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Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey
A personal account of one man's determination to climb Mount Everest alone describes how the Swedish climber accomplished his goal, within days of the 1995 tragedy that took the lives of a number of fellow climbers
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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1187 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
January 18, 2016
I have to review this book properly. It was my 2015 book of the year. It explains that day in 1996 why so many people died on Everest. It also explains why I thought Krakauer was mean-minded (he was, but not about what I thought). Genius book. Genius off-the-wall author. Writing - not so much but that's hardly even a consideration.
______________
Finally! This author is telling of that day in 1996 when so many climbers died but he is telling it in a more detailed and believable way that anything I read in Krakauer's, Boukreev's or any other book. Also why Krakauer was so rude about Sandy Pitt (she deserved it, my bad Krakauer, apologies....) and had problems with Boukreev. This book is amazing. Krakauer passed the author off without even a name as though he was some lone crazy guy cycling to Everest not as a well-known mountaineer involved professionally in the sports industry. I finally feel I'm getting to understand the Everest thing better than anyone else, even Ed Viestur, ever wrote about it. Even before I've finished it I want to recommend it to everyone who is interested in Everest, mountaineering or even Krakauer's Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
______
I'm really enjoying this book. It is like no other climbing book I've ever read. The author says that the slopes of Everest are littered with discarded rubbish and oxygen bottles. That Sherpas are ripped off paid $5-$9 per day although the expedition leaders charge $65,000 for people to climb (or be hauled) with them. He says that there are individuals and whole climbing parties that lie about having summitted. I like the fact that these aren't accusations, he really names names.
The author cycled from Sweden to Kathmandu and some interesting experiences along the way. Not all of them happy. In Hungary he took shelter from a storm in a very small and ramshackle brothel in the middle of the nowhere and asked for a cup of tea. The madam offered her daughter to keep him warm! In Iran men and boys stoned and beat him for no reason he could discern.
On reaching India, he writes,
India is a paradise after Pakistan... It's been a long time since I saw a woman. In eastern Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, I saw only men, and now when a woman on the street even smiles at me, the whole world looks better. The landscape is the same as in Pakistan, but still, so much more beautiful.
The lands of invisible women. Some would like the whole world to be like that.
Older remarks.
______________
Finally! This author is telling of that day in 1996 when so many climbers died but he is telling it in a more detailed and believable way that anything I read in Krakauer's, Boukreev's or any other book. Also why Krakauer was so rude about Sandy Pitt (she deserved it, my bad Krakauer, apologies....) and had problems with Boukreev. This book is amazing. Krakauer passed the author off without even a name as though he was some lone crazy guy cycling to Everest not as a well-known mountaineer involved professionally in the sports industry. I finally feel I'm getting to understand the Everest thing better than anyone else, even Ed Viestur, ever wrote about it. Even before I've finished it I want to recommend it to everyone who is interested in Everest, mountaineering or even Krakauer's Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
______
I'm really enjoying this book. It is like no other climbing book I've ever read. The author says that the slopes of Everest are littered with discarded rubbish and oxygen bottles. That Sherpas are ripped off paid $5-$9 per day although the expedition leaders charge $65,000 for people to climb (or be hauled) with them. He says that there are individuals and whole climbing parties that lie about having summitted. I like the fact that these aren't accusations, he really names names.
The author cycled from Sweden to Kathmandu and some interesting experiences along the way. Not all of them happy. In Hungary he took shelter from a storm in a very small and ramshackle brothel in the middle of the nowhere and asked for a cup of tea. The madam offered her daughter to keep him warm! In Iran men and boys stoned and beat him for no reason he could discern.
On reaching India, he writes,
India is a paradise after Pakistan... It's been a long time since I saw a woman. In eastern Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, I saw only men, and now when a woman on the street even smiles at me, the whole world looks better. The landscape is the same as in Pakistan, but still, so much more beautiful.
The lands of invisible women. Some would like the whole world to be like that.
Older remarks.
August 16, 2025
While I enjoyed the "hot goss" aspect of this book spilling deets from base camp, and I did enjoy the actual depictions of his climbs, I found the misogyny and hypocrisy off putting (aka it's fine for him to raise $350k to do his trip but it is polluting the mountain for women having affairs to pay $65k for theirs... ok buddy...).
September 20, 2022
I came to know about Goran Kropp's daring adventure from Jon Krakaeur's book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster, and picked up this book. He tells about his passion for doing the unconventional, untested and why he chose to cycle from Sweden to Nepal and then climb the Everest without using bottled oxygen. PHEW ! Just writing this line tires me and here is Kropp, truly a crazy bastard (everyone calls him that). He sets some crazy rules for himself like never taking help from others- not even taking a piece of cheese from Scott Fischer when they met just below the summit (You should have taken it Man! That was probably the last offer he made to anyone before he died)
.
His account of the tragic events in 1996 atop the Everest is the same as presented in Krakauer's Thin Air, but from a different perspective. Though Kropp doesn't win any awards for brilliance in literature, his account is unfiltered and candid. He doesn't pass any judgement.
Apart from the events on that fateful day, he gives a bit of background on the some of the mountaineers like Hall and Fischer.
His account of the whole expedition was fascinating, but I wanted more. I wanted to know more about K2 and other expeditions, more about his journey by cycle across hostile countries. These days we see every celebrity like Kardashians writing a 500 page book even when they have accomplished nothing. I wouldn't mind reading a 1000 page book by Kropp, i am sure he had lots to fill in those pages. Alas, he was not a writer !
.
His account of the tragic events in 1996 atop the Everest is the same as presented in Krakauer's Thin Air, but from a different perspective. Though Kropp doesn't win any awards for brilliance in literature, his account is unfiltered and candid. He doesn't pass any judgement.
Apart from the events on that fateful day, he gives a bit of background on the some of the mountaineers like Hall and Fischer.
His account of the whole expedition was fascinating, but I wanted more. I wanted to know more about K2 and other expeditions, more about his journey by cycle across hostile countries. These days we see every celebrity like Kardashians writing a 500 page book even when they have accomplished nothing. I wouldn't mind reading a 1000 page book by Kropp, i am sure he had lots to fill in those pages. Alas, he was not a writer !
