Two explorers almost faced death when an iceberg they were ascending flipped over and nearly crushed them.
In the middle of the Arctic Sea, two experienced explorers attempted to climb an iceberg. At first, everything seemed fine, but without warning, the iceberg rapidly began to descend below water, putting the climbers’ lives in danger.
One of the climbers was Mike Horn, who is internationally acknowledged as a professional explorer, venturing to some of the most inhospitable places on Earth these past 30 years. However, his latest adventure could have ended in tragedy.
Alongside Horn was Fred Roux. The men were sailing around Svalbard, an archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. They spotted the iceberg, jumped off the boat onto the ice and were filmed by the ship’s crew as they made their ascent. However, their spiked boots and axes could not prevent what happened next.
Watch the clip to find out what happened to the climbers.
In the hair-raising clip, as the ship moves away to capture a wider shot, the iceberg flips over on top of the climbers. It is lucky they were able to jump off the side just in time, saving their lives.
It is the kind of thing you would expect to see in a Hollywood movie. I’m sure Titanic comes to mind.
Despite the dramatic event, extreme adventurer Mike Horn was still able to make a joke out of his near-death experience on Instagram.
“Oops, should not have eaten breakfast before climbing. @fredroux72 we both survived. Not to be repeated.”
Rather philosophically, the 54-year-old explorer told France Bleu:
“We all have icebergs to climb in our lives”.
Horn explained this was not the first close shave in his lifetime.
“I’ve been doing my stupid things for 30 years all over the world, I’ve had quite a few accidents, but we always try to make the right decision at the right time, to come home alive.”
To name a couple of his wild adventures, Horn swam the Amazon River on his own and unsupported, and circumnavigated the globe at its equator, unmotorised.
He added, in good humour:
“It’s safer to see ice cubes in your gin and tonic than it is to see ice cubes fall on your face in the Arctic.”
It’s pretty certain the explorers won’t be hopping on any more icebergs in the near future.
Check out this fatal rockfall in Yosemite Valley that was also caught on camera by a climber.
