What Lies Beneath

What?Lies Beneath

A Story about freediving, stand-up paddle-boarding (SUP) & ice climbing in the remote wilderness of Greenland for Mental Health Awareness

Article by Luca Sommaruga Malaguti for SUP International Magazine. Photos by Luca Sommaruga Malaguti, Jimmy Martinello & Daan Verhoeven. Autumn 2022.

John Carter?took a deep breath before chatting to one of Canada’s elite freedivers,?Luca Sommaruga Malaguti, about his amazing lifestyle and how SUP is essential in accessing his most adventurous diving locations.

Background

I started being in touch with water as a kid, growing up in the Mediter- ranean and spending summers in Croatia, Italy, Greece and the South of France. When I was about 7 years old, we moved to Montréal, Canada. I spent a lot of time, weekends and summers, up north in the Laurentian forests, diving and playing in the lakes.

In the summer of 2010, I did my first backpacking trip, which led me to a little beach in Dominical, Costa Rica. Young, dumb, high and with a sense of immortality I put myself in a situation I wasn’t ready for: surfing (what I later found out) was one of the deadliest beaches in Central Amer- ica. When Andrew, the volunteer lifeguard, pulled me out he had a look of surprise on his face. He truly believed he was going to, yet again, pull out another dead body from the water, like he did no more than a month ago. The rugged ambulance, intended to transport bodies away, was waiting on the beach when I emerged.

After a stint of sadness and depression, I began a slow fascination with freediving and connecting with the ocean. I searched for a new way to connect with water. Around 2011 to 2013 my sister lived on the Caribbe- an Island of Grenada, where I visited her often. There, we went freediving, spearfishing and harvesting.

I took my first freediving course in Montréal, and not long after I moved out west to Vancouver to be closer to the ocean. At the time I was finishing my masters in geological engineering at the University of British Columbia, but found myself spending more time outside than in school. I couldn’t help it: mountains and the sea right there on your doorstep.

By 2018 I had become a freediving instructor, teaching on weekends, while working as an engineer. By 2019, I had an opportunity to take

time off as an engineer, and the intense office life, and dedicate myself to freediving and spearfishing. I opened my school in Canada, Sea to Sky Freediving Co. based out of Vancouver’s Sea to Sky Highway and by late 2019 I moved to Siquijor, Philippines to open up Siquijor Freedivers. I lived in Siquijor and ran the school until the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, where myself, friends and students lived the best “non-lockdown” of our lives: diving every day, exploring caves and hiking this tiny paradise island, whilst the rest of the world was shut down.

Stand-Up Paddleboarding (SUP)

Seems like it wouldn’t be, but a SUP is essential for almost 75% of the diving I do! From teaching freediving, to spearfishing, to accessing icebergs or other climbing locations. I love self-propelled activities, and so a SUP allows me to discover new freediving locations and cover more distances. Also, I use it as a support when spearfishing and harvesting; I can rest there and place my fish/catch while I move to another spot. In Greenland, we used SUPs to discover more freediving spots, find good visibility and also to help us scramble on to the icebergs, so we could climb them.

I turned professional as a freediver, by 2021, after living in Egypt, Dominical, Cyprus and Canada, both teaching, running expeditions and workshops. In November 2021, after 6 months of training and focus, I set a new Canadian Record in Bi-Fins diving to a depth of - 84meters (~275 feet) on one breath. Since then, I’ve been teaching, training and working on projects that have brought me to the Mexican Cenotes, spearfishing in the Caribbean, diving the clearest water in the world in Iceland and freediving under icebergs in Greenland. Looking back, I’m very grateful for all the small coincidences and chances life has given me.

Freediving

Freediving gives you immense peace and tranquillity. It slows down everything, and really allows you to appreciate what the immense privi- lege of “breathing air” means. There’s truly no other sport like it, because simply put, we’re terrestrial mammals (mostly). Many other sports place you in a flow-state of mind and focus, but freediving is this concept on steroids. It’s the only environment (aside from being at 8,000 meters plus, without supplemental oxygen) where your breath, breathwork and mind are truly challenged. Running a marathon or doing yoga doesn’t even come close.

That being said, it can be a very safe sport if you follow basic educa- tion, training and guidelines. For one: learn how to breathe properly and don’t hyperventilate! That’s right, most adults have no idea what proper breathing techniques actually look like. I’ve had to teach professional surf- ers, runners and alpinists how to breathe better. It’s nuts.

The amount of time you hold your breath depends on the discipline (i.e. do you pull on the line, use fins or only hands/feet) and the depth you dive. My favourite, and specialty is deep hangs. Deep hangs are where you take one breath, go to 40-50 metres and hang there for a while before coming up. A true test of the body and the mind. My best so far is a total dive time of 4:30 minutes while hanging at 40 meters (~130 feet). So, basically staying at 40 metres for about 2 minutes and just chilling there in the zone!

“In November 2021, after 6 months of training and focus, I set a new Canadian Record in Bi-Fins diving to a depth of - 84meters (~275 feet) on one breath.”

