High Diving Off An Iceberg
Veteran Red Bull Cliff Diver journeys 31 days to launch off giant iceberg
Orlando Duque is more used to diving in the warmer climates of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series but for his latest high dive, the Colombian went somewhere where it was the exact polar opposite. The 43 year old Colombian, who won the inaugural Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2009, journeyed to one of the coldest places on earth, the Antarctic, to launch himself off a giant iceberg. This was no easy trip or venture as it took Duque 31 days to travel to the iceberg from where he would do the dive. From leaving his home in Cali, Colombia, Duque travelled 10,000km over air, land and sea to get to his destination in the Antarctic. The latter part of his journey involved sailing with the Colombian Navy, who were on a scientific expedition to this most mysterious and icy part of the planet.
An iceberg of 20-metres in height was identified by Duque and a support crew of 15, which included his wife Catalina, medical staff and underwater divers. Armed with just a crampon, two ice axes and a 7mm thick neoprene suit Duque made his way onto to the iceberg and dived off it (three times)
into waters that were below 1°C.
Duque, who holds 13 cliff diving world titles, revealed that the attempt was fraught with danger, "The landscape was majestic. When I had climbed to the top, I had to hack off a chunk of the ice to make a stable space at the point where I was going to jump. My biggest fear at that moment was that a piece of ice would detach itself and that my dreams would end there.”
The veteran Red Bull Cliff Diver has used his position of influence to help highlight the rising danger of global climate change wherever he travels or when he competes. With both the Antarctic and the Arctic regions holding 75 percent of the water on the planet, the majority of which is in a solid state, Duque was keen to get the message across with this dive that it was vital to look after them. "People need to be more aware. We have to reduce our oil and plastic consumption to conserve places like Antarctica.”