October 3, 2002

12:25 PM

A Sad Day.Sometimes it seems like all the people I admire die before their time. It's a long list: Dan Eldon, Ned Gillette, Ciriello, Galen Rowell, Alex Lowe, Dan Osman, (plus many others), and now: Goran Kropp, died a few days ago. "The Crazy Swede" became famous for riding a bicycle from Stockholm to Everest, climbing it solo and without oxygen, and riding back. This story is told in Ultimate High:My Everest Odyssey.
posted by ig (7 comments total)

Once again it is proven that even if your the best at it, doing dangerous things can kill you. Add Sheck Exley and Dale Earnhardt to that list
posted by PMcCann at 12:36 PM on October 3, 2002

R.I.P. I rember reading about him in one of those many everest books and thought he was one crazy man.
posted by trillion at 12:52 PM on October 3, 2002

Reading the posted article, I'm not sure what to make of the accident. I am a climber (though not a good one, nor have I climbed in the area where Goran died) and I wonder about how an experienced and badass climber "zippers" every single piece of protection that he placed on the way up. When I climb, I always think about how nobody ever dies from equipment failure, they always die from user error. Ropes don't break and carabiners don't fail. People just don't do it right. I can't tell if Goran was being sloppy or was just unlucky.

Either way, I'll think of him when I'm climbing this weekend.
posted by zpousman at 1:21 PM on October 3, 2002

[this is good]

thanks for the post.
posted by fishfucker at 1:52 PM on October 3, 2002

zpousman, I see many "experienced and badass" climbers willing to climbing above small sketchy gear.

The posted article is misleading. The article states Kropp was on a sport route, but then details how he placed protection in the cracks. Which is an indication that he was actually on either a trad or aid route, not a sport route. The Canadian climbing magazine Gripped has picked up the story, but provides little additional information. A sad day.
posted by gruchall at 2:36 PM on October 3, 2002

ig, I'm mouring Ned and Galen tremendously as well. Galen was my inspiration for color nature photography and Gilette went to my college and I thus I always followed his exploits.

Sadly Marco Siffredi also recently disappeared on Everest.
posted by gen at 4:30 PM on October 3, 2002

People just don't do it right. I can't tell if Goran was being sloppy or was just unlucky.

The same question has been asked about Osman.
posted by PMcCann at 9:27 PM on October 3, 2002