Red Connection

I’m a huge fan of RED Paddle Co. and I’m honoured to be their official Freediving Ambassador! I love using the Voyager 12’6’’ for expeditions, freediving and spearfishing. It’s a bombproof SUP. For traveling I love the Compact 9’6”, it’s so light and packs down to a backpack (no kidding).

Yet, it is more solid than most generic brands that are three feet longer. It is Inflatable SUPs all the way for me. With my travelling, exploration and projects I can’t consider anything else for now. Even if you have a boat, space is essential, so an inflatable SUP is just so much better. Also, the inflatable SUPs from Red Paddle Co. are more solid than most hard boards, so it’s a no brainer for me. I use my SUP to explore a lot, especially to find new freediving and spearfishing spots. They’re fun, quieter than a boat and you get an additional workout. It’s much better to be on a SUP when interacting with marine wildlife than on a boat.

My buddy, Jimmy, connected me with Red Paddle Co for our Iceland Project in November 2021. We took on this impossible mission of: free- diving, ice climbing, paddle-boarding, paddle-surfing and caving it all in two weeks time! We used RED’s SUPs to access icebergs, paddle on rivers, go out to the ocean and surf! It was wild, and Red Paddle Co. helped fund this trip which ended up being a riot and likely something no-one has ever attempted before. We also took this occasion to gather content for a short film called “The Air We Breathe”, spearheaded by Canadian filmmaker Brian Hockenstein. It follows the story of a freediver, ice climber and surf- er among others and brings them together under the common umbrella of “admiring the breath”. This concept looks to highlight the importance of lung health, breathwork in sports (but also general life) and how “the air we breathe” is connected to the health of our natural environment as well.

“I use my SUP to explore a lot, especially to find new freediving and spearfishing spots.”

Experiences

Recently we had a project in Mexico and discovering the Cenotes of the Yucatan region was truly mind blowing. I did not expect that... pictures and videos cannot prepare you for diving in a massive underground cave that can fit a stadium. I recently ran an expedition in the Red Sea, not too far from Sudan, for one week we searched for spinner dolphins. On the final day we were able to dive with them... a life-changing experience to say the least. Greenland was wild. We were there for a shortfilm on mental health. I trained a diver to freedive under icebergs without a wetsuit, no mask and of course on a breath-hold. Freediving and ice climbing (and paddle-boarding) around, on and under icebergs is without a doubt one of the most insane things I’ve done to date. I made sure to not update my mum regularly otherwise she would’ve had a seizure. Spearfishing in Canada’s Pacific Northwest Coast is always something I do come summer- time. One of the most underrated places to dive in the world. It’s cold yes, but beautiful and nowhere close to as cold as Greenland! Cyprus, and the Mediterranean is always in my heart, so freediving the Zenobia Shipwreck with DPVs (underwater scooters) is something I always find myself doing come October. When the water in southern Cyprus is as calm as a mirror.

Video: Our short film "Into the Dark Blue" to raise awareness and money for mental health. Working alongside Sheath Underwear, Movember, Sea to Sky Freediving and Story Real Studios LLC.

Greenland

Greenland was humbling, frightening and always on the edge. At the same, so immensely peaceful it’s very hard to find the words to describe the contrast, and balance, between the power and serenity of these frozen structures. Being on them, beside them or beneath them is truly a practice of being in the moment and mindfulness.

Iceland

Iceland was wild. Iceland is no doubt a place that almost doesn’t belong on earth. On a single day you can have four seasons, and witness a plethora of different geo-climates and geographies by only travelling a few hun- dred kilometres. It’s wild, rugged, calm, violent and natural all in one. For climbing and freediving, there are endless places you can find. I plan to return a few more times for several other projects, including adding back-country skiing across the massive Vatnaj?kull ice cap, which is about 7,700km2 (and covers about 8% of Iceland) ice cap in eastern Iceland.

Equipment

We used custom made Yamamoto 45 neoprene wetsuits, two-piece and 6/7mm in thickness. The custom made option makes them much warmer, since they don’t flush and fit your exact body shape. The Yamamoto 45 neoprene is considered the warmest and comfiest neoprene on the mar- ket. The 6/7mm thickness on the chest is not a problem, they keep you warm for hours in -2C waters, however it’s the hands and feet that fail very quickly. You can easily get frostbite without realising it. Many times, we got back on the boat, and as the blood rushed back to our extremities, we were pretty much crying in pain. This is known as the “screaming barfies” in ice climbing. Not fun, but also not avoidable when cold water freediving. My wetsuit is made by Oceaner Freediving. Hand-made and customised to your exact body in Vancouver, Canada. Some of the best wetsuits out there!

We also used dry suits, from Mustang Survival, for ice climbing. We would put these suits on, and then have our ice climbing gear on top of that and go climbing on icebergs! A really good (and safe) setup to do what is arguably one of the most dangerous activities in the world.

“Freediving and ice climbing (and paddle-boarding) around, on and under icebergs is without a doubt one of the most insane things I’ve done to date”