Erling Kagge

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Erling Kagge (born January 15, 1963) is a Norwegian explorer, publisher, author, philosopher, lawyer, art collector and entrepreneur.

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Three Poles Challenge

Erling Kagge is the first person in history to reach the North Pole, South Pole and the summit of Mount Everest on foot. [1]

In 1990, Erling Kagge and Børge Ousland became the first to reach the North Pole unsupported. [2] The expedition started from Ellesmere Island on March 8, 1990, and reached the North Pole 58 days later on May 4, 1990. They travelled approximately 800 kilometers on skis, pulling their supplies on sledges. [3]

In 1992 and 1993, Kagge completed the first unsupported and solo expedition to the South Pole, covering the 814-mile (1,310 km) route in 50 days. [4] Kagge started at the northern edge of Berkner Island and had no radio or telephone contact to the outside world for the duration of this expedition, which was featured on the cover of Time magazine on March 1, 1993. [5]

In 1994, Kagge summited Mount Everest, thus becoming the first person to complete the "Three Poles Challenge" on foot. [6]

Kagge has also sailed across the Atlantic twice, rounded Cape Horn and sailed to Antarctica and back. [7]

Kagge continues to do expeditions, although with a lower profile than in the 1990s. In 2010, Kagge crossed Vatnajökull ice-cap in Iceland with Børge Ousland and Haraldur Örn Ólafsson. [8]

In 2023, together with Børge Ousland and Håvard Tjora, he became the first to cross White Island on skis, an island in the Svalbard Archipelago. [9]

Career

Kagge has a law degree from the University of Oslo. From September 1990 to September 1992 Kagge worked as a lawyer for Norwegian industrial conglomerate Norsk Hydro.

After his record-breaking feat of reaching the "three poles", Kagge attended Cambridge University to study philosophy for three terms. In 1996, he founded the eponymous Oslo-based publishing house, Kagge Forlag. In 2000 Kagge Forlag acquired one of Norway's oldest publishing companies, J.M. Stenersens Forlag. Kagge and Stenersens publish approximately 120 new titles annually. It is Norway's largest publisher of nonfiction. [10] In 2021 Kagge sold his publishing company and in 2025 he left his position as publisher. [11]

Kagge has written nine books on exploration, philosophy and art collecting, which have been translated into 42 languages. [12] He has written for the Financial Times , The New York Times [13] and The Guardian . [14]

Urban Exploration

In 2010 Kagge and urban historian and photographer Steve Duncan descended into the sewers, subways, trains and water tunnels of New York City – crossing the city alpine-style for five days and nights, from the Bronx, via Manhattan, to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

Published works

Kagge's most recent books are Manhattan Underground, A Poor Collectors Guide to Buying Great Art, Silence in the Age of Noise, Walking – One Step at a Time and Philosophy for Polar Explorers. Silence: In the Age of Noise was broadcast as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in January 2019. [15] The Guardian named it one of the top ten books on silence. [16] On Point, NPR, put Silence on their list for Best Books of 2017 [17] and American Booksellers Association nominated it as Book of the Year, 2018. [18] The New York Times has described Erling Kagge as "a fascinating man. He's a philosophical adventurer or perhaps an adventurous philosopher", [19] and the Financial Times identified Kagge as "something of a Renaissance man". [20]

Kagge has been on the cover of Time Magazine and L'Uomo Vogue . [21]

Space Exploration

In 2022, Kagge was engaged by the European Space Agency to provide an independent and objective assessment on the geopolitical, economic and societal relevance of human and robotic space exploration for Europe. The 12-person strong star-studded group, known as the “High Level Advisory Group” (HLAG), presented its independent report on the state of European space exploration to the 315th session of the ESA Council at ESA Headquarters in Paris on 23rd of March 2023. [22]

Personal life

Kagge lives in Oslo and has three daughters: Nor, Ingrid and Solveig.Their mother, Jorunn Anne Salthella, died of pancreatic cancer in 2022.

Kagge is a leading collector of international contemporary art. [23] Five major European museums have dedicated shows of his collection in the last ten years: Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art in Oslo, [24] Fondacion van Gogh Arles in France, Sala Santander in Madrid, Museion in Bolzano, Italy and KODE in Bergen, Norway. [25] [26] [27]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jeffries, Stuart (March 10, 2025). "The North Pole: The History of an Obsession by Erling Kagge review – an adventure that can't be topped". The Guardian.
  2. ↑ Guinness World Records
  3. ↑ National Geographic , March 1991
  4. ↑ Buchan, James (January 8, 1993). "Echoes of Amundsen as Norwegian races to Pole". The Independent. UK. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  5. ↑ "2006 Rolex Awards for Enterprise – Committee Selection". Rolex Awards for Enterprise . Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  6. ↑ "AdventureStats heads-up: Three poles correction – Erling Kagge first". ExplorersWeb. August 13, 2008. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Erling Kagge".
  8. ↑ "About Børge".
  9. ↑ "Børge Ousland, Håvard Tjora og Erling Kagge først i verden til å krysse Kvitøya". September 10, 2023.
  10. ↑ dagsavisen.no
  11. ↑ "Erling Kagge selger livsverket: – Det har vært et stort press". October 2021.
  12. ↑ Norla
  13. ↑ Financial Times
  14. ↑ Kagge, Erling (September 23, 2017). "The power of silence in the smartphone age". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ Author: Erling Kagge; Reader: Cal MacAninch; Abridged and produced by Eilidh McCreadie (January 28, 2019). "Silence". Book of the Week. BBC. BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  16. ↑ Bookweb
  17. ↑ "Best Books of 2017 — on Point Staff Picks". December 14, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Our Finalists for 2018 Indies Choice, E.B. White Read-Aloud, Indie Champion, and Picture Book Hall of Fame".
  19. ↑ Feuer, Alan (December 31, 2010). "The Wilderness Below Your Feet". The New York Times . New York City. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  20. ↑ Milne, Richard (November 16, 2018). "Explorer Erling Kagge on why we walk and the tyranny of tech" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  21. ↑ "'The Great Beyond' Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge wear Dsquared2 Fall Winter 202... | Fashion mag, Creative director, Fashion studio". L'Uomo Vogue . October 2020.
  22. ↑ "Independent advisory group presents report on European space revolution to ESA".
  23. ↑ Skreddernes, Simon (October 24, 2013). "A Polar Explorer's Art Adventure". The Wall Street Journal . New York City. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art". Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  25. ↑ El País
  26. ↑ Collection of Erling Kagge
  27. ↑ "BTS anmelder har gitt seks hjerter før, men denne gangen ville hun aller helst gitt syv". February 26, 2024.

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