NEWS: SUP BEYOND THE SPORT!

On the occasion of the release of her book “An almost ordinary life”, we have the pleasure of reliving Ingrid’s SUP adventures that we have previously shared in our magazine. She reviews with us her 2 expeditions carried out in extreme conditions in Greenland in 2018 and in the Lofoten Islands in 2020, being an adventuress and her support for the association Au DelĂ  Des Oceans.

 

Hello Ingrid, you are currently publishing a book called “An almost ordinary life” in which you tell the story of the journey that led you to live two extremely intense adventures. What kind of adventure will the reader of your book embark on?

Quite simply to live his or her own adventure ! We all have a place in mind that we love, that we have always dreamed of. There’s this sentence “one day I‘ll go there!”. Well, let’s turn this sentence into an adventure!

In your book, you talk about the huge difficulties you had to face: illness, domestic violence and a serious accident. It is hard to imagine how you found the strength to go on an adventure in these conditions. How did you manage to eventually go for your dream?

It was precisely not having lived the life I dreamed of that pushed me to finally achieve my dreams. We put things off too often, except that one day it is too late!
I often tell myself that I haven’t struggled so hard, that I didn’t fight to stay alive to just let my life and dreams go by. It was time to act!

Adventure makes more than one dream, but those to take the plunge are rather rare. What do you think makes most people give up on that dream?

Fear certainly. Fear of the unknown and lack of self-confidence. But be careful, that does not mean that you just have to go for it. All my adventures, or challenges, have been thought through for a long time and prepared well ahead. I think that we listen too much to others and not enough to our interior. As a teenager I had certain ambitions, already this taste for long trips, extreme sports and adventures but I have always been told: this is not for you … it is not for a girl … or it is too dangerous … or you will not succeed … so I did not give myself the means to do them and after the stages of life are like an endless chain that chains you up.

 

Discouragement must be inherent in this kind of expedition. How did you manage these moments?

No, I have never been discouraged. In preparing for my adventures, I always plan several scenarios. I study as many disaster scenarios as possible and prepare for them. I give everything to get there but if it does not work, I go from plan A to plan B or plan C. If it goes to plan C it was just meant to be this way.

We cannot fight against certain elements. When Mother Nature decides, she is the boss. And no matter what, you always have to take the positive out of the situation, come away with as much energy and enthusiasm and find pleasure and satisfaction in it, even if that was not the initial plan.

So you’re not the type that turns around?

You’ll laugh, but just the idea of doing a U-turn is something that has helped me a lot in bad times. I imagined that my previous life was catching up with me, that if I turned around I would find myself face to face with my former husband and the domestic violence so I can tell you that I was rowing twice as fast!

There were hard times for sure. I remember one night in Greenland where it was -38 ° in the tent. It was complicated just to pee but at the same time I felt totally where I belonged. I never thought for a single second to turn around. These difficult conditions are part of the adventure and this is what made it particularly exciting and interesting.

 

Does this experience serve you today?

Of course, surpassing oneself, perseverance but also resilience apply to all my everyday life projects. It has become a philosophy of life for me.

There are also moments of euphoria. At what times did you say to yourself “this is the reason I’m doing this”?

Each project, each adventure brings me its share of surprises and great encounters. It starts during preparation and until the return where I tell my friends about my adventure. With each adventure I learn a little more about myself and our planet (landscape, fauna, flora, climate, population, culture, traditions …). It is all this that is magic. My most beautiful encounters or moments of euphoria are the moments spent on the water with the whales. They are the queens of the oceans.

When we see you breaking the ice with your SUP, we think to ourselves that you are rather in the heavyweight category of adventures 😉 What kind of adventure would you suggest to someone who only wants to get away from it all for a few days?

We don’t need to go far or in extreme conditions to disconnect from our world where everything goes very quickly. France is full of beautiful and calm places where you can escape for a few days with your SUP. I have a soft spot for the Gorges du Tarn in the off season. Be careful, however, you must know the dangers of the river: whitwaters, currents, etc. The lakes are also beautiful and accessible to beginners. Each region has a little piece of paradise.

 

Can you tell us about the missions of the association Au DelĂ  Des Oceans to which you donate part of the sales of your book?

Yes it is a solidarity book. Two euros per sale are donated to the association AU DELÀ DE L’OCÉAN. I created this association during the illness.

The aim of the association is to encourage people who are sick or in remission from cancer to get back in shape thanks to Stand Up Paddle. Sports activity has been shown to decrease the risk of recurrence. These initiation sessions are free. They aim to encourage people who are sick or in remission to leave their homes, to help them reclaim and love their body, to show them the benefits of sport during treatment, to share a moment with other people, but also to feel the benefits of the sea and the nature that surrounds them.

Au DelĂ  De l’OcĂ©an is also involved in sporting events and various events, in schools and businesses in order to raise awareness and encourage women to be screened for breast cancer. The earlier the disease is treated, the higher the survival rate.

We all deserve to live. The women who come to me are often moms and/or someone’s sweetheart, or just someone’s child, regardless of age. It is obvious to me to share my moments of happiness on a SUP, my passion, with women who have never asked to be sick, and whom no one wants to see go. Joy brings joy, laughter brings laughter and if my experience can help them, then you might as well take advantage of it.

In fact, I apply the law of positivity a bit, but backwards. I receive injured, weakened, angry people and my goal is for them to leave in a positive spirit. “A positive mind produces positive feelings and attracts positive events”. This is what it takes to deal with cancer, on top of all the medical protocol of course.

Do you already have another project in mind?

It will take me several lives to achieve all my projects! Cancer leaves you all shaken up. I want to enjoy every moment of my life that I have left to live. Between perfecting myself in Ukulele, launching my jewelry brand, getting into wing foiling, enjoying life with my daughters, getting a few diplomas to consider my professional retraining and going on an adventure on my SUP, the year is going to be busy.

For SUP adventures, early next summer, I plan to share my paradise by offering 5 people a small stand up paddle adventure in Greenland.

Then, it’s time for my solo adventure. I would go and live alone for 1 or 2 months on a small island in the north of Greenland. It will take me several days of train to get there. Once there, I will set up my tent and base camp. My program will consist in discovering the different glaciers and the wonders of the surrounding nature. I will sin for food and also I will not do anything. Just watch the drifting icebergs. These are magical moments. And if I get bored, I will learn to speak whales to make some friends!

Before that, there will certainly be other adventures if the health crisis permits, but that still sounds complicated.

 

Do we really come back when we leave? It seems that one expedition necessarily calls for another.

I’m lucky to be a big dreamer and therefore always be somewhere else in my head. I spend my free time organizing SUP adventures, studying maps, studying rivers, studying coasts to find beaches to bivouac … Some adventures are already totally planned, it’s just about the first paddle stroke, but with the health crisis, you have to be a little patient …

I suggest we end this interview with your favorite SUP photo, ever!

Difficult, because the most beautiful photos are in my head! 😉 But I like these because they have a particular taste: I am at 70° North on my Stand Up Paddle and I am the only one to have been so high on a SUP.

 

How can we get hold of the book?

By contacting me by email [email protected] or by clicking on this link which refers to a payment platform: https://www.leetchi.com/c/ingrid-ulrich-le-livre

Thank you

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