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Decalade

This week on THAT’S AWSM! we’re scaling to new heights with 16-year-old Kanien’kehá:ka DREA and ERIC RADFORD, a Canadian Olympic pairs figure skating three-time medalist! After Eric shows fellow skater Drea some awesome moves on the ice, these two will suit up for the high-flying adventure of face-forward rappelling – also known as Decalade! Hope these thrill-seekers know what they’re getting into, because this is gonna be the rush of a lifetime!
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Meet our brave participants!

  • Drea

  • Eric Radford

Activity

Decalade

Decalade, or face-forward rappelling, is an activity in which the participant is harnessed to a cable and makes a controlled descent facing forward off a vertical drop, like a building or a rock face. This technique was started by the Australian Army in the late 1960s, and is also called Australian rappelling. It was commercialized by an ex-military Australian named Peter “Macka” Mackail back in 1989. He’s the one that made jumping down buildings the popular activity we know today!

Here she goes...

We've heard of ice dancing, is this... wall dancing?

Safely at the bottom!

Icebreaker

History of Ice Skates

Did you know that ice skates date all the way back to 3000 BC? That’s over 5000 years ago! Ice skates were invented in Northern Europe, where there was a lot of ice back in the day. Early Europeans would strap bones to their footwear using leftover animal hides as a way of getting around faster and more efficiently. Can you imagine what that looked like?

Practice makes perfect!

Drea brings the drama.

Fun Fact: Harley Windsor

Fun Fact: Kanienkeha.net

AWSM Extras!

There is always a lot of fun to be had behind the scenes on a TV show… here are just a couple of those moments from this episode – enjoy! 🙂

Trying to figure out how to shoot the Cold Open! To see how we did, scroll to the top of the page.

All of Eric's medals were pretty heavy!

Neither of these things is as easy as it looks...

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Introduce your friends to the show !

  • Terms of use
  • Credits and team
Drea

DREA is a 16-year-old Kanien’kehá:ka youth from Kahnawake, Quebec. Adventurous and athletic, Drea loves travelling, and is really into all kinds of sports, including basketball, but her passion is figure skating! Her favourite food is Indian tacos – our much beloved Indigenous twist on the classic Mexican fare! She loves music, and would one day like to learn how to play the piano. Drea also loves curling up with a good murder mystery novel, and writes in her spare time, but dreams of being a photographer when she grows up.

Eric Radford

ERIC RADFORD has won not one, not two but THREE Olympic medals – one of each! He and his pairs skating partner Meagan Duhamel took home a gold and bronze at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, and a silver at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. He may have retired from competition, but his love for skating hasn’t changed. Eric’s into skating choreography, and he’s also a music composer, who’s written music for his fellow Team Canada skaters to use in their performances. An entertainer at heart, Eric’s secret talent is juggling and he loves telling terrible jokes (much to the dismay of his friends!) He considers himself to be a bit of a daredevil, but also loves to hit the spa when he needs to relax.

Fermer Fermer

That’s AWSM! is the unlikely meeting between an Indigenous youth and a well-known personality, facilitated by our funny, friendly, resourceful host, Darcy Waite. Together they will experience an amazing day full of thrills, chills, challenges and crazy laughs, all while hanging out and getting to know each other. That’s AWSM! truly is… AWSM! :)

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White Water Rafting

With Brittany Leborgne & Kira

02
Paragliding

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Motocross

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Episodes

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