How much area can you see from Kebnekaise and Mount Everest?
By Fredrik Sträng Can you really see one eleventh of Sweden from Kebnekaise? It sounds impressive—but is it true? I tested the claim, from the Swedish mountains to Mount Everest, and the answer reveals just how misleading our intuition can be when the world becomes truly large. I once heard a claim that made me […]
How High can Human Climb Without Oxygen?
By Fredrik Sträng How high can a human climb without supplemental oxygen? I have asked myself that question many times, but it wasn’t until I stood on the summit of Lhotse, 8,516 meters above sea level, that it truly became real. Not as an abstract idea, but as a physical experience. Every step up there […]
What Do I Do With All This Inspiration?
By Fredrik Sträng You leave a movie theater or lecture full of energy. Your pulse is high and ideas are flying: Now I’m going to change my life! But a few hours later you’re sitting at home on the couch wondering where the inspiration went. Why do so many powerful moments turn into… nothing? And […]
Can You See the Curvature of the Earth from the Top of Mount Everest?
By Fredrik Sträng Can You See the Curvature of the Earth from the Top of Mount Everest? I’ve stood on the summit of Mount Everest.High in the death zone, where the air is thin, time stretches, and perception becomes unreliable. And I’ve asked myself a question that sounds simple—but isn’t: Can you actually see the […]
The Road to the Documentary: When the Mountains Call Again
By Fredrik Sträng This is the trailer and the journey behind the upcoming film about Norway’s 377 peaks over 2,000 meters — climbed in a record-breaking 68 days. Despite age and injuries, this epic undertaking shows that dreams have no limits, fueled by the longing to push far beyond the body’s boundaries. A testament to […]
You get what you don’t want, and you don’t get what you want – A lesson in acceptance –
By Fredrik Sträng “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional”– Haruki Murakami Let’s start with a direct question then a lesson in acceptance: When you returned from vacation—were you rested, or disappointed? Many answer the latter. Perhaps you had expectations of perfection: sun, tranquility, that “unavoidable” feeling of bliss. Now you sit here, dwelling on the […]
Norway’s 377 Peaks — How I Turned a Wild Idea into a Speed Record (and a Reckoning with Life)
By Fredrik Sträng Sixty-eight days, 125,000 vertical metres and a daily grind of 12–20 hours — that’s the arithmetic of an expedition that was part endurance test, part experiment in what the human body and will can endure. I burned 8–10,000 kcal a day, watched ten kilos fall from my frame, and crossed knife-edged ridges, […]
A Lesson in the Importance of Stepping Up for Your Team
When I Had to Shovel Crap on a Sailing Ship By Fredrik Sträng Let me share a truly filthy summer memory—a story of how one day at sea taught me one of the most important lessons in teamwork and leadership. This was hardly the glamorous part of my New Zealand adventure. Sailing vessels, endless horizons… […]
Recruit Right – Lessons from Extreme Expeditions
How do you know you have the right person in the right place? And how do I identify those who possess the mental fortitude required for my bold, uncomfortable, and often high-risk expeditions to some of the world’s most remote and inhospitable mountains? One thing is clear: those joining me on my Himalaya expeditions must […]
What evidence do you have for that?
By Fredrik Sträng How do you react when someone says it’s impossible, that it can’t be done, that it’s too hard or meaningless? Do you simply nod in agreement, avoid the debate, or perhaps turn a deaf ear? Having grown up in Närke—also known as the “whining belt”—I’m accustomed to the pessimistic refrain: “It will […]