Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island. It is also very, very cold out there, with the lowest temperature ever recorded at -69.6 C.
So, who in their right mind, would go to freedive in such waters and why? Daan Verhoeven explains why.
Mental Awareness & Icebergs
"A couple of months ago, I was involved in a project for men's mental health that was - suitably - a bit mad: a guy wanted to freedive under an iceberg in his underpants. Yes. I like a bit of madness, so I said that yes, also because I like the premise of the idea. A lot of what's going on inside us remains hidden from the world, like the 90% of an iceberg you don't see, and most of what's hidden are the pain we feel, the anxieties and fears we have. We project all is well, but in the meantime, under the surface, another story might take place.
Luke Adams came up with this idea of using the iceberg as a metaphor, and even though he was not a strong swimmer who had never freedived before, let alone under ice, he decided he'd be the one taking the underweared plunge. So the odds are against him, but he's a clever man, Luke is, and he gathers a good team around him. He gets Luca Sommaruga Malaguti to train him first to freedive, then help him with cold adaptation, and then to film the project he gets pioneer ice climber Tim Emmett to help find the right bergs to climb onto and jump off of, and he gets famed snowboard cameraman Brian Hockenstein to film the aerial and land bits, and me to do the underwater bits.
Now the budget only allows us for 6 days in Greenland, and the extreme nature of submerging an essentially naked body into ice water only allows us 2 takes a day, so we have to do it all in 12 takes. Odds are against us there, too, but this team came prepared - we're all from a competition background, where you get one shot to do it. In a way, we've trained for this most of our professional lives. So it works, we make every take count, and get useable material every time so poor shivering Luke didn't freeze his butt off for anything.
It was an amazing project to be part of. Greenland is blow your mind gorgeous above the surface, and I've dreamt of diving under the ice for decades. It was utterly beguiling, almost dangerously transfixing, as you are in an environment so eerily powerful and vaguely threatening but ever so fascinating and just absolutely stunning that you're inclined to just stay there and wonder. But you're on breath hold and you're freezing and another iceberg might drift into you so you don't. Yesterday was world mental health day so Luke published his gorgeous film for this good cause. I'm very proud of being a part of this and of him for making it happen".
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