Arne Randers Heen (4 April 1905 – 7 February 1991) was a Norwegian mountain climber and member of the Norwegian resistance during World War II.

Personal life

Heen was born in Hen, Møre og Romsdal, and worked as a tailor in nearby

Åndalsnes is a town in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Åndalsnes is in the administrative center of Rauma Municipality. It is located along the Isfjorden, at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the north end of the Romsdalen valley. ...

. He was a half brother of

Gunnar Randers Gunnar Randers (21 April 1914 – 7 February 1992) was a Norwegian physicist. He is known as the principal figure within Norwegian nuclear research after World War II. He was employed at the Mount Wilson Observatory from 1939 to 1940, and at the Y ...

junior and uncle of

Jørgen Randers Jørgen Randers (born 22 May 1945) is a Norwegian academic, professor emeritus of climate strategy at the BI Norwegian Business School, and practitioner in the field of future studies.

. His father Gunnar Randers senior (1877-1963) was a civil engineer that worked in

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

after the 1904 fire. Heen's mother Sofie Heen (1877–1959) at the time worked as a waitress in Ålesund. His parents did not marry. Arne Randers Heen was a tailor like his mother.

Career

Heen is known for several first ascents, and his many ascents of

Romsdalshorn Romsdalshornet is a mountain in the municipality of Rauma in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The mountain is located southeast of the town of Åndalsnes, along the Rauma River in the Romsdalen valley. The Rauma railway line and the European ...

, including the first winter climbing of the mountain. He was Norway's leading mountaineer from the 1920s to the 1950s. Heen was largely autodidact in mountaineering, and an unconventional outsider to a sport defined by

Norsk Tindeklub Norsk Tindeklub is a Norwegian mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing ...

in Oslo's western suburbs.Gjelstenli, Iver (1988). ''Arne Randers Heen.'' Oslo: Samlaget. . He did not have a single accident during his life in the mountains.Solemdal, Arnold (1995). ''Bygdebok for Nesjestranda. Gards- og slektshistorie.'' Molde: Veøy helselag. . In 1926 he climbed solo (alone) the south wall of Romsdalshorn, at the time a groundbreaking achievement. Heen had several times attempted Trollryggen, a 2 kilometer long pillar at the edge of Trollveggen. One attempt was in the summer of 1940 with

Arne Næss Arne Dekke Eide Næss (; 27 January 1912 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term " deep ecology", an important intellectual and inspirational figure within the environmental movement of the late twentieth centur ...

. In 1958 he finally succeeded together with Ralph Høibakk, their only equipment was rope, 10

piton A piton (; also called ''pin'' or ''peg'') in climbing is a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface using a climbing hammer, and which acts as an anchor for protecting the climber against the ...

s, 6 carabiners and a hammer each. Ten years later, with improved equipment, the two climbed the route in only 10 hours. In 1984 he was one of the guides for Carl Boenish and his wife during their BASE-jumping in the area. During the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he worked for the resistance movement and the allied intelligence. Heen helped XU-agent Sven Sømme escape through a difficult mountain pass between Isfjorden and

Eikesdalen Eikesdalen is a river valley and a small village in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The river Aura flows through the valley. The village is located at the south end of the lake Eikesdalsvatnet at the mouth of the river Aur ...

. He also helped escaped Russian prisoners climb through the mountains to

Valldal Sylte or Valldal is a village in Fjord Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is situated at the southern end of the Valldalen valley along the shore of the Norddalsfjorden near the mouth of the Valldøla river, just west of ...

where locals protected the Russians until the end of the war. At Åndalsnes the Estonian Harry Wood worked at the headquarter of

Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projec ...

. Wood handed over detailed maps and photos of German military facilities along the coast between Stad and Bergen to Heen. Wood's documents were an intelligence sensation for the allied. Heen helped Wood escape to Sweden in exchange for the documents.Ulstein, Ragnar (1992). ''Etterretningstjenesten i Norge 1940-45.'' Oslo: Cappelen. .

Awards

* 1939:

Medal for Heroic Deeds The Medal for Heroic Deeds was instituted in Norway by royal resolution on 19 August 1885 and is awarded for honorable actions in saving lives or a comparable act. There were originally three classes, but from 1905 in Norway#Overview, 1905 the meda ...

* 1963:

Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters ( da, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab, DKNVS) is a Norwegian learned society based in Trondheim. It was founded in 1760 and is Norway's oldest scientific and scholarly institution. The ...

' medal * 1973:

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

* Honorary member of Norsk Tindeklubb

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heen, Arne Randers 1905 births 1991 deaths People from Rauma, Norway Norwegian mountain climbers Sportspeople from Møre og Romsdal