- Erling Kagge
Erling Kagge (born
January 15 , 1963) is a Norwegian lawyer, explorer/adventurer and publisher.Among Norway‘s most acclaimed polar explorers and one of the greatest adventurers of our time, Erling Kagge was the first person to surmount the "
three poles " – North, South and the summit of Mt Everest.Kagge had already sailed across the Atlantic twice, around Cape Horn and to Antarctica and back by the time he received a law degree from the University of Oslo in 1989.
He had also begun training for his record-breaking expeditions: In 1990, he became the first man – together with Børge Ousland – to reach the North Pole unsupported (http://www.extreme-planet.com/explorers.asp?expl_id=35).
Three years later, in 1992-93, he completed the first unsupported solo expedition to the
South Pole , covering the 814-mile (1340 km) route in 51 days. [http://www.marine.usf.edu/icestory2000/overview/overview.htm] He achieved this feat by simply covering a solid amount of ground daily, listening to music (includingJimi Hendrix ) on his headphones.This exploit got him featured on the cover of Time magazine. In 1994, he summited
Mount Everest , thus becoming the first person in history to reach those three extremes of Earth (http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/threepoles.shtml).After his exploring career came to a break, Kagge went to Cambridge University to read philosophy for three terms. In 1996 he founded an Oslo-based publishing house (Kagge Forlag a.s) which quickly grew to become one of Scandinavia‘s most profitable publishing houses. In 2000 Kagge Forlag bought one of Norways oldest publishing companies, J.M. Stenersens Forlag (1892).
In addition to running his business and collecting international contemporary art and Russian icons, Kagge still does major expeditions, although with a lower profile than in the nineties. His four books on his polar expeditions have sold more than 100,000 copies.
Further reading
* Kagge, Erling (1994). "Pole to Pole & Beyond". N. W. Damm & Son. ISBN 82-517-8082-9.
* Kagge, Erling (2007). "Philosophy for Polar Explorers: What They Don't Teach You in School". Pushkin Press. ISBN 1-901285-69-3.
* Kagge, Erling (1990). "Nordpolen: Det siste kappløpet". J.W. Cappelens forlag. ISBN 82-02-12406-9.
* Kagge, Erling (1993). "Alene til Sydpolen". Cappelen. ISBN 82-02-14087-0.
* Kagge, Erling (1994). "På eventyr". N. W. Damm & Son. ISBN 82-517-8081-0.
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