#159: Søren Gudmann

Kosciuszko · Carstensz · Completed 2005-12-15

Denmark · Male

Born 26 Nov 1961

Søren Gudmann was born on 26 November 1961 and grew up in Horsens, Denmark. He trained as a civil engineer, graduating from the Technical University of Denmark (Danmarks Tekniske Højskole) in 1987.

Career

After graduating, Gudmann worked for F.L. Smidth from 1987 to 1990, then for Maersk Drilling from 1990 to 1995, and for Proffshore from 1996 to 2001. He later worked for Acergy, and by 2006 he was living in Stavanger, Norway.

7 summits

In 2005 Gudmann became the first Dane to complete the 7 summits, climbing the highest peak on each continent. His round of the Bass-list version, ending on Vinson, was completed in 193 days, a pace reported at the time as the second-fastest on record, behind Vern Tejas's round that same year; see our leaderboards for current standings. He climbed Carstensz Pyramid later, on 14 May 2006, completing the Messner-list version of the challenge as well.

He wrote about the expedition in a book, "Topfeber – De syv tinder på rekordtid" ("Summit Fever – The Seven Peaks in Record Time"), describing his solo struggle against the mountains during the 2005 round. He had first climbed Elbrus in 2001 and Aconcagua in 2002, which is why his ascent record starts before the 2005 round.

Other activities

Gudmann was inducted in 2007 as member number 403 of De Berejstes Klub, a Danish club for widely-travelled people, where he later served as vice-chairman.