Tormod Granheim (born September 17, 1974, in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

) is a Norwegian adventurer and motivational speaker involved in expeditions and

extreme skiing Extreme skiing is performed on long, steep (typically from 45 to 60+ degrees, or grades of 100 to 170 percent) slopes in mountainous terrain. The French coined the term 'Le Ski Extreme' in the 1970s. The first practitioners include Swiss skier ...

. On May 16, 2006, he made the first ski descent of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

's North Face by the

Norton Couloir The Norton Couloir or Great Couloir is a steep, gully high on the north face of Mount Everest in Tibet which lies east of the pyramidal peak and extends to within 150 m below the summit. Its companion to the west of the summit is the Horn ...

Skiing Mount Everest

Tormod Granheim, his Swedish partner

Tomas Olsson Tomas Kenneth Olsson (March 18, 1976 – May 16, 2006) was a Swedish adventurer and extreme skier. He was born in Kristinehamn but grew up in Borås. He took an engineering degree at Linköping University in 2001, after which he moved to Chamonix ...

and photographer

Fredrik Schenholm Fredrik is a masculine Germanic given name derived from the German name '' Friedrich'' or Friederich, from the Old High German ''fridu'' meaning "peace" and ''rîhhi'' meaning "ruler" or "power". It is the common form of Frederick in Norway, Finlan ...

approached Everest from the Tibetan side in Spring 2006. Granheim climbed the mountain from Advanced Base Camp (6400 meters above sea level) to the summit (8848 m) in a continuous 24‑hour effort, meeting Olsson en route, who spent two days covering the same ground. The route they followed, known as the Mallory route normally takes climbers five days to complete. The pair then skied into the North Face by the Norton Couloir, a 55 degree steep and nearly 3000 meter high mountain face. Near the top Olsson's ski broke, adding extra tension to the already complex task. A cliff intersecting the couloir forced the two to make an

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

. A snow anchor failed and Olsson fell an estimated 2500 meters to his death. Granheim skied alone to the North Col. The accident led the team to arrange the first helicopter rescue on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest.

North-Atlantic reed boat crossing

On July 11, 2007, Tormod Granheim set out from New York City on the

reed boat Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with ...

'' Abora3'', captained by German scientist Dominique Görlitz. The mission was to prove inter-continental sea-journeys were possible with technology available even before the ice-age. He and his crew were met and transferred to another boat on August 25 after the stern of their raft was damaged.

All 82 4000 Meter Summits in the Alps

Tormod Granheim is the first climber from the

nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

to summit all summits higher than 4000 meters in the Alps according to the

UIAA The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA, lit. ''International Union of Alpine Clubs''), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France ...

List of Alpine four-thousanders This list tabulates all of the 82 official mountain summits of or more in height in the Alps, as defined by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA). All are located within France, Italy or Switzerland, and are often refer ...

. The final summit was

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valai ...

climbed August 29. 2016. This achievement won him the Adventurer of the Year award in Norway.

Works by Granheim

* ''På ski fra EVEREST'', 2006 * ''SPOR'', 2009 * ''Alpenes 4000-metere'', 2017

References

External links

* :no:Tormod Granheim {{DEFAULTSORT:Granheim, Tormod Living people 1974 births Norwegian explorers