August 4, 2009
Mt Everest has been climbed many times and for one mountain has provided an amazing array of "firsts". One of the most spectacular and brilliant is Goran Kropp's successful ascent in that horrible year of .
Why just climb Everest when you can climb it without supplemental oxygen? Why just climb it without oxygen when you can climb it alone? And why fly to Nepal to climb Everest when you can bicycle all the way there? Apparently, questions such as these occurred to Göran Kropp, a Swede with a taste for adventure and a desire for the Ultimate High. In October 1995, Kropp set out from Sweden with a bicycle, a trailer, and over 200 pounds of equipment. Over the next four months, he cycled some 7,000 miles across Eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. By the time he arrived in Kathmandu, Kropp had been shot at, pelted with rocks, and offered the madam's daughter--free of charge--in a Hungarian brothel. And where that would have been adventure enough, he went on to solo the mountain without oxygen and then ride back home again. (There is a bit of complaining but given his dedication to his pure pursuit its hard to blame him).
An amazing man, an amazing adventure and an amazing story. I am sad that I will not be able to read any other adventures by this crazy Swede after his tragic death several years ago. The world has lost a true adventurer.
Why just climb Everest when you can climb it without supplemental oxygen? Why just climb it without oxygen when you can climb it alone? And why fly to Nepal to climb Everest when you can bicycle all the way there? Apparently, questions such as these occurred to Göran Kropp, a Swede with a taste for adventure and a desire for the Ultimate High. In October 1995, Kropp set out from Sweden with a bicycle, a trailer, and over 200 pounds of equipment. Over the next four months, he cycled some 7,000 miles across Eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. By the time he arrived in Kathmandu, Kropp had been shot at, pelted with rocks, and offered the madam's daughter--free of charge--in a Hungarian brothel. And where that would have been adventure enough, he went on to solo the mountain without oxygen and then ride back home again. (There is a bit of complaining but given his dedication to his pure pursuit its hard to blame him).
An amazing man, an amazing adventure and an amazing story. I am sad that I will not be able to read any other adventures by this crazy Swede after his tragic death several years ago. The world has lost a true adventurer.
June 15, 2016
On the surface of it, a guy who wants to cycle from Sweden to Nepal, climb Mount Everest unaided and without oxygen, then cycle back to Sweden, sounds like a self obsessed nutter! Perhaps some people who read this book will agree that he was that, and more. For most people, the travel or the climb are outwith their capabilities, never mind combining both along with strict rules about only using food he has bought or brought himself, carrying all his own gear and finding a solo route through the Icefall.
I found Goran to be interesting on so many levels. He wants to go to Everest unaided partly for publicity to fund his future climbing, partly to see if it can be done and partly in disgust at the piles of rubbish from the fancy expeditions on the mountain which are an environmental outrage. I've seen the photos and TV programmes that show the discarded rubbish, tents, oxygen bottles all lying there in huge rubbish dumps and I think it is pretty shocking. Expeditions should be forced to remove their crap from the mountains. Bodies are a different matter and I understand why they are left where they die. Goran was determined not to add to the rubbish already there which I admire.
His 'unaided' mission leads to a few conflicts with himself. Trying to get up the mountain alone meant living on freeze dried food that didn't give him the energy required to do the climb. At one point he was refusing to take a tiny bit of cheese from a friend because he hadn't brought it to the mountain personally. When he dropped something during the bike ride he screamed at his support team not to pick it up for him as that was giving aid. He insisted on nearly killing himself in the Icefall after a sneering journalist said he shouldn't be using the 'safe' route through that the Sherpas set out for everyone. These were somewhat extreme rules that he enforced on himself to stay unaided. For me climbing the mountain alone was unaided enough without these extreme rules! Still, for the most part he was able to stick to it until his second attempt on the climb, where he had to eat a proper diet or fail.
Goran was attempting this feat during the infamous 1996 season when the storm killed climbers from several teams. I've read a lot of books about other climbers on the teams but it was really fascinating to be with Goran at Base Camp as the disaster unfolded and him feeling helpless about being unable to do more to help. He delves into the anger of the Sherpas over loose morals on the mountain angering Her and causing her to seek revenge on all the climbers. He talks about the South African team tearing itself apart because of it's alleged racist and sexist leader, the rude and glamorous socialite who was getting everyone's back up with her attitude, the sexual affairs going on, the people who were climbing without the necessary training or pedigree and the rulebreakers. I found the behind the scenes drama as interesting as the actual climbing.
We also get a bit of the cycling journey to and from Nepal which is written with a bit of humour and it sounds like a journey never to be attempted! Men and boys in Pakistan throwing stones and trying to knock his head off with an iron pole, Iranians wanting to take him home to quiz him on western life, Turkish men shooting at him...sounds like a lot of fun!
I also liked that the author did not go into mass detail about the monastries, culture and religion which bogs me down in a lot of expedition books. He touches on certain aspects very lightly, focusing instead on the actual journey and the people from the expeditions that he meets. He also talks candidly about Sherpa complaints of being overworked and underpaid and not always treated well by clients and their own government, which many books gloss over. He talks about his opinion of the people he met, including his obvious dislike of contraversial socialite Sandy Pittman, who he claims never thanked the men who dragged her off the mountain to safety and saved her life, and who was dragged up and down sections of the mountain by disgruntled Sherpas. He also looks at the decisions of various climbers and offers reasons for what they did.
Overall I liked this book as it covers the 1996 disaster from new angles as well as the journey and ambitions of the author. It was with a degree of sadness that I discovered that Goran was killed in an accident while climbing in Washington in the US in 2002.
I found Goran to be interesting on so many levels. He wants to go to Everest unaided partly for publicity to fund his future climbing, partly to see if it can be done and partly in disgust at the piles of rubbish from the fancy expeditions on the mountain which are an environmental outrage. I've seen the photos and TV programmes that show the discarded rubbish, tents, oxygen bottles all lying there in huge rubbish dumps and I think it is pretty shocking. Expeditions should be forced to remove their crap from the mountains. Bodies are a different matter and I understand why they are left where they die. Goran was determined not to add to the rubbish already there which I admire.
