Libratone and Project Iceman.

Therefore, we were really excited when we came across Project Iceman, a quest by Danish man Anders Hofman Laursen to be the first to complete a full triathlon in Antartica, in February next year. We are now supporting Anders and his support team towards achieving their ambition. Here, in his own words, is his story.

Hi Anders,  please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a bit about yourself.

I am Anders Hofman Lauresen, I am 28 and I grew up in  Bråby, south of Zealand, although I now live in Copenhagen, Denmark. I have always been ambitious, I started Frankie’s, a juice chain in Poland, with my cousin, when I was 20 years old. Then went the safe way and took a Bachelor in International Business followed by nailing my “plan B” with a Master in Applied Economics & Finance both at Copenhagen Business School. When I graduated in 2017, I quit my job as a management consultant to start Athleed, a training platform with the vision of becoming the GoogleMaps of training programmes. This was also around the same time that the Iceman idea came about. In terms of athletic background, I completed my first and only Ironman in 2016, have been playing football since I was young and strength training for the past 10 years.

So what, in your own words, is Project Iceman?

Project Iceman is the planning and completion of the first ever full Ironman triathlon in Antarctica, the Iceman, to show that limitations are only perceptions of what we can achieve. The purpose is to create a community that inspires other people to dare, pursue their craziest dreams, truly believe in themselves and discover their own extraordinary potential.

And what will the Ironman itself entail?

The Iceman entails the same disciplines as an Ironman triathlon: Swimming 3.86 km, biking 180.25 km, and running 42.2 km.

What makes this just so much harder than a traditional ironman?

Antarctica is really not the place you go to complete an Ironman. Although everything is planned down to the last details and worst case scenarios, it is one of the most brutal places on earth. And we have to understand that the nature is really in control. I’ll do the Iceman in conditions, where not even a shorter triathlon has ever been completed before (to our knowledge).

To go through a few of the key challenges. I’ll be swimming in around -2 degrees Celsius water with the threat of leopard seals. After the swim, the bottom of my face and mouth will most likely be numb or partly frozen, so I can’t just jump straight on the bike and face a headwind of -10 to -20 degrees Celsius as that would surely result in frost bites. Then, the bike and run won't take place on regular roads, but in ice and snow. This means that I have to bike on a custom made bike that fits the conditions, and run in spiked shoes.

How is training going so far?

The training is going well. My form is great, so the focus is now on building up endurance and strength. This requires a lot of ground work, gradually increasing the training hours and training load, while being patient about the progress to avoid any injuries.

What milestones do you have in place right now on your road to Antartica?

In terms of the physical milestones and tests, I’ll be completing a 1/4 Iceman in Svalbard, Norway late April, a 1/2 Iceman in Greenland or Alaska, USA in the fall, where I’ll also complete the full distance of each discipline individually in similar conditions, before the Iceman in Antarctica.

What is your biggest challenge to overcome?

For a long time, I saw the swim as the biggest physical challenge, but after the successful ice swim in Iceland and ice water challenge, I’m confident about the swim. I now see the bike distance as the next key challenge to overcome, especially due to the unknown conditions of snow versus ice. It’s not a question of whether it is possible or not, but how tough it will be and how long it will take. The conditions are still unknown, and there is a big difference between biking on ice or in deep snow. Biking in deep snow is similar to biking in sand, and I might have to do that for 180 km before running a marathon - that is going to be a tough one, so I’m looking forward to get a much better feel of this in Svalbard.

What are your other athletic achievements to date?

I completed my first Ironman in Copenhagen back in 2016 with a result of 10:19:02, which was really my only major endurance sport achievement before kicking off this project. As part of the Iceman preparation, I completed my first sole marathon in 2018 with a 3rd place at the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland in 3:22:20, which is also my greatest achievement so far. Besides this, I completed the Copenhagen Half Marathon in 1:18:83 and Elsinore Half Ironman in 4:42:15, both also in 2018.

Where did your inspiration for Project Iceman come from?

In the fall of 2017, I watched the documentary “The Jump” about Danish kite-surfer, Nick Jacobsen, who kite jumped off the helipad of Burj Al Arab in Dubai. This made me think about what I could do within triathlon that would be considered just as crazy. I asked myself whether an Ironman triathlon had been completed in all continents. Antarctica was the only continent left and so the idea was born. This was also during a time, where I was going through a lot of personal realisation and after people started telling me it would be impossible, I thought it was time to show to myself and everyone else that we have no limits, and especially should set no limits for other people. This gave me the bigger purpose and a message to convey to everyone else that limitations are only perceptions of what we can achieve.

Who do you look to for advice, inspiration, etc.?

I look for advice or inputs within the Iceman team, my friends and family. Inspiration comes in many forms. I love to watch people that are pushing limits and inspiring others within their particular field, or people who can make me reflect on my own life. I can also find inspiration in music or a great story. Recently, being focused so much on creating content for the Iceman community, I've found a lot to inspire me on YouTube, which is also the perfect ‘how-to-do-it-yourself’ inspirational tool.

Do you have a support team around you? What are their roles and how are they helping you achieve your goals?

Yes, I couldn’t do this alone. We’re a strong five-man core team, who share the vision and believes in the message. Peter, my childhood friend, roommate and now Project Manager, is in charge of the planning of the project in terms of logistics and funding. Jan and Jesper are videographers helping with filming and creating content (pictures, videos, documentary etc.), and Till recently joined to help create even greater content to share with the Iceman community. We also have advisors and partners helping pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Why did you want to work with Libratone on this project?

We partnered up with Libratone because of the strong synergies between our values and purpose, and obviously because they really believe in our mission. Libratone's key message is to ‘Free the Sound’ and to me this represents some of the most important messages of this project: 1) listening to ourselves, and 2) setting no limits. Listening to our inner desires, working out what drives us, what our purpose is in this world, our craziest dreams - "if there were no limits”. Then realise that we set these limits ourselves. All we need to do is dare to say our wildest dreams out loud, and then pursue them relentlessly.

How will Libratone be supporting you on your journey?

They are supporting by helping spreading the message and purpose of the project and providing funding to actually make the Iceman expedition happen. And of course, providing us with some products to make the experience more enjoyable along the way too.

We have seen you are very active on social media. Why is it so important for you to raise awareness of this to a wider audience? And what would you like to say to our readers?

The purpose is much bigger than the Iceman itself. It is to spread the message that limitations are only perceptions, imposed by ourselves, or society at large, of what we can achieve. It’s important for me to raise awareness of this, because I want to show those who, similar to myself, have been making up limitations or reasons not to pursue their biggest dreams and believe in themselves, that we can do so much more than our minds and other people may let us to believe. It’s all about listening to yourself, finding your purpose, self-belief and then acting on it. That’s why the purpose is to create a community, where people come together over this mindset, and where people can find inspiration and support to pursue their own dreams. 

Finally, where can people follow your progress?

People can follow our progress on my Instagram account @andershofman, and our Facebook page @theprojecticeman, our YouTube channel Project Iceman for videos and vlogs and finally our website www.projecticeman.com where we set out our mission.