Molly Carlson Makes History as First Woman to Dive Off Iceberg

Professional cliff diver Molly Carlson has made history by becoming the first woman to dive from a free-standing iceberg. The 28-year-old athlete completed the historic 50-foot dive off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in collaboration with Red Bull.

In a documentary shared on YouTube by Molly and Red Bull, the Ontario-born diver described her experience preparing for the challenging feat. She trained for months before taking the leap, marking a significant milestone in the sport of cliff diving.

“They can split, collapse or roll without warning,” she tells viewers. “In one scene, Molly tells her partner, fellow professional high-diver Aidan Heslop, that the stunt is “so much more dangerous than we thought.”

Under the guidance of longtime ice climber Will Gadd, Molly performed her highest backwards dive yet. Before that, however, she had to learn how to climb the ice. Gadd mentored her through the experience, and in an interview, she described him as “almost my dad in this story,” per Red Bull.

Key Highlights:

• Molly became the first woman to dive from a free-standing iceberg, completing a 50-foot dive off Newfoundland, Canada
• She trained for months under ice climber Will Gadd’s guidance to prepare for the challenging and dangerous stunt
• Molly described the experience as a symbol of bravery, self-love and the struggles people may hide beneath the surface

“He’s the one keeping me safe,” she said. “He’s the one teaching me. He’s the one making sure I understand what we’re getting into.”

The athlete and influencer who has fostered a loyal online community called the Brave Gang, in which she encourages her millions of followers to practice bravery and self-love admitted that jumping from icebergs, and even climbing them, is “incredibly dangerous” and described the dive as “definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever done.” “I felt like I was in the air for like 10 minutes,” she said.

Molly, who has publicly shared she deals with anxiety, told Red Bull her historic feat "felt like therapy on the ice wall” and “represented so much more than diving.” She added, “You only see 10 percent of the iceberg on the surface. People can be struggling under the surface, and people can have so much more going on than what they show. I felt like this project represented that perfectly.”

“I’m doing this for all the people that might be scared to show what’s under the surface,” Molly said.

Before Carlson became the first woman to complete the iceberg dive, Red Bull diver Orlando Duque became the first man to dive from an iceberg in 2018.