Fredrik Ericsson
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Fredrik Ericsson (14 March 1975, in Sundsvall, Sweden – 6 August 2010, on K2) was a Swedish mountaineer and extreme skier. He grew up in Umeå in the northern part of Sweden but spent most of his time in Chamonix, in the French Alps.
History
During the summer of 2003 Ericsson climbed and skied the 7495 meters high Ismoil Somoni Peak (Peak Communism) in Tajikistan. In 2004 he became the first Swede to ski descend an 8000-meters peak when he skied from the central summit of Shisha Pangma (8012m) in Tibet.
In 2005 Ericsson and his Norwegian friend Jörgen Aamot made an attempt to ski the coveted Laila Peak (6069m) in Pakistan, but bad conditions forced them to turn around at 5950m. They were the first people who ever skied down the mountain. Same year they also skied from the summit of Gasherbrum II (8035m), Ericsson's second 8000-meters peak.
Ericsson returned to the Himalayas in 2007 to attempt his third 8000er, Dhaulagiri (8167m) in Nepal. Massive amounts of snow and dangerous conditions forced him to turn around at 8000 meters, from where he skied 3000 vertical meters down to base camp.
Ericsson also skied in exotic places like Turkey, Iceland, Sicily and Svalbard. He featured in documentary films such as Skiing Everest and ski movies like Free Radicals 618 and Kong Vinter 3.
Death
On 6 August 2010, Ericsson joined Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner on the way to the summit of K2. Ericsson fell 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and was killed. Kaltenbrunner aborted the summit attempt. [1] (German)
Ski descents
- 2003 Fredrik Ericsson climbed Peak Somoni (Peak Communism) and skied from the summit at 7495m to 4500 meters.
- 2004 Fredrik Ericsson climbed the central summit of Shisha Pangma and skied down to 5600 meters.
- 2005 Fredrik Ericsson climbed Gasherbrum II (8035m) together with Norwegian Jörgen Aamot and they skied from summit to 5500 meters.
Other significant ski descents include Mont Blanc, the Gervasutti Couloir on Mont Blanc du Tacul and the Y-couloir on Aiguille d'Argentiere.
External links
- Fredrik Ericsson's website
- Fredrik Ericsson's athlete profile on Osprey website
- Fredrik Ericsson's athlete profile on Hetra Gloves website
- Article about Fredrik Ericsson on Freepresse.com
- Film from Fredrik Ericsson's expedition to Dhaulagiri on the Adidas Eyewear website
- Article on diepresse.com
- Article on orf.at
- Fredrik died on K2 (Spanish