His 'unaided' mission leads to a few conflicts with himself. Trying to get up the mountain alone meant living on freeze dried food that didn't give him the energy required to do the climb. At one point he was refusing to take a tiny bit of cheese from a friend because he hadn't brought it to the mountain personally. When he dropped something during the bike ride he screamed at his support team not to pick it up for him as that was giving aid. He insisted on nearly killing himself in the Icefall after a sneering journalist said he shouldn't be using the 'safe' route through that the Sherpas set out for everyone. These were somewhat extreme rules that he enforced on himself to stay unaided. For me climbing the mountain alone was unaided enough without these extreme rules! Still, for the most part he was able to stick to it until his second attempt on the climb, where he had to eat a proper diet or fail.
Goran was attempting this feat during the infamous 1996 season when the storm killed climbers from several teams. I've read a lot of books about other climbers on the teams but it was really fascinating to be with Goran at Base Camp as the disaster unfolded and him feeling helpless about being unable to do more to help. He delves into the anger of the Sherpas over loose morals on the mountain angering Her and causing her to seek revenge on all the climbers. He talks about the South African team tearing itself apart because of it's alleged racist and sexist leader, the rude and glamorous socialite who was getting everyone's back up with her attitude, the sexual affairs going on, the people who were climbing without the necessary training or pedigree and the rulebreakers. I found the behind the scenes drama as interesting as the actual climbing.
We also get a bit of the cycling journey to and from Nepal which is written with a bit of humour and it sounds like a journey never to be attempted! Men and boys in Pakistan throwing stones and trying to knock his head off with an iron pole, Iranians wanting to take him home to quiz him on western life, Turkish men shooting at him...sounds like a lot of fun!
I also liked that the author did not go into mass detail about the monastries, culture and religion which bogs me down in a lot of expedition books. He touches on certain aspects very lightly, focusing instead on the actual journey and the people from the expeditions that he meets. He also talks candidly about Sherpa complaints of being overworked and underpaid and not always treated well by clients and their own government, which many books gloss over. He talks about his opinion of the people he met, including his obvious dislike of contraversial socialite Sandy Pittman, who he claims never thanked the men who dragged her off the mountain to safety and saved her life, and who was dragged up and down sections of the mountain by disgruntled Sherpas. He also looks at the decisions of various climbers and offers reasons for what they did.
Overall I liked this book as it covers the 1996 disaster from new angles as well as the journey and ambitions of the author. It was with a degree of sadness that I discovered that Goran was killed in an accident while climbing in Washington in the US in 2002.
August 15, 2019
Loved it, Goran was a beast! This is the story of Goran Kropp and his Mt. Everest adventure. The unique part is he travelled from Sweden on bike... to Mt Everest and then biked home, incredible. The book is very well written, Goran gives a little backstory about his life and then he moves on to the Everest story. The really interesting part is his journey took place in 1996 when the famous story Jon krakauer book takes place. I have read a few perspectives on this 1996 Everest tragedy and this one is equally as good and helps shed more light on that terrible year. I was really really sad to hear that Goran passed, I was about 50 pages to the end I was digging for more details and i was heart broken to learn of his fate. The book is fantastic, a hidden gem, and I almost never read it since it sat on my desk for a good 1-2 years.
March 30, 2022
Goran Kropp seems to have been a curmudgeonly fellow, given the number of his stories that involve someone abandoning him someplace. "Ultimate High: My Everest odyssey" definitely shows Kropp had lots of interesting stories, though I didn't find him a natural writer so at times they were told in a more rough type of manner than I'd like.
November 4, 2015
In this book, Göran Kropp tells the story of his climbing carrier and his crazy adventure in 1996. He decided to climb Mount Everest, and to do everything by himself. He rode a bike from Sweden to Nepal, and climbed Mount Everest alone, without a guide, without any use of sherpas, people carrying the climbers' baggage, without oxygen and he mostly ate his own food that he had brought with him. The photographer that was supposed to catch Kropp's achievement on camera was flown in secret with a small plane, a Pilatus Porter, at a height of 9000 meters – which is forbidden. Furthermore, it had to be a big secret because they had to restrict the airspace. Too bad, a storm was coming in and they had to fly earlier than planned, and the photographer didn't get Kropp at the top. Kropp was there during the dragic season of 1996. On may 10th, many people died. Kropp knew these people, and met them at base camp, but he wasn't part of their expeditions.
David Lagercrantz, who has written about Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alan Turing, and is the author of the latest Stieg Larsson Millennium-book, knows how to write. It really feels like you are there, in the snow and in the darkness, with Göran Kropp. You are really cold. What is surprising is the interesting relationships forming at base camp, and the necessity to trust and depend on each other. The people coming there to climb are so unlike each other, but become the same, with the same thoughts and the same needs and struggle to survive. There are so many destinies intertwining, which makes the book rich in a fascinating way. It is really beautiful that people meet and have this bond. Kropp tells us about wonderful meetings with wonderful people, but and also people that are arrogant and selfish. Up there, people are really put to the test. They seem to be reduced to the basic foundation of themselves, in a way. The true personality is revealed.
Some facts about Mount Everest
* In 1924, George Mallory was the first westerner that climbed Mount Everest. No one knows what happened, and whether Mallory and his collegue Andrew Irwine reached the top. They disappeared and were find 1999. They were the first to die there.
* In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers known to have succesfully reached the top. Three days later, the same day that Elisabeth II was crowned Queen, their achievement reached the news and they became heroes. Kropp claims that the news were comparable with Neil Armstrong later walking on the moon.
* Reinhold Messner reached the top 1980, alone and without oxygen tubes.
* Water boils beneath 100 degrees celcius, around 60.
* A person looses 8 liters of water a day.
* Above 8000 meter, the ground is called the "death zone". Already at base camp, near the height of 6000 meters, the body stop producing muscle cells. Exercise is not only burning fat, but also muscles are affected.
* It is said that the mind of a person with great physique is slowing down up there and the ability of understanding is half of a six year old, due to exhaustion and the low levels of oxygen.
* The mountain can only be climbed a short time, between the jetstreams and the monsoon season.
* Around 155 people have died climbing Mount Everest.
