THE CRAZY SWEDE; INTO THE THIN AIR

Göran Kropp the Swedish adventurer; he rode his bike 8,000 miles from Sweden to Nepal, climbed Mt. Everest without help of sherpas and bottled oxygen, and then biked home with his 170 lbs of gear.

Before Kropp, more than 900 people had gone up the Mount Everest summit the easy way (sucking canned air) and a few had soloed the macho way (no canned air), but nobody had soloed the super macho way (no canned air, no baggage tote from rent-a-yak, no caddying from Sherpas, no food from the well-stocked mess hall, no plane ride to Kathmandu). Kropp was up to the challenge. – John Rothchild

Riding 8000 miles is no joke; and riding back; the rider is mad. 

In October 1995, the Swedish adventurer arrived in Kathmandu (the capital of Nepal) after cycling from Sweden for four months and six days. This guy took the longest route to get to his destination. All the way from Romania, Turkey, Pakistan, India and Iran. We are panicking about what to pack for our 3 days trip; Imagine climbing Everest in just one pair of underwear. This guy is not an event receiving help from Sherpas and bottled oxygen. This is all because he was so determined and dedicated to his goals. He knew exactly what he needed. Imagine you are crossing a desert and you have a flat tire; He personally changed 132 flat tires. He gathered all his equipment himself. This is a stupidity. This is commitment. This is an interesting journey. This is the highest level high; “The Ultimate High”.

“I wanted to do it my way, in a new way. No one has done it this way before, and it was a great achievement that I looked forward to when I left Sweden.” 

ULTIMATE HIGH: My Everest Odyssey

Writing this blog; My hands are shaking. While reading about this man, the most remarkable moment was the day he arrived at Everest Base Camp. Imagine that you have reached your destination and all you see is death. Eight climbers lost their lives in an avalanche the same day Kropp arrived at the Everest camp. Kropp was involved in rescue and recovery work, as well as distributing medicine that day. Then again, if you think about climbing a big mountain, your mind has to be as strong as a mountain.

Literally this guy challenged the entirety. Lots of humans fly to Nepal and then attempt climbing the Mt. Everest and nevertheless not able to climb it due to situations, for this guy no canned oxygen, no sherpa, no not anything. His natural determination, hard work, years of trainings, 132 flat tires, almost run over (intentionally), hassled with the aid of locals, laughed at, chased by dogs, had stones thrown at him, and assaulted with a baseball bat. He had all reasons to climb that God Damn Mountain.

When he reached the last village, he left his bike at a lodge and carried his 143 lbs of hiking gadget that he had individually handpicked, practiced and taken to Everest Base.

On the third of May, he become within a couple of hundred meters from the summit while he determined himself waist-deep in snow, struggling to go any further. As darkness fell, he thought he might get caught and did not want to descend inside the dark. There had been fixed ropes to assist so he ought to have carried on, but his instincts said no, and he returned to basecamp. While at basecamp, disaster struck. A snowstorm came in, killing 8 trekkers, known as the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster; it changed into a bestselling book with the aid of Jon Krakauer, “Into Thin Air.” Kropp helped the comfort crew and supported them in the recovery of the trekkers. This shook him, however a man with this lot’s dedication would no longer be stopped. On the 26th of May 1996, he made his 2d attempt which took him to the top of Everest without support. Here he had made it to the pinnacle of the arena. Do you observed he could have got on the primary flight back home for a great rest? No way, He jumped back on his bicycle and cycled the overall 7,693 miles returned home to Sweden.

His adventures did not forestall there; he later returned to Everest together with his girlfriend, Renata Chlumska (an incredible adventurer), who supported him on his first experience and then went on to summit again in 1999. Like his closing climb, he well-known no handouts and stuck proper to being self-supported. As the years went on, he has become more adventurous, and it wasn’t just mountains. In 2000, he and fellow Swede Ola Skinnarmo tried to ski to the North Pole. Unfortunately, they needed to abandon because of a frost-bitten thumb.

As the years went on, Kropp commenced to devise a new journey. Although now not a sailor, he decided to sail from Sweden to the McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, ski to the South Pole and again, and then sail again domestic. In September of 2002, he took some time to go mountain climbing in Washington State. Unfortunately, safety rigging disasters occurred on a 60ft climb, and the coincidence took his existence at the age of 35.