Eric LeMarque
Eric LeMarque 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.
Early life
LeMarque was born in Paris, France and grew up in the West Hills and Pacific Palisades, two neighborhoods of Los Angeles.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 NHL Draft|1987 draft]. 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 [Men's Ice Hockey World Championships|1994] and 1995 Men's [Ice Hockey World Championships|1995]. 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. He was unable 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. Searchers found Eric sprawled in the snow, conscious but barely moving. On the eighth day, help came when a helicopter rescue crew found LeMarque via infrared imaging they used to locate his body heat. At that point, he was suffering from severe frostbite, hypothermia and dehydration. Once at the hospital, doctors determined his legs would have to be amputated six inches below each knee. After a long recovery he was fitted with modern prosthetics having to relearn how to use his legs all over again.In 2017, the movie 6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain was released based on the book Crystal Clear by LeMarque.