Eric LeMarque
Eric LeMarque (born July 1, 1969) is an American-French author and a former professional ice hockey player. During his ice hockey career, he was a member of the French national ice hockey team and competed with the team at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
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Nationality | American / French | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Northern Michigan University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Writer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
LeMarque was born in Paris, France but grew up in the West Hills and Pacific Palisades, two neighborhoods of Los Angeles.[1][2]
Hockey career
Growing up in the United States, he played Division I college ice hockey with the Northern Michigan University Wildcats from 1987 to 1991. He was drafted by the Boston Bruins of the NHL at 17-years old with the 224th pick in the 1987 draft.[1][3] He played the majority of his career in France, where he won three straight national championships from 1994 to 1996, and in Germany. He was selected to the French national ice hockey team and competed with the team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, where he netted one goal in five games, and at the IHW World Championships in 1994 and 1995.[4] He retired from hockey during the 1999–2000 season and took up snowboarding focusing on the X-Games.
Later life
On February 6, 2004, LeMarque became trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains wilderness. He survived for eight days by living in a makeshift igloo and eating pine nuts and cedar.[5][6][4] He was able to find his way back to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area after eight days and almost 10 miles of hiking through deep snow and sub-freezing temperatures.[1] Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, he lost both of his legs due to severe frostbite.[7]
In 2017, the movie 6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain was released based on the book Crystal Clear by LeMarque.[8]
References
- Helene Elliott (2017-10-13). "Years after surviving Mammoth Mountain ordeal, Eric LeMarque relived it during filming of movie about it". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
- Eli Laskey (28 March 2019). "Life on Edge: How an Olympian Survived Eight Days Trapped in the Sierras". tiebreaker.com. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- Naomi Tward (2 February 1990). "On the rink of success". The Los Angeles Times. p. C16, C18. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- Branson, Tim (2010-08-04). "Eric LeMarque: A Survivor's Story". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
- "Snowboarder Found After Week in Wilderness". 2004-02-19. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
- Speik, Robert. "Eric LeMarque, Olympic hockey player, lost snowboarding - loses legs to cold injuries". www.traditionalmountaineering.org. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
- "Snowboarder who spent days lost in Sierra loses both legs". 2004-03-06. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
- Alm, David. "'6 Below' Tells The Tale Of Hockey Legend Eric LeMarque Surviving Meth And Near Death In The Sierras". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
External links
- Biography
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Olympic statistics at hockey-reference.com