MULTIPLICITY Spotlight: Will Gadd, Man on a Mission

Will Gadd knows what it feels like to fly.

Along with Gavin McClurg, he was named as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year for 2014/2015 for his paragliding traverse of North America. For 35 days, Gadd and McClurg paraglided 650 kilometres across the Canadian Rockies, setting a new record for the longest air journey to ever be completed by a paraglider.

But that’s not all. More recently, Will became the first person to climb up the frozen-over Niagara Falls – just another incredible accomplishment to add to his ever-growing resume, which includes kayaking down dozens of first ascents across North America, winning three gold medals at the X Games, and ice climbing in underground mines in Sweden.

He’s been called extreme, a daredevil, and just about every other name in the book, but National Geographic nailed the term: above all, Will Gadd is an adventurer. On April 12^th, Will will share stories, highlights, and lessons learned at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival’s MULTIPLICITY (pick up your tickets here — there’s not much time left!). We caught up with Will to learn more about living the adventurous life.

ML: As a father, why do you think it’s important to instill a sense of adventure in the next generation? How do you encourage your daughter to be adventurous?

WG: Everybody is naturally adventurous, but that spirit gets beaten out of us by life. But we can fight for adventure, for true freedom, for living a meaningful life however we define that. I encourage everyone not to be adventurous, but to recognize their own innate abilities and use them. And that’s always an adventure!

ML: Of all your adventures and accomplishments, what do you consider to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done?

WG: Create the life I’m living. There wasn’t really a career description for adventure guy when I was in high school.

ML: If you had to pick one highlight from the craziness that was the past year, what would it be?

WG: As always, surviving.

ML: What are some of the main themes you’ll be discussing during your Multiplicity presentation?

WG: Adventure, risk, reward, sponsorship, posing, sex, training and having a really good time in life.

ML: What’s the next greatest challenge on your radar?

WG: I’m about to do a whack of TV here in Toronto, and that always makes me really nervous! Plus Antarctica and Greenland… stay tuned.