Molly Carlson becomes the first woman to dive off an iceberg in Newfoundland

Hi everyone and welcome inside our CBC Sports digital studio. My name is Mackenzie Barwell. I am so excited for the chat that we have planned. Joining me now is someone who has spent years launching herself off of cliffs and this summer she has found a new platform off the coast of Newfoundland in Iceberg Alley. Her new Red Bull short film Iceberg Dive is out now on YouTube. Molly Carlson, thank you so much for taking the time. Welcome. Thank you. I feel like we have so much to talk about and I can finally talk about it. How does that feel like that? It's out and people know now like I did this three months ago and I had to keep it a secret I'm, so bad with secrets. I'm like ready on my phone I could post it anytime ruin the surprise, but i'm so glad we waited and the youtube project is gorgeous Whose idea was this like did this come to you in a dream an iceberg? I know you've done crazy things like this before but how did this come to be? Yeah, everyone's like why you know, no need um obsessed it came to me like three four years ago i was talking with a friend and i was like what's something canadian that we can truly do that's natural like we've seen cliffs before we've seen you know bc has a million cliffs that are gorgeous yeah but i'm like we've i've done that you know i i do that around the world i would love to do something no one's done before and they told me about iceberg alley in newfoundland and i was like i don't think that's possible you know like i'm hearing these i'm like sure we'll write it down as a fun idea yeah yeah little did i know red bull canada's like we're doing that happen i was like of course you can of course you can any idea comes to life with them it's crazy so as i said you've done so much you've you know like you just were in a shark tank you know a couple months ago and now you're back in the ocean this time it's an iceberg what were some of the initial thoughts you had for instance it being moving there's so many different caveats with this obviously you talked about having to climate too but what were the like some of the initial flags that you had so many flags going into this project I mean obviously we want to be as safe as possible in the most dangerous environment possible yeah so coming together with this team that's going to make it you know possible to not only be safe but know if it doesn't go right like how are we gonna get through that and so we were preparing for everything we had you know 30 people on site just for safety like it was really intense and I always dive in with scuba divers at the bottom you weren't allowed on the iceberg because it's rolling and moving people had to be like a hundred meters away from where I'm landing so I had to literally prepare to land and swim not me trying to swim come on something I can touch here we go so I'm training my swimming I'm like what am I doing oh my god and the wetsuit training I'm also so used to wearing absolutely nothing on all these cliffs in my small little pink suit and now I have to wear a full thick wet suit and learn how to do mobility and that it was it was so many elements and not only learning to ice climb yes I was like it's it would have been so much easier to helicopter on and jump off but they were like I think it'd be so cool to push yourself and learn how to ice climb with Will Gadd legend of the sport he's literally climbed Niagara Falls I'm like I wouldn't want anyone else but Will Gadd to teach me how to do this and what a dream to be able to be up there not only learn a new sport but to make history, how was it having him with you? Will is so good at teaching people especially beginners how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable, I think that's something we really connected on, our chemistry was really fun, you'll see in the YouTube video but truly this like extreme sport mindset where unfortunately the place we feel the most zen and in the moment is in life or death situation, so me and Will are just making banter up this iceberg I'm like, well I don't think we're normal, everybody else is hyperventilating and you guys are like holding their breath, they're like please hurry up, get up the iceberg, oh my gosh, okay I would love to talk to you about that and the way that you feel zen in those moments of extreme adrenaline because as you mentioned that is a very rare experience and not many people have that, how would you describe that itch you have that is just so different and rare that motivates you to put yourself in situations like this, so everyone in the world knows that my mental is is a challenge you know I really struggle with anxiety my whole life when I was eight years old, the first time I jumped off the 10 meter platform was the first time I felt my brain be silent, be in the moment and I was like, I think I love extreme things because I can find that silence, that's really hard for me in my brain and when I'm on these really extreme projects or climbing up an ice wall like I'm upset now that my sport's only three seconds I only get to be