‘It felt like I was the first person to step on Mars’: Anchorage free divers plunge into icy Rabbit Lake

“In general … it is the whole unexplored territory,” Jordan Flesner said, describing the allure of freediving in lakes in Alaska. Freediving is a form of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding rather than the use of a breathing apparatus. Flesner was one of the trip’s original planners.

After spending the summer free diving in lakes across the region, Alex Fancher, another group member, wondered why it had to stop in winter.

“People don’t come to Alaska for the easy road,” Fancher said. “Diving’s no different. Life that you see (in the mountains) continues down there.”

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