This is a story about the love of climbing, but it is also a report about the climbing industry. Göran Kropp critiqizes the rich people that pay huge amounts to be a part of a team, but lack knowledge, respect and experience, only surviving because they depend totally on their guides, jeopardising the entire expedition, because of their inability. Kropp doesn't like the fact that mountains have become like trophies for the rich. According to him, it contaminates the air. A climber should first and foremost care about the climbing, the love for the mountain. But the commercial aspect is growing. Now, the mountain is like a high way, trafficked by unexperienced people, which might have stopped the flow of climbers, may 10th, 1996, and caused the delay - one of the reasons that led to the major tragedy.
Climbing is expensive and has become an adventure for the rich people. The more comfortable adventure, the more expensive adventure, sadly. Money should not be the ruling aspect, deciding who will be a part of a team. Kropp discusses the rich and famous people using oxygen tubes at all times and paying many sherpas to carry their baggage. Of course, it's not possible to demand that people should carry heavy packing and drop the oxygen tubes, and still be able to carry out the deed. Then, not many people would be able to have the experience of reaching the top. There should be no prestige. However, it's obvious that it is the sherpas that are the real heroes. But many people that pay their way up to the top and don't need to prepare themselves that much or plan anything, seem to lack the careful, responsible, humble and respectful approach that characterizes the guides. Many of them give the impression of not being that interested in climbing, which makes you wonder what their climbing is all about. Perhaps some of them are genuinly trying to learn, while others just want a trophy. Kropp is critical of people like the arrogant and disrespectful journalist Sandy Pittman, who, according to him, seem to have had a big part in the tragedy of the expedition she belonged to, in 1996. An assistent to the guide had to drag her up and down – she didn't even climb by herself, just because she was famous and great advertising - and therefor didn't have the strengh later to save people's lives. Pittman survived because she was rescued, but her comment later to the tragedy that occured was that it was indeed horrible, but at least her book would sell well. After getting back to base camp, she hired a helicopter and asked only two people to ride with her, when she could have hired another one for the same amount of money, and helped those that had saved her life. Perhaps Scott Fischer's death might have been avoided if he hadn't burned himself out, trying to help such clients, and she didn't mention and never thanked the people that saved her life, when later talking to the press.
The guides shouldn't take totally unexperienced people on. Obviously, everyone has the right to climb, but it would be safer if the clients had some practice before deciding to climb Mount Everest. It is dangerous even for the most experienced guide. No one can buy a life garanty, and unexperienced people increases the risk. But the climbing industry is growing, and money is power. May 10th, 1996, the guides Scott Fischer and Rob Hall decided to ignore the rule to not climb the mountain after 02.00 pm - Hall waited there until 04.00 pm, because he didn't want to let his client, Doug Hansen, down. Kropp remembers the famous call between Rob Hall and his wife, Jan Arnold. Hall was alone, somewhere in the cold, exhausted and almost didn't have the energy to talk to her. The last time they spoke to each other they talked about what they would name their baby.
Despite the growing commerse, there are still people that want the whole challenge, and do everything themselves. They are often the most experienced, and most likely to survive. It's something beautiful and magnificent about challenging oneself to that extent. It's almost as if a person's mind is reduced to only the strongest feelings - happiness, hope, disappointment, fear, determination and grief. It's easy to understand the climbers' view of what it really is to live. Perhaps some people live their lives to the fullest when they are close to death. Göran Kropp died in 2002, climbing in the area of Frenchmans Coulee, close to Washington. He was and still is a great inspiration, while reminding us of the danger of climbing. With this book, he is able to tell his story.
David Lagercrantz, who has written about Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alan Turing, and is the author of the latest Stieg Larsson Millennium-book, knows how to write. It really feels like you are there, in the snow and in the darkness, with Göran Kropp. You are really cold. What is surprising is the interesting relationships forming at base camp, and the necessity to trust and depend on each other. The people coming there to climb are so unlike each other, but become the same, with the same thoughts and the same needs and struggle to survive. There are so many destinies intertwining, which makes the book rich in a fascinating way. It is really beautiful that people meet and have this bond. Kropp tells us about wonderful meetings with wonderful people, but and also people that are arrogant and selfish. Up there, people are really put to the test. They seem to be reduced to the basic foundation of themselves, in a way. The true personality is revealed.
Some facts about Mount Everest
* In 1924, George Mallory was the first westerner that climbed Mount Everest. No one knows what happened, and whether Mallory and his collegue Andrew Irwine reached the top. They disappeared and were find 1999. They were the first to die there.
* In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers known to have succesfully reached the top. Three days later, the same day that Elisabeth II was crowned Queen, their achievement reached the news and they became heroes. Kropp claims that the news were comparable with Neil Armstrong later walking on the moon.
* Reinhold Messner reached the top 1980, alone and without oxygen tubes.
* Water boils beneath 100 degrees celcius, around 60.
* A person looses 8 liters of water a day.
* Above 8000 meter, the ground is called the "death zone". Already at base camp, near the height of 6000 meters, the body stop producing muscle cells. Exercise is not only burning fat, but also muscles are affected.
* It is said that the mind of a person with great physique is slowing down up there and the ability of understanding is half of a six year old, due to exhaustion and the low levels of oxygen.
* The mountain can only be climbed a short time, between the jetstreams and the monsoon season.
* Around 155 people have died climbing Mount Everest.
This is a story about the love of climbing, but it is also a report about the climbing industry. Göran Kropp critiqizes the rich people that pay huge amounts to be a part of a team, but lack knowledge, respect and experience, only surviving because they depend totally on their guides, jeopardising the entire expedition, because of their inability. Kropp doesn't like the fact that mountains have become like trophies for the rich. According to him, it contaminates the air. A climber should first and foremost care about the climbing, the love for the mountain. But the commercial aspect is growing. Now, the mountain is like a high way, trafficked by unexperienced people, which might have stopped the flow of climbers, may 10th, 1996, and caused the delay - one of the reasons that led to the major tragedy.