zen for three seconds where Will gets this full ice climb, I'm like I think I need to switch sports and become a climber because those extreme moments climbing these these insane things you're you're so locked in and you have to be because one wrong step and you never know what could be next, so it's just really really cool that I found a world where I could find my happy place and it is on scary icebergs, just so happens that it's life or death situation period That's okay, as I said, you have accomplished many firsts in your career but this iceberg dive makes you the first woman to dive off an iceberg What do you feel when you hear that, to be the first woman to dive off an iceberg but also just to do anything in the world first is a really special feeling. I think for every, you see videos of guys doing things that are super extreme and it's like cool, cool, cool, but seeing a woman in that position doing it as well and showing the younger girls of the next generation that you can really do something you put your mind to is it's such a dream for me I think I always grew up feeling, you know, a little bit less than a little bit, can we do it too and I think just going out there and representing for the gals out there and showing that you know what we deserve to be on these these crazy platforms these crazy ledges and it was just such a magical moment, and can I also say I think it's so impressive and cool how secure and you are in your feminine energy because I think a lot of the times in these sports when we see women competing, you assume that that won't necessarily be at the forefront right and you know, you make the joke about the fantasy bra when you And the other day, you were in the bedazzled swimsuit. But that, I can imagine, means so much. And I know for a fact, it does to younger athletes. I noticed you also, at the end of the jump, and you go onto the boat, and you go back to the dock, you had some family and friends there. What was that like, just finally being on solid ground again afterwards? Oh, my gosh. After landing this world's first, swimming away from the iceberg as fast as I could, getting on the boat I just started sobbing I was like oh my gosh what just happened but the thing was we couldn't celebrate fully until Will was safe too so I felt like I had the easy part right because I jumped off no problem, we're celebrating, we had to watch Will climb down and get there safely and at the very end of the video you'll see the last minute he's on the iceberg it actually collapses in the corner so he needs to run off the iceberg to survive this this amazing project And he did it. Everyone was safe. But if we were on the iceberg five minutes longer, it could have been a whole new situation. Like, this whole project was so uncertain. And I think that's what made it so beautiful is, like, everything aligned in the right moment. But I think what I do love doing is bringing that feminine energy to all of these. And, like, what helps me in those moments is actually doing my get ready with me in the morning. Yes. I will do my lip liner before I jump off that iceberg. It's funny, I was on the edge, and I was like, I actually want to redo my ponytail. There's a clip, you'll see it soon, but I'm, like, doing my perfect ponytail on the edge. Give me one second. Hey, it might collapse soon. Anytime you want to jump. I think it looks good. It's fine. But I love that. I think that's so fun to bring the girly pop to the extreme, and I think it's important to show that we can do it all. Yeah, a million percent. Okay, just before we move on from this and talk about some of your other experiences, what was the scouting like for finding this specific iceberg? You mentioned, you know, it's a matter of three minutes before it could break or crack or whatever. What made this one the one? So scouting these icebergs was really interesting because you start in a helicopter. Your mornings are literally flying up, checking out the icebergs in the area and being like, OK, this one is possible. This one is possible. But then 30 minutes later, when you're checking it out by boat, could look completely different. So the first day we thought we were going to jump off this one that we called Castle and we get there by boat. next thing you know it collapses in front of your eyes you're like okay it's not the one for the next you got a pivot but the one i actually jumped off of the day before was completely upside down so we were like no it doesn't look good there's no jumping possibilities the morning of the helicopter scout still upside down then we go by boat complete 180 literally this unicorn iceberg flipped upside down the perfect natural 15 meter platform like you saw the edge it curves it literally curves out like a iceberg of my dreams just comes out of nowhere we're like we need to get on this immediately because it might not be the same in 30 minutes so Will gets up he climbs it he sets up my little line so then I could climb it and we literally take advantage of this perfect moment that showed up and I just I can't believe it popped up because it could have been I was