- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Discovery Books (Oct 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1563319365
- ISBN-13: 978-1563319365
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 14 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
942,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #81 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Sweden
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
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, trailer and more than 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.
After carrying his own equipment up to Everest Base Camp, Kropp found himself surrounded by other climbers, all waiting for a break in the weather so they could attempt the summit. Many books have been written about that disastrous season on Everest, notably Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and Anatoli Boukreev's The Climb. Kroop adds little of substance to the story, engaging mainly in camp gossip about who was sleeping with whom and "outing" climbers who lied about reaching summits. Even Kropp's account of his own climb is somewhat suspenseless--though some readers will be relieved that he doesn't go into too much detail about his physical breakdown. More tiresome is Kropp's clear disdain for climbers who use supplemental oxygen ("Mount Everest is not 29,028 feet tall if the mountain is scaled by a climber wearing an oxygen mask"). Climbers who "see Everest and other high peaks reduced to trophies kept in a china cabinet" are also despised--though his "Ultimate Mountain List" (he's already climbed 16 of the 22) seems a bit like a trophy room itself.
After he finally reached the summit--on his third attempt in less than a month--Kropp spent a few weeks recouperating in Kathmandu and then hopped on his bike for the long and rugged ride home. Not satisfied, Kropp is already planning and training for his next adventure, to take place in 2004: sailing from Sweden to Antarctica, then skiing to the South Pole and returning--all solo. That he is only just learning to sail doesn't dissuade him--"I like to jump headfirst into new projects." Ultimate High is proof that he's determined-- and crazy--enough to complete them. --Sunny Delaney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
From the first page, the book was hardly put down. From one page to the next, it was very interesting to read about the adventure of one man who was attempting the almost impossible. He related his jouney to the context around him and the people he met. Plenty of exciting and moving moments throughout the whole book. I would recomend this book to anyone, whether they are interested in Mount Everest or not, after they have read it, they will be.
Format:Paperback
Anyone thinking about purchasing this book..please do !!.. it`s a great read which goes far further than climbing a mountain !! ..inspiring read .
Goran kropp a great inspiring man ..Thankyou
Goran kropp a great inspiring man ..Thankyou
Format:Paperback
Goran's adventure cycling to Everest and then climbing the mountain is certainly impressive and shows his high level of fitness and mental endurance. The book is an easy read. However, I was disappointed in two aspects. First, there is relatively little account of the cycling itself. From Sweden to Nepal it took him many months, but apart from repeated complaints about stone throwers, he has very little to say about the landscape and the culture of all the places he visited. I read a cycling narrative from Europe to Asia by another author that was so good, that perhaps I'm not making a fair comparison. My other disappointment is the insistence in qualifying Goran's ascent as "solo". Here I disagree profoundly. For example, during his first summit attempt, he became somewhat disoriented and he radioed base camp to describe the place where he was at and try to orient himself. On the other side of the line was his photographer and the famous Sherpa Ang Rita (hired by Goran) that had reach the summit nine times. In my own personal mountaineering rule book, getting that kind of help from radio cannot qualify as clean solo climbing. In his second summit attempt, Ang Rita accompanied him to carry camera equipment. Although they didn't rope together, etc. it certainly is a different ball game to have some one fitter than you going along for the summit bid. Compare with Reinhold Messner solo bid of Everest, when there was nobody else in the mountain, and without radio (Crystal Horizon). There are also a few gaps in the narrative, and the writing could have been tighter. Nonetheless, Goran's book is an entertaining read and he is very honest in his account so I recommend it.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Sport
- Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Climbing & Mountaineering > Mountaineering History & Biography
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > China
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > Nepal
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Sweden
- Books > Travel & Holiday > Speciality Travel > Adventure
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