Climbing is expensive and has become an adventure for the rich people. The more comfortable adventure, the more expensive adventure, sadly. Money should not be the ruling aspect, deciding who will be a part of a team. Kropp discusses the rich and famous people using oxygen tubes at all times and paying many sherpas to carry their baggage. Of course, it's not possible to demand that people should carry heavy packing and drop the oxygen tubes, and still be able to carry out the deed. Then, not many people would be able to have the experience of reaching the top. There should be no prestige. However, it's obvious that it is the sherpas that are the real heroes. But many people that pay their way up to the top and don't need to prepare themselves that much or plan anything, seem to lack the careful, responsible, humble and respectful approach that characterizes the guides. Many of them give the impression of not being that interested in climbing, which makes you wonder what their climbing is all about. Perhaps some of them are genuinly trying to learn, while others just want a trophy. Kropp is critical of people like the arrogant and disrespectful journalist Sandy Pittman, who, according to him, seem to have had a big part in the tragedy of the expedition she belonged to, in 1996. An assistent to the guide had to drag her up and down – she didn't even climb by herself, just because she was famous and great advertising - and therefor didn't have the strengh later to save people's lives. Pittman survived because she was rescued, but her comment later to the tragedy that occured was that it was indeed horrible, but at least her book would sell well. After getting back to base camp, she hired a helicopter and asked only two people to ride with her, when she could have hired another one for the same amount of money, and helped those that had saved her life. Perhaps Scott Fischer's death might have been avoided if he hadn't burned himself out, trying to help such clients, and she didn't mention and never thanked the people that saved her life, when later talking to the press.
The guides shouldn't take totally unexperienced people on. Obviously, everyone has the right to climb, but it would be safer if the clients had some practice before deciding to climb Mount Everest. It is dangerous even for the most experienced guide. No one can buy a life garanty, and unexperienced people increases the risk. But the climbing industry is growing, and money is power. May 10th, 1996, the guides Scott Fischer and Rob Hall decided to ignore the rule to not climb the mountain after 02.00 pm - Hall waited there until 04.00 pm, because he didn't want to let his client, Doug Hansen, down. Kropp remembers the famous call between Rob Hall and his wife, Jan Arnold. Hall was alone, somewhere in the cold, exhausted and almost didn't have the energy to talk to her. The last time they spoke to each other they talked about what they would name their baby.
Despite the growing commerse, there are still people that want the whole challenge, and do everything themselves. They are often the most experienced, and most likely to survive. It's something beautiful and magnificent about challenging oneself to that extent. It's almost as if a person's mind is reduced to only the strongest feelings - happiness, hope, disappointment, fear, determination and grief. It's easy to understand the climbers' view of what it really is to live. Perhaps some people live their lives to the fullest when they are close to death. Göran Kropp died in 2002, climbing in the area of Frenchmans Coulee, close to Washington. He was and still is a great inspiration, while reminding us of the danger of climbing. With this book, he is able to tell his story.
July 27, 2024
Goran Kropp is a great guy who stands way apart from the rest of the climbing community. Cycling from Sweden to Nepal undeterred by physical assaults which he faced throughout the journey , carrying all his luggage without the help of Sherpas, summiting in the aftermath of Everest disaster and then cycling back again to home country, this is an extremely impressive and daunting feat.
But the writing is terrible, does not do justice to his achievements.
But the writing is terrible, does not do justice to his achievements.
August 12, 2022
eponymous-ey sentence:
p26: If Everest is the ultimate ego trophy that millionaire armchair climbers dream about, then K2 is the mountain for real mountaineers.
apostrophes:
p7: To Mats and the others who didnt return
p8: "I'm going to jump down," Scott Fischer states over and over again into his radio, and we know he wont live much longer.
p10: w
Hat s driving you, I am often asked.
p63: "This can t be true," I thought.
p81: It was like' a disaster area--or like a living organism.
ocr:
p17: At this point in my life, in 1988,1 had attended a climbing course with the Swedish Climbing Association in the Dolomites.
p23: o
r N every mountain trip, I have learned something new.
p33: T.
He day I got to the Swedish embassy in Islamabad, I understood that I could make a livelihood out of mountaineering.
p42: Out on a muddy side road that led to the E75,1 had a flat tire.
p44: N Iran, dogs chased me and boys threw stones at me, too.
p45: And what artist thought that two Kalashnikovs, laid out like crossbones, make such a good match with a dove of peace that you have to paint this image all over the pfece?
p53: s
O much writing has been done about climbing--and life--at the highest altitudes.
p59: That was the sum of Woodairs Himalayan climbing experience.
p71: H
Ow and when did the story of Earth's highest mountain begin?
p78: D
Uring one of our first days in camp, a Buddhist blessing ceremony was held for us.
p83: Skilled in the practicalities of developing dreams into reality^ we work with you to reach your goal.
p87: They probably thought it could have found belter use to fund a school.
p89: A wild ace pilot named Chrester was going to fly him over Mount Everest so that Magnus could 4ake pictures of me at the summit.
p90: M
Y alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m.
p104: T.
He first thing I did in Base Camp was to devour an entire can of butter.
p115: E
Arly in the morning of May 11, we heard steps outside of our tent.
p127: Renata, our Sherpa cook, and all our Sherpa staff were getting irritable and resdess.
p127: T.
He jet stream roared like warplanes.
p139: We slept in Camp Two, And Rita, Jesus, and 1.1 was still too hoarse and weak to speak.
p141: In a few weeks, some 67o articles were written about me, and still they kept coming.
p146: I got even more attention in my hometown of lonkoping.
period:
p62: Some people may for instance consider it nobler and more natural for a climber to walk all the way The reason why we chose to fly is simple.
p81: Even goats and snow leopards rarely venture rftuch above 16,500 feet.
spaces:
p62: ...Ifwe hadnt availed ourselves of the help ofSherpas and their yaks.. . we would probably not have reached Base Camp until the spring of the following year.
p69: In all, he's been on more than fifteen expeditions to the Himalaya, and in 1986, he made the classic documentary Everest: The Mystery ofMallory nad Irvine.
p80: On May 7,1983, he scaled Mount Everest for the first time, climbing with an American expedition.
Such a beautiful achievement. With agreeable philosophy to match, too. I've trekked several mountains myself--the earlier ones were in order to help plant trees and the later ones were just to reach the peak--and I found more negative stuff about it than positive ones, especially with the later ones. I do love the Crytek games The Climb and The Climb 2, though--the closest to technical climbing I'll ever get.