only there in between all my competitions for seven days I said I have seven days in Newfoundland we were on I think day five and we were losing hope we're like we're not going to find an iceberg that's going to be safe enough to climb safe enough to jump deep enough like there's shelves everywhere underneath you don't even know what's under there yeah whales you're like hey buddy um so there's so much happening and I was like you know what everything happened for a reason it showed up perfectly and I'm so so so happy it did oh my gosh you're actually killing me I got to stay focused here because there's so many like little things I'm curious to know but yeah to your point that's crazy the day of yeah you're you've got two days left I'm kind of picturing like a oh like the choir, the bells ringing, the choir singing and it's just like a light a beam of light from the sun on this, you took advantage, it's so cool to see, I'm so happy that it worked out obviously you're safe and sound um such a cool experience, let's talk about again some other moments in your career because just recently you participated in another Red Bull Cliff Diving series competition in Italy, you won, it's your fifth World Series win of your career, congratulations holy smokes, I feel like we can go on and on, but the biggest story here is the fact that you had to get back onto that platform, yes, that you had the incident last year where you slipped had to withdraw this time, get back up, what was it like standing there and obviously going on to win it I'm so extra being like okay last year I slipped off this platform, if I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna face my fears in a full rhinestone bathing suit, you know what if something's gonna bring me confidence to get back out there and face my PTSD because I did suffer a lot of PTSD with that platform I fully slipped 22 meters high my life flashed before my eyes, I mismeasured, miscalculated my run up, so when my feet missed the edge, I was like I might have to quit the sport, like that was a lot on my brain, yeah, and so still to this day I won't do a running dive, like I'm still working on getting that back because it's a lot but I knew if I'm gonna go back on that exact same platform a year later let's be dramatic I think the rhinestones kind of distracted my brain, I could literally I spent 80 hours putting one on at a time, Piper Jill actually actually texted me, she said, babes, there was a much faster way to rhinestone this I saw the video with the tweezers. The fantasy bra extreme sports, the best But I got on that platform and I just enjoyed it. I said, you know what? I'm going to do simpler dives this year. And I keep forgetting that simpler dives are also gorgeous. And the judges loved it. And I got out there and I won the dive event. And I said, you know what? Comeback of my dreams, getting out there, showing that you can face your fears and do it beautifully yeah and do it your own way right yeah stick to what you know you executed perfectly yeah another great obviously career yeah before we wrap up you alluded to it there you've been extremely open about your anxiety you've been an advocate for mental health and illness how do you think this project with the iceberg dive continues to push the envelope and what you're experiencing will sort of shape the way you look back at your career I cried so much talking about this last night at the iceberg premiere because to me the iceberg means so much more than making history it was always a metaphor in my head because everyone always sees what's on the surface and I think the literal metaphor of this iceberg is there's 90% under the surface that makes us human everyone on social media is seeing perfectionism everyone's best moments they're highlight reels but I'm like what's under the surface is what makes you you and I wanted to show all of that this iceberg project made us show the fear the anger when we couldn't find it the frustration the nerves the adrenaline all of the emotions that make us human made this extra special and I wanted to show people that I showed me crying in the car like that's literally a full minute of this 30 minute piece of me just being like what if a dive doesn't go perfectly the fear of failure and I think speaking on all of this is something we we don't see that often and that was really important to me was to bring the mental health side of it to this project and to really jump off an iceberg with a purpose yeah and yeah we did that and show the entire experience right the full range of emotions yeah so incredible I can speak on behalf of everyone who will watch this it is very much appreciated your authenticity is so impressive Thank you Sharp Tank Iceberg 27 meter tower what please don't get on a plane like i'm actually gonna be there no what's the next thing i truly think the biggest iceberg of the year though was that was this bad boy so so exciting now i have a wedding to plan so true that's the next best thing oh my gosh amazing thank you so much for your time congratulations again on the premiere thank you so much love you guys