HOFFMEISTER 43 ICE CREAM STORE OWNER,
FREYA
STUNT PADDLER HUSUM, GERMANY
Freya Hoffmeister rocked the world of women’s Greenland-style paddling and became a sea kayaking celebrity in 2006 when she handily won the Greenlandic kayak championships in Sisimiut, Greenland. But then she has always been a woman of action. Following a childhood of gymnastics, she took up competitive bodybuilding and skydiving before finding her niche in sea kayaking over 10 years ago. Today she is highly sought after as a presenter and rolling instructor at sea kayaking symposiums worldwide, showing up in her trademark black kayaks and clothes and showing off her signature move, a graceful cockpit headstand. Her early kayak travels included a short solo expedition in Japan in 2005 and a two-week trip on the south shore of Newfoundland in 2006. But 2007 was the year she made her mark as an expedition dynamo when she and Greenland enthusiast Greg Stamer made the fastest-ever circumnavigation of Iceland, covering the 1,620 kilometres in just 33 days. Then in January this year, Freya completed the fastest circumnavigation of New Zealand’s notoriously rough South Island, also becoming the first woman to complete the journey. She powered through the 2,400 kilometres in 70 days, only 47 of them on the water, capping off the trip with a 32-hour, 165-kilometre overnighter punctuated by 10-second power naps. IN OTHER WORDS: According to Greg Stamer, “Freya Hoffmeister is a complex woman who defies most stereotypes. She is energetic, driven and highly focused. I’d say she is truly a ‘force of nature’ but hurricanes and tornadoes are forces of nature too. What I most admire about Freya is her ability to achieve whatever goal she sets her mind to.” THE ICE CREAM QUEEN: Freya finances her passion by running her own business in her hometown in Germany: an ice cream store that transforms seasonally into a Christmas shop. FAST FORWARD: Freya is now a sponsored paddler with her own kayak prototype, the Rockpool Underground. She plans to continue pushing her limits and exploring distant shorelines as well as attending symposiums, teaching “G-style” (Greenland-style) kayaking, and paddling more with her 12-year-old son. Freya sums it up with typical understatement: “It’s all about variety in life.” —WENDY KILLORAN
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