I wonder how a couple of 1999 references were in this book when this was supposedly published in 1997.
p26: If Everest is the ultimate ego trophy that millionaire armchair climbers dream about, then K2 is the mountain for real mountaineers.
apostrophes:
p7: To Mats and the others who didnt return
p8: "I'm going to jump down," Scott Fischer states over and over again into his radio, and we know he wont live much longer.
p10: w
Hat s driving you, I am often asked.
p63: "This can t be true," I thought.
p81: It was like' a disaster area--or like a living organism.
ocr:
p17: At this point in my life, in 1988,1 had attended a climbing course with the Swedish Climbing Association in the Dolomites.
p23: o
r N every mountain trip, I have learned something new.
p33: T.
He day I got to the Swedish embassy in Islamabad, I understood that I could make a livelihood out of mountaineering.
p42: Out on a muddy side road that led to the E75,1 had a flat tire.
p44: N Iran, dogs chased me and boys threw stones at me, too.
p45: And what artist thought that two Kalashnikovs, laid out like crossbones, make such a good match with a dove of peace that you have to paint this image all over the pfece?
p53: s
O much writing has been done about climbing--and life--at the highest altitudes.
p59: That was the sum of Woodairs Himalayan climbing experience.
p71: H
Ow and when did the story of Earth's highest mountain begin?
p78: D
Uring one of our first days in camp, a Buddhist blessing ceremony was held for us.
p83: Skilled in the practicalities of developing dreams into reality^ we work with you to reach your goal.
p87: They probably thought it could have found belter use to fund a school.
p89: A wild ace pilot named Chrester was going to fly him over Mount Everest so that Magnus could 4ake pictures of me at the summit.
p90: M
Y alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m.
p104: T.
He first thing I did in Base Camp was to devour an entire can of butter.
p115: E
Arly in the morning of May 11, we heard steps outside of our tent.
p127: Renata, our Sherpa cook, and all our Sherpa staff were getting irritable and resdess.
p127: T.
He jet stream roared like warplanes.
p139: We slept in Camp Two, And Rita, Jesus, and 1.1 was still too hoarse and weak to speak.
p141: In a few weeks, some 67o articles were written about me, and still they kept coming.
p146: I got even more attention in my hometown of lonkoping.
period:
p62: Some people may for instance consider it nobler and more natural for a climber to walk all the way The reason why we chose to fly is simple.
p81: Even goats and snow leopards rarely venture rftuch above 16,500 feet.
spaces:
p62: ...Ifwe hadnt availed ourselves of the help ofSherpas and their yaks.. . we would probably not have reached Base Camp until the spring of the following year.
p69: In all, he's been on more than fifteen expeditions to the Himalaya, and in 1986, he made the classic documentary Everest: The Mystery ofMallory nad Irvine.
p80: On May 7,1983, he scaled Mount Everest for the first time, climbing with an American expedition.
Such a beautiful achievement. With agreeable philosophy to match, too. I've trekked several mountains myself--the earlier ones were in order to help plant trees and the later ones were just to reach the peak--and I found more negative stuff about it than positive ones, especially with the later ones. I do love the Crytek games The Climb and The Climb 2, though--the closest to technical climbing I'll ever get.
I wonder how a couple of 1999 references were in this book when this was supposedly published in 1997.
November 27, 2023
Tl;dr - Made me want to take an adventure.
I understand Göron to derive fulfillment from 'doing what no one else has done'. That's why he aggressively honors nuances of his mission when chasing his goals (e.g. he only consumes his own food while biking to base camp). I empathize with that and have been similarly motivated during periods of my life (e.g. not sleeping in a hotel during a bike trip because i wanted to 'do it on my own').
At current, I derive fulfillment from 'doing things I did not think I would ever do' to try and expand my perspective and experiences. The difference here is that the motivation is independent of what others have accomplished. My perspective on this causes me to look upon Göron with a bit of cynicism.
Tbh - I sorta feel like I am just being a hater. Göron is wild and I admire his desire just to do, and to experience, and to live. I want to be more like that! The important thing for me is to make sure I remain internally motivated and fulfilled by the adventure itself, not what others think of me taking the adventure. Göron would probably agree so this review is just a journal entry.
The book is a fun exciting read about a dude who bikes across the world and summits Everest with as little help imaginable.
I understand Göron to derive fulfillment from 'doing what no one else has done'. That's why he aggressively honors nuances of his mission when chasing his goals (e.g. he only consumes his own food while biking to base camp). I empathize with that and have been similarly motivated during periods of my life (e.g. not sleeping in a hotel during a bike trip because i wanted to 'do it on my own').
At current, I derive fulfillment from 'doing things I did not think I would ever do' to try and expand my perspective and experiences. The difference here is that the motivation is independent of what others have accomplished. My perspective on this causes me to look upon Göron with a bit of cynicism.
Tbh - I sorta feel like I am just being a hater. Göron is wild and I admire his desire just to do, and to experience, and to live. I want to be more like that! The important thing for me is to make sure I remain internally motivated and fulfilled by the adventure itself, not what others think of me taking the adventure. Göron would probably agree so this review is just a journal entry.
The book is a fun exciting read about a dude who bikes across the world and summits Everest with as little help imaginable.
June 1, 2019
Otroligt fascinerande beskrivning av Göran Kropps fantastiska bedrift att cykla från Sverige till Nepal för att sedan bestiga Mount Everest utan syrgas. Man får även ta del av katastrofen -96 från hans håll, hur han upplevde de där dygnen då berget krävde så många liv. Jag är oerhört svag för berättelser om livsöden likt Görans och sugs in i boken direkt. När han äntligen når toppen känns det som att man står där bredvid honom, och tittar ut över Himalaya!
January 12, 2022
Super spannend!!!
January 25, 2009
This is the 3rd book I've read that is about climbing Mt Everest during the tragic 1996 season. Goran Kropp had a different perspective on climbing, and was trying to get back to the roots of it all without the massive expeditions. He decided to go on his own power from Sweden to the top of Everest and back again; on a bike, without supplemental oxygen, without sherpas, etc.
