Eric LeMarque (born July 1, 1969) is an American-French author and a former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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 The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

Early life

LeMarque was born in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

but grew up in the West Hills and Pacific Palisades, two neighborhoods of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Hockey career

Growing up in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, he played Division I

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

with the Northern Michigan University Wildcats from 1987 to 1991. He was drafted by the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

at 17-years old with the 224th pick in the 1987 draft. He played the majority of his career in France, where he won three straight

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

from 1994 to 1996, and in Germany. He was selected to the French national ice hockey team and competed with the team at the

in Lillehammer, Norway, where he netted one goal in five games, and at the IHW World Championships in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. 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 The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Cars ...

wilderness. He survived for eight days by living in a makeshift igloo and eating pine nuts and cedar. He was able to find his way back to

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is a large ski resort in the western United States, located in eastern California along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Inyo National Forest. Mammoth has more than of ski-able terrain, serviced ...

after eight days and almost 10 miles of hiking through deep snow and sub-freezing temperatures. Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, he lost both of his legs due to severe frostbite. In 2017, the movie '' 6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain'' was released based on the book ''Crystal Clear'' by LeMarque.

References

External links

Biography
*
Olympic statistics
at hockey-reference.com Living people American men's ice hockey players Boston Bruins draft picks Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Northern Michigan Wildcats men's ice hockey players Olympic ice hockey players for France Ice hockey people from Los Angeles Greensboro Monarchs players Arkansas Glaciercats players 1969 births {{France-icehockey-bio-stub