Cason Crane

Crane is the oldest of five children born to David W. Crane, the president of NRG Energy, and Isabella de la Houssaye, an international lawyer, in Mercer County, New Jersey.{{cite news|url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/princeton_student_heads_to_mt.html|title=Princeton student attempts to be first openly gay climber to reach Seven Summits|work=The Star-Ledger|date=March 10, 2013|last=Heyboer|first=Kelly|access-date=March 11, 2014}}

His parents both engaged in endurance sports and motivated him and his siblings to join them as part of their challenging activities.Sandomir, Richard. [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/sports/isabella-de-la-houssaye-dead.html "Isabella de la Houssaye, Athlete Who Endured Against the Odds, Dies at 59"], The New York Times, December 7, 2023. Accessed January 9, 2025. "Isabella de la Houssaye, a lawyer and prolific endurance athlete who continued to go on daunting adventures around the world with her five children after being diagnosed with Stage 4 non-small-cell lung cancer, died on Saturday in Hermosa Beach, Calif.... She and her husband, David W. Crane, encouraged their children to participate in endurance activities when they were as young as 10 — 'a radical form of parenting,' as Cason called it in a phone interview."

He lived in Hong Kong between the ages of one and six before returning to the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey.Loria, Keith. [https://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/07/25/gay-climber-uses-passion-to-raise-money-for-trevor-project-lgbt-news-seven-summits/ "Ain’t no mountain high enough"], Washington Blade, July 25, 2013. Accessed January 9, 2025. "The Seven Summits are {{sic|comprised|hide=y| of}} the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents and to date, only about 400 people have climbed them all. The latest is 20-year-old Cason Crane of Lawrenceville, N.J." His younger brother Oliver Crane is an adventurer and rower.

Crane attended Princeton Day School through his eighth grade year, along with the rest of his siblings. In 2011,{{cite web

|url=http://www.universitypressclub.com/archive/2012/04/21-questions-with-cason-crane-17/

|title=21 Questions With… Cason Crane '17

|first=Ellis

|last=Liang

|publisher=University Press Club

|date=April 21, 2012

|access-date=December 1, 2014

|url-status=live

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124163934/http://www.universitypressclub.com/archive/2012/04/21-questions-with-cason-crane-17/

|archive-date=November 24, 2015 }} he graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Connecticut, where he competed in a number of sports.{{cite news|url=http://www.outsports.com/2013/3/14/4101450/gay-athlete-cason-crane-mountain-climber-trevor-project-suicide-prevention|first=Jim|last=Buzinski|date=March 14, 2013|title=Gay Athlete Climbs Mountains For A Cause|work=Outsports|access-date=March 11, 2014}} He came out as gay at the age of 14; both his parents and his school were supportive, although he experienced bullying by classmates on occasion.{{Cite web |last= |title=Gay Mountaineer Cason Crane Knows How to Surmount Homophobia |url=https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2021/2/24/gay-mountaineer-cason-crane-knows-how-surmount-homophobia |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}} After deferring for two years to travel to Lebanon and Israel and climb the Seven Summits, Crane joined the Princeton University Class of 2017, majoring in history.

Crane summited his first mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, as a 15-year-old freshman in high school with his mother. He described it as a "gateway mountain" which piqued his interest in mountaineering.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cason-crane/the-rainbow-summits-project_b_2769290.html|work=The Huffington Post|first=Cason|last=Crane|date=February 27, 2013|title= The Rainbow Summits Project: Why I'm Going to the Top of the World for LGBTQ Youth|access-date=March 11, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.glaad.org/blog/mountaineer-cason-crane-scaling-seven-summits-order-raise-funds-trevor-project|publisher=GLAAD|date=March 20, 2013|title=Mountaineer Cason Crane on Scaling the Seven Summits in order to Raise Funds for The Trevor Project|first=Elliott|last=Moore|access-date=March 11, 2013}} As a junior, following the suicides of Tyler Clementi and one of Crane's friends, he was inspired to raise awareness about suicide among LGBT youth through mountain climbing. This led him to start the Rainbow Summits Project, with the goal of climbing the Seven Summits—the highest mountains of each continent—in order to raise funds and awareness for the Trevor Project.

By the beginning of 2013, a year after starting the Rainbow Summits Project, Crane had successfully climbed five of the Seven Summits: Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina, Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia and Vinson Massif in Antarctica. On May 21, 2013, he reached the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal, guided by New Zealand climber Lydia Bradey, the first woman to summit Everest without using supplemental oxygen. Crane's successful ascent of Denali in July 2013 at the age of 20 marked his completion of the Seven Summits,{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1282090/former-hong-kong-schoolboy-cason-crane-completes-ascent-seven-highest|work=South China Morning Post|title=Former Hong Kong schoolboy Cason Crane completes ascent of seven highest summits|date=July 14, 2013|last=Evans|first=Annemarie|access-date=March 11, 2014}} making him the first openly gay man to have done so.{{cite news|url=http://www.out.com/out-exclusives/out100-2013/2013/11/07/out100-cason-crane|title=Out100: Cason Crane|date=November 7, 2013|work=Out|access-date=March 11, 2014}} By the completion of the project, Crane had raised US$135,000 for the Trevor Project.{{Cite web |last=Buzinski |first=Jim |date=2013-03-14 |title=Gay Athlete Climbs Mountains For A Cause |url=https://www.outsports.com/2013/3/14/4101450/gay-athlete-cason-crane-mountain-climber-trevor-project-suicide-prevention |access-date=2023-08-08 |website=Outsports |language=en}}

In 2014, Crane served as the International Marshal at the Ottawa Capital Pride Parade in Canada.{{cite web |title=Capital Pride International Marshal Cason Crane marches in the Pride Parade |url=https://ca.usembassy.gov/embassy-shows-its-pride/crane-banklaurierstreet/ |website=U.S. Embassy in Ottawa |date=2014-08-25 |access-date=2020-09-01}}

More recently, Crane was a consultant at Bain & Company and founded cold brew company Explorer Cold Brew.{{Cite web |title=Meet the Team |url=https://explorercoldbrew.com/pages/meet-the-team |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=Explorer Cold Brew |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.casoncrane.com/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crane, Cason}}

Category:Living people

Category:1992 births

Category:American mountain climbers

Category:American summiters of Mount Everest

Category:Summiters of the Seven Summits

Category:American gay sportsmen

Category:People from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

Category:Princeton University alumni

Category:21st-century American sportsmen

Category:LGBTQ people from New Jersey

Category:Princeton Day School alumni

Category:Choate Rosemary Hall alumni

Category:LGBTQ climbers

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people