In addition to the climbing, you can imagine he has quite a journey just traveling there from Sweden by bike so it is a cool travel book. This book isn't so much about the climbing itself, more about his personal journey and the nature of both climbing and the climbing industry. An enjoyable, easy read...
In addition to the climbing, you can imagine he has quite a journey just traveling there from Sweden by bike so it is a cool travel book. This book isn't so much about the climbing itself, more about his personal journey and the nature of both climbing and the climbing industry. An enjoyable, easy read...
April 8, 2018
I have to admit, I found myself wondering how closely Kropp read the final version, as there are bits in it that any climber would know. For example, he didn't understand how an experienced guide could keep going on Everest past the 2 pm cut-off time, yet previously he talked about what happens to a person's reasoning ability (it's bad) at high altitude. Also, he didn't understand why one person had their gloves off and suit unzipped, even though they ended up freezing to death, despite it being well known that freezing to death creates a burning sensation that leads to a person acting like they are too hot.
September 7, 2012
Goran Kropp was an up and coming in the who's whom of the climbing world. His story is so unbelievable in parts,.. that one can only grip the edge of ones seat white knuckled and begin to breath again only after he'd overcome his obstacles. Goran passed away not long after writing this; a grand adventure gone awry. Makes the celebrating of his brief life all the more endearing in the reading of Ultimate High.
February 3, 2008
This guy is one of my heros. He rode his bike from Sweeden with all of his supplies to Nepal where he then climbed Everest solo and then rode his bike back to Sweeden. Tragically, after enduring all of that he moved to Seattle and died on a rock climb in Leavenworth.
January 9, 2008
Holy crap this guy was nuts. He traveled from Sweden to Everest by bicycle, climbed the mountain unsupported, and then pedaled back home. Who even thinks of that? It's a fantastic read.
September 4, 2010
This guy is crazy, and his adventure is so much fun to read about.
December 24, 2015
Great story, terrible writing.
November 26, 2021
"Bye for a while," I said to no one.
This book came as a recommendation based on my most recent trio of mountaineering books. I was warned the story was a bit rough in how it was written but what it lacked in polish made up in the story. Thanks Scott, you weren't wrong, and this recommendation was excellent.
Kropp isn't a writer who climbs mountains, Kropp is an adventure enthusiast who wrote about his experience. The story is not as refined as others but until I can bicycle from Sweden to Mount Everest, survive the 1996 disaster and then cycle home I have no place to judge.
Let's get to the book.
If the goal of mountaineering was just to save time and effort, then I would have been satisfied scaling Everest with the Saab aircraft. But my goal was not just to cover a certain distance in the shortest possible time; I wanted to prove something.
Kropp's motivation to manage his Everest expedition entirely on his own is one part crazy and another part admirable. The mystique and religious experience the mountains hold are not lost on Kropp and his reverence towards them is front and centre in the book. His motivation to return to what mountaineering is and without large expeditions is idyllic and does make a strong argument for who should, or shouldn't, climb deadly mountains.
This book was an adventure and Kropp is the definition of motivation. His commitment to prove something to himself was incredible and while his 'no outside help from others' principle was more detrimental to himself than anything, you have to admire his focus on sticking to that goal.
Nowadays, there are no blank spots on the map, no new places on the globe to discover, and God knows how long it will take before a new generation of discoveries sets out on journeys through space. I wish I could be one of them.
Kropp's year long journey was very existential, which scratches a personal literary niche I have. I suspect it's nearly impossible not to be a bit introspective as each day you question your purpose and find the strength to just keep on pushing yourself.
Had Kropp bicycled to Everest, submitted without issue and biked home this would have been an incredible story. But he did it in May 1996, perhaps the most documented climbing season on Mount Everest. There was so much chaos, confusion and controversy on that summit push all perspectives from that time are appreciated.
When I complain about the distance of a multiday hike I will think of Kropp and how much willpower and fortitude he demonstrated day in and day out on this insane personal adventure.
This book came as a recommendation based on my most recent trio of mountaineering books. I was warned the story was a bit rough in how it was written but what it lacked in polish made up in the story. Thanks Scott, you weren't wrong, and this recommendation was excellent.
Kropp isn't a writer who climbs mountains, Kropp is an adventure enthusiast who wrote about his experience. The story is not as refined as others but until I can bicycle from Sweden to Mount Everest, survive the 1996 disaster and then cycle home I have no place to judge.
Let's get to the book.
If the goal of mountaineering was just to save time and effort, then I would have been satisfied scaling Everest with the Saab aircraft. But my goal was not just to cover a certain distance in the shortest possible time; I wanted to prove something.
Kropp's motivation to manage his Everest expedition entirely on his own is one part crazy and another part admirable. The mystique and religious experience the mountains hold are not lost on Kropp and his reverence towards them is front and centre in the book. His motivation to return to what mountaineering is and without large expeditions is idyllic and does make a strong argument for who should, or shouldn't, climb deadly mountains.
This book was an adventure and Kropp is the definition of motivation. His commitment to prove something to himself was incredible and while his 'no outside help from others' principle was more detrimental to himself than anything, you have to admire his focus on sticking to that goal.
Nowadays, there are no blank spots on the map, no new places on the globe to discover, and God knows how long it will take before a new generation of discoveries sets out on journeys through space. I wish I could be one of them.
Kropp's year long journey was very existential, which scratches a personal literary niche I have. I suspect it's nearly impossible not to be a bit introspective as each day you question your purpose and find the strength to just keep on pushing yourself.
Had Kropp bicycled to Everest, submitted without issue and biked home this would have been an incredible story. But he did it in May 1996, perhaps the most documented climbing season on Mount Everest. There was so much chaos, confusion and controversy on that summit push all perspectives from that time are appreciated.
When I complain about the distance of a multiday hike I will think of Kropp and how much willpower and fortitude he demonstrated day in and day out on this insane personal adventure.
April 21, 2020
A fantastic tale of daring-do, dreaming big, and the boundless capacity of human willpower.
Not particularly well written but engaging nonetheless by the sheer strength of Mr. Kropp’s optimism and confidence, this account of one man’s insane vision of bicycling from his native Sweden to the foot of Everest, climb to the summit, and bike back, left me wanting more.
