Ger ‘King Walrus’ Kennedy (@gerkennedy_swimmer) and Stève ‘The Seal’ Stievenart  (@steve_stievenart) traveled up to Laguna del Inca in Portillo, Chile. They wanted to swim at high altitude at 2.853 meters (9,360 feet) above sea level, located in the high mountains of the Andes, close to the border with Argentina.

Stievenart completed a high-altitude Ice Mile in the 3.5°C water as part of his journey to achieve the Ice Sevens this year. He plans to become the fourth person in history to complete the Ice Sevens after Jaimie Monahan of the USA in 2017, Ger Kennedy of Ireland in 2019, and Kate Steels of Great Britain in 2021. Kennedy said, “We had to wait until 11 am because the top of the lake was usually frozen until then.”

But the duo had additional ideas. Kennedy reported, “Unfortunately due to flight difficulties which delayed our time, we did not attempt and had to postpone our Heli-Swim to another time and location.

But they did experience a potential disaster. Kennedy explains, “After I kayaked the length of lake with a guide, then swim after, Mother Nature took over. During my swim, I heard a massive boom [to my right] as an avalanche dramatically dumped into the lake. It was incredible to see. We have no photos or videos, but we did not care.”

But the recovery from the 37 minute 54 second Ice Mile for Stievenart was very difficult at high altitude. Normally, he does not have problems at his sea level Ice Miles, but he said, “The lack of oxygen at high altitude is really formidable. I had to adapt my breathing, pace.“

Additionally, the walk out of the lake is difficult because of the big hill and snow to get to the hot shower in the chalet.

Photos courtesy of Chris (@chileexpedition) of chilexpedition.com.

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