Annelie Pompe: Extreme adventures and complete stillness
By Malin Norman | Photos: Annelie Pompe
Professional adventurer Annelie Pompe is relentless in her pursuits. With a love for high peaks and the deep sea, she has climbed Mount Everest and set the world record in freediving. The fearless Swede is also a helicopter pilot and a motivational speaker, and she is currently challenging herself with an intensive military training course. Scan Magazine finds out more about this free spirit and her undeniable mental strength – keeping calm and focused when it really matters.
When we chat to Annelie Pompe, she is on her houseboat in the beautiful Gothenburg archipelago. Her faithful companion, the dog named Doglas, is sitting beside her on the sofa. Pompe is just about to embark on her next adventure, yet another challenge to add to the already long list, but more on that later. First, we want to know more about why she is so drawn to the highest peaks and the deepest sea.
“Growing up along the Swedish west coast, I was spending a lot of time in nature and close to the sea,” says Pompe. “My dad was a diver, so it never seemed strange to me when people explored what was hiding under the surface. Quite the opposite, it intrigued me.” After achieving her own scuba diving certificate, Pompe trained as a freediver – and a life as an elite athlete started. In 2010, she broke the world record for women in variable weight freediving, with a dive down to 126 metres with a single breath.
“The feeling under the surface is so different, it’s completely still,” she says. “In one way, freediving is an extreme sport, but the strain is actually more mental; it goes against your body’s natural reaction to hold your breath for so long, up to five minutes. This might sound short, yet it feels like an eternity.”
But the mountains also attracted this free spirit from early on. “Since the age of ten, I was fascinated by the mountains and set my eyes on the highest peaks. When I told my parents I wanted to climb Mount Everest, they just said to start climbing and see how high I could get.” Deal, she started sport climbing and little by little reached higher peaks.
Pompe climbed Mount Everest in 2011, as the first Swedish woman to summit from the remote north side, within a year of breaking the world record in freediving. “It was such an incredible feeling, to be alone at the top of the world’s highest mountain. I still think about this every day – it will be a part of me for the rest of my life,” she enthuses. “But to be honest, it also put a lot of physical strain on my body. During that expedition, I lost 11 kilos and it took me almost two years to recover.”
The Blue Mind and mental strength
After Mount Everest, Pompe completed the Seven Summits – the highest peaks on each of the seven continents – in 2016. When asked what drives her, she is quick to respond: “It’s a combination of things: the sense of freedom, to challenge myself, and to experience nature up close.” She continues; “Freedom is probably one of the most important things in my life.”
During our chat, we stumble upon the Blue Mind theory, which is the positive effect that water has on our well-being, focus and stress levels. “It’s been proven by researchers that being by the water can shift our nervous system within seconds,” the adventurer says. “For me, the ocean has been a teacher, a playground, a workplace and a home. It has challenged me, humbled me and reminded me to breathe.”
Our conversation then naturally steers back to freediving, and Pompe reflects on the mental strength needed under the surface: “It’s not just about holding your breath for as long as possible. It’s about finding your inner calm, learning to use your body and mind smartly, and feeling more at home in the water.”
Apart from her own athletic and outdoor endeavours, Pompe is a breathwork instructor and personal trainer. For her, adventure is more about mindset and mental toughness. “The most useful thing I’ve learned isn’t actually how to climb or freedive. It’s how to stay put when things get uncomfortable, to be brave when you’re scared, to use your breath as a tool and to practice focus under pressure.”
An extreme form of curiosity
In July, Pompe got her helicopter commercial pilot licence (CPL), after five years of studying, training, making mistakes, learning and trying again. “People only see the certificate. They don’t see the thousands of hours of theory, the training flights, the self-doubt, the checklists and all the tiny steps that slowly add up to something bigger,” she says. In addition to her CPL, Pompe is also working as a flight instructor. “It’s fantastic to fly by yourself. If you have the chance, get a flight lesson and feel that sense of freedom as you lift off. Nothing beats it.”
When talking to Scan Magazine, she is just about to embark on a six-week intensive military training course organised by Hemvärnet (The Home Guard), which is part of the Swedish Armed Forces. “Training as a soldier is a way of giving back to the country I love. I’ve travelled the world and seen many exotic countries, but Sweden is the most beautiful place of them all,” she says. “During the military training, 190 people will take part of which only ten are women. By doing this, I also want to inspire others to give it a go.”
More adventures are on the horizon. In October, Pompe will guide a small group to Mount Everest Base Camp, together with Trygga Resor. “It’s a real adventure. Long days of hiking, thin air, weather that changes quickly and views that almost feel unreal,” she says. “But also evenings in teahouses, Sherpa hospitality and that special feeling that life becomes very simple up there: walk, breathe, eat, sleep and repeat.”
In addition to working with her guided tours, courses and inspirational talks, Pompe’s days are filled with time in nature and activities such as kayaking, climbing and mountain biking. This adventurer’s lifestyle is perhaps unconventional, as aside from her expeditions she lives on a houseboat with Doglas, her four-legged companion. “With a houseboat, there’s always something that needs to be fixed, it never stops,” she smiles. “That’s a challenge too!”
Clearly, Pompe gets bored if she is not being challenged – something she calls an extreme form of curiosity. For her, it is not always about getting adrenaline kicks though, it is more about stepping outside her comfort zone and learning something new. “Sometimes a challenge can be physical, sometimes mental, sometimes logistical, sometimes emotional and sometimes all of these.” She adds; “If something excites you, there’s no point in hesitating as you only risk talking yourself out of it. Be brave and just do it.”
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