Mr. Kropp is not just bold, he is a visionary. The fact that he was able to pull off a feat no one thought possible in the most pure style imaginable is a testament to his unbridled capacity for positivity, even verging on naïveté. Pick this book up and follow him on his first small climbs, all the way to the summit of K2, and finally on his biggest adventure.
The world was cheated out of a beautiful soul when Mr. Kropp lost his life on a moderate one-pitch climb in Vantage, Washington. RIP.
Not particularly well written but engaging nonetheless by the sheer strength of Mr. Kropp’s optimism and confidence, this account of one man’s insane vision of bicycling from his native Sweden to the foot of Everest, climb to the summit, and bike back, left me wanting more.
Mr. Kropp is not just bold, he is a visionary. The fact that he was able to pull off a feat no one thought possible in the most pure style imaginable is a testament to his unbridled capacity for positivity, even verging on naïveté. Pick this book up and follow him on his first small climbs, all the way to the summit of K2, and finally on his biggest adventure.
The world was cheated out of a beautiful soul when Mr. Kropp lost his life on a moderate one-pitch climb in Vantage, Washington. RIP.
September 19, 2024
Ouvi de Goran Kropp pela primeira vez lendo o clássico do segmento de aventura No Ar Rarefeito. No meio de um bocado de bobalhão subindo o Everest na fatídica temporada 1996, GK foi o cara que partiu da Suécia de bicicleta indo até o campo base da montanha levando todo equipamento e comida que iria usar na expedição. Isso tudo pra fazer uma ascensão solo, sem cordas fixas e sem oxigênio suplementar. True OG. Desde então ele nunca mais saiu da minha cabeça, tornando-se uma referência pessoal no estilo de aventura que curto.
Sobre o livro: um clássico no gênero da literatura de aventura. Clássico não o livro em si, mas o fato de uma aventura magnânima como essa do Goran Kropp ser contada através de uma narrativa plana e pouco criativa. Difícil prestar simultâneamente na aventura e na escrita. Recursos são finitos, alguém tem que ceder rs
Sobre o livro: um clássico no gênero da literatura de aventura. Clássico não o livro em si, mas o fato de uma aventura magnânima como essa do Goran Kropp ser contada através de uma narrativa plana e pouco criativa. Difícil prestar simultâneamente na aventura e na escrita. Recursos são finitos, alguém tem que ceder rs
March 23, 2018
Göran Kropp might be the most bad ass explorer of all time. Sure, he is completely full of himself and the book is more a stream of consciousness than it is well written but reading this as a supplement to “Into Thin Air,” you can immediately put aside the construction of it and focus on the content. The dude packed his bicycle with his gear, rode from Sweden, all the way to Everest, climbed almost to the top (came back down before the disaster), helped with rescue efforts, then summited with another team.
-all WITHOUT supplemental oxygen!
Then he packed up his bike and rode (most of the way) home.
He had many more grandiose plans in the works and died way too soon.
If Everest stories are your thing, this book is a must read.
-all WITHOUT supplemental oxygen!
Then he packed up his bike and rode (most of the way) home.
He had many more grandiose plans in the works and died way too soon.
If Everest stories are your thing, this book is a must read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2018
A truly amazing feat. This tale of bicycling from Sweden to Everest, climbing Everest, then biking back--- is an adventure tale unlike one I've read before. The sheer will some people have astounds me.
Kropp also detailed the 1996 Everest disaster from his perspective, which has encouraged me to look into other's accounts, as I have only read Jon Krakauer's take in Into Thin Air. I will be picking up Anatoli Bourkeev's The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest (a guide for one of the team's caught in the storm) and Jamling Tenzing Norgay's Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest (the son of the famed Tenzing Norgay-one of the first to summit Everest).
Kropp also detailed the 1996 Everest disaster from his perspective, which has encouraged me to look into other's accounts, as I have only read Jon Krakauer's take in Into Thin Air. I will be picking up Anatoli Bourkeev's The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest (a guide for one of the team's caught in the storm) and Jamling Tenzing Norgay's Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest (the son of the famed Tenzing Norgay-one of the first to summit Everest).
May 14, 2018
This Swedish Adventurer is truly inspiring! He rode his bicycle with all his gear to climb Everest and then he climbed Everest (during the 1996 Into Thin Air tragic year) and then he rode home on his bike. Fully self supported climb.
Lots of insight that might have been missed in Krakauer's brilliantly written work, and maybe he is not the writer that Krakauer is, but it doesn't matter because this story is pretty amazing! I rarely give five stars and maybe it is a 4 star...but the story is 5 stars.
Lots of insight that might have been missed in Krakauer's brilliantly written work, and maybe he is not the writer that Krakauer is, but it doesn't matter because this story is pretty amazing! I rarely give five stars and maybe it is a 4 star...but the story is 5 stars.
August 1, 2020
Overall it's a good book, very brief though, and very direct, to the point you can definitely tell that the author is not a professional writer by any means. with that being said it was definitely an interesting outside perspective after having read krakauer's Into Thin Air, which was a much more detailed perspective of the 1996 Everest failed expedition. overall I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in a quick but fascinating read.
May 23, 2023
This scared me less than Into thin air, and overall I liked it better. I admire Goran's feats much more than I admire most of the people that were on the mountain in 1996- this journey was extremely hard. After having read Into thin air I was worried this book would rehash everything I already knew, but it manages to offer a fresh perspective while toning down on the intensity. I really liked this book and read it in one night.
February 28, 2025
Entertaining and inspiring. The most griping part of the book for me was the part that Goran was not actually a part of, that being the tragic deaths that occured on May 10th and 11th of 1996, which is better recounted in Krakauer's Into Thin Air book. Still, the journey to Everest was interesting, and the climb itself was engrossing. It hammers home the point of how difficult a feat it can be to climb Mt. Everest.
May 16, 2019
Enjoyed the book. Honest and simple explanation of his trip to mount Everest. I have read more than 5 book which is related to 1996 mount Everest tragedy. But his book is more than that tragedy. Its about the daring adventure to bike all the way from Sweden to Mount Everest and back home. I don't understand the reason behind people throwing stones at him in Pakistan and areas nearby.
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