Back on Ice and it Feels so Nice!
Eric Larsen
12 February 2017 | Lake Grandby, Colorado
My life is starting to feel a little like the Movie Groundhog's Day but a little snowier. Although, I have had a string of bad luck the past few weeks as temperatures have been unusually warm in the cold places I've been. It rained in Winnipeg two weeks ago. Now it's above freezing on Lake Granby in Colorado.
I'm teaching another polar training course this week - a special one off - for Diogo Guerreiro from Brazil who couldn't get a Canadian Visa in time to go to Lake Winnipeg. Diogo is an adventurer and Brazilian TV star who grew up surfing. When he was 19, he became the youngest person in Brazil to obtain his captain's license. Later after striking out on sponsorship for an around the world sail, he decided on an adventure with a much smaller budget (and a way to gain more credibility). In 2004 and 2005 he windsurfed from Uruguay to French Guiana solo without any outside support - an unimaginable distance of 8,200 kilometers!?!
Diogo went on to sail around the world after that as well as starting a surf company, becoming a TV star and running a film production company as well. His TV series Crowd Zero was focused on the remote places in the world. Now he is working on another show called Extreme Challenges and wants to ski to the North Pole - enter me!
Because Diogo couldn't get to Winnipeg, we decided to do another training in Colorado. We are spending a few days on Lake Granby but then will head to Churchill next year to do a level 3 course on sea ice. Once completed, Diogo should have enough experience to plan his own '2 degree' expedition to the North Pole.
In the mean time, I am back on the ice and I the tent and loving every minute of it!!!