to
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
. At the top, Kropp placed Dahlin's
ice axe An ice axe is a multi-purpose hiking and climbing tool used by mountaineers in both the ascent and descent of routes that involve snow or ice covered (e.g. ice climbing or mixed climbing) conditions. Its use depends on the terrain: in its si ...
with an image of Dahlin directed towards
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
.


K2

In 1993, Kropp returned to
Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...
, this time to climb K2. Initially, he planned to participate in a Swedish expedition, but Kropp realized that if he could reach the top before the expedition's other participants, he would become the first Swede and Scandinavian to reach the top. Kropp therefore joined a Slovenian expedition scheduled to climb the mountain before the Swedes. Another reason why he brought forward the date of his climb was that his Range Rover had remained in Pakistan since his Cho Oyu climb the previous year because customs in Iran refused to allow it through. Kropp's Slovenian colleagues had decided however to exclude him from their climbing plans. Kropp settled, instead, to join David Sharman, who hoped to become the first Englishman to come down alive from the top. During the Slovenians' summit bid, a violent storm arose and stranded them at high altitude. Kropp abandoned his climb to save those he could. A week after this incident, he stuck with his British colleague, but Sharman fell, fractured a leg, and went back down. Kropp climbed on and reached the peak solo, without bottled oxygen. On the way down another storm on the mountain marooned Kropp at 8,000 meters above sea level. Kropp made it later to
base camp Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sp ...
. Media interest after the climb proved to be extensive, and Kropp then started his company, Kropp & Adventure AB. In 1994, he returned again to Karakoram, accompanied by Andrew Lock and the Swedish climbers Mats Holmgren and Nicolas Gafgo. Their object was
Broad Peak Broad Peak (; ) is one of the eight-thousanders, and is located in the Karakoram range spanning Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. It is the 12th highest mountain in the world with elevation above sea level. The first ascent of t ...
, and their goal was a first ascent of the hitherto unclimbed south-southwest ridge, on which several reputable climbers had failed. They also failed and had to turn back to below 7000 metres. Afterwards, they focused on the regular route to the summit, where, on the first attempt Lock, Holmgren, and Kropp reached the foresummit. Kropp made another attempt at the main summit and succeeded after a fast, non-stop solo climb.


Mount Everest

For his 1996 ascent, Kropp left
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
on 16 October 1995, on a specially designed bicycle with of gear and food. He traveled on the bicycle and arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 1996. Following a meeting of all of the Everest expeditions on the mountain at the time, it was agreed that Kropp would attempt to summit first. On 3 May, Kropp climbed through thigh-deep snow and reached Everest's South Summit, a point from the summit. However, he decided to turn around because it was too late in the day and if he continued, he would be descending in the dark. While Kropp recovered from the ordeal at base camp, the
1996 Everest Disaster The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight expedition climbing, climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach ...
unfolded. He helped bring medicine up the mountain. Three weeks later, on 23 May, he again tackled the mountain, this time successfully summitting without extra oxygen support. He then cycled part of the way back home. He returned to Everest in 1999 with his girlfriend Renata Chlumska to undertake a cleanup, during which they removed 25 discarded canisters from the mountain. They also successfully summited together.


Controversy

In early 2000, Kropp and fellow Swede Ola Skinnarmo attempted to ski unsupported to the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
. Kropp had to abandon the expedition due to a frostbitten thumb. During the expedition, he shot a
polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...
which had been stalking the two men. This led to accusations in the Swedish tabloid press by writer
Jan Guillou Jan Oskar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (, ; born 17 January 1944) is a French-Swedish author and journalist. Guillou's fame in Sweden was established during his time as an investigative journalist, most notably in 1973 when he and co-reporter Pet ...
that Kropp was a poacher, since shooting polar bears was an inevitable consequence of skiing across the North Pole. Kropp sued for
libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
and when he lost, decided to move to
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
in the US. Later that year, in London, the 1996 Everest expedition leader, Michael Trueman, successfully sued the publisher of Kropp's autobiography for libel. Kropp had mixed Trueman's name up with that of expedition member Mike Burns and thereby made false allegations about Trueman's character.


Death

On 30 September 2002, Kropp died from head injuries when he fell 18 metres (60 feet) while ascending the Air Guitar route at Frenchman Coulee near
Vantage, Washington Vantage is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 74 at the 2010 census. History The area around Vantage has been occupied by the Wanapum Native Americans since prehistory. A number o ...
. While being
belay In climbing and mountaineering, belaying comprises techniques used to create friction within a climbing protection system, particularly on a climbing rope, so that a falling climber does not fall very far. A climbing partner typically applies ...
ed by Seattle climber Erden Eruç, his
protection Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...
pulled out from a crack, and the wire-gate carabiner of the next piece of protection broke. According to Eruç, Kropp died on impact.


Racing career

Kropp drove a couple of seasons in the Swedish and Nordic
Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...
series. His last race was in 2000. Kropp loved fast sports cars and drove
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
s and
Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
s privately on the road. Together with von Braun Sports Cars he developed an advanced Ferrari F355 GT car for endurance racing. Only a few test races were made before he died.


Tribute

At the starting point of the climbing route Air Guitar at Sunshine Rock outside Seattle on which Kropp had died, climbing partner Erden Eruç, from Seattle, carved into the rock: : ''With a thumb up'' : ''Kropp on Top!'' : ''Göran lives'' : ''1966–2002''Zimmerosiax
Göran kropp
youtube.com, 10 September 2006, retrieves 2 January 2017 – Video (4:35/5:07).


Notes


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kropp, Goran 1966 births 2002 deaths Deaths from falls Mountaineering deaths Sports deaths in Washington (state) Swedish mountain climbers Swedish racing drivers Swedish summiters of Mount Everest Sportspeople from Jönköping