N.S. man bests beastly Icelandic stone with help from Game of Thrones star

To a lot of people, Iceland's famousHsafellstone probably seems like "just a silly rock."

But to Keith Surette of Yarmouth, N.S., it was a legend. The ultimate challenge. The Holy Grail.

"It just has this lure that just made me want to attempt it," Surette told CBC's Maritime Noon.

To "attempt" the Hsafellstone means to lift the 185-kilogramrock and then carry it about 50 metres around the sheep pen it once belonged to.

Only the world's strongest have managed to conquer it, and Surette can now count himself among those ranks.

The 40-year-old trained for a year before his attempt in May, wrestling large rocks off the beaches near Yarmouth and bringing them to the gym he owns to practise. He also used a metal replica stonewith removable weights inside to build up his lifting and carrying abilities.

Surette, who has been competing in strongman contests for about 10 years, studiedYouTube videos of other people lifting and walking with the stone, counting how many footsteps each person took and how long it took them to achieve the feat.

When he arrived in Iceland, he sought out expert help fromHafr Jlus Bjrnsson, a professional strongman who is known for playing Gregor (The Mountain)Clegane inGame of Thrones.

Bjrnssonhas not only bested theHsafellstone; he also holds theworld record for carrying it the longest distance, 90 metres.

Surette bought a day pass to the Reykjavk, Iceland, gym owned by the six-foot-nine, 450-pound Bjrnssonand the two "talked shop."

"He gave me some tips about how the stone tends to tip forward when you try to pick it up off of the ground," Surette said. "He said that if you fight it and you're strong enough, of course, that it will come."

And come it did at least at first.

"Seeing the stone for the first time was not a confidence boost," Surette said."I thought that there was no way that I was going to be able to lift it."

He said the stone is quite rounded, slipperyand difficult to grip.

He managed to hoist it on his first attempt, but then it slid down his pantsand Surette had a hard time getting it back up to his chest to begin the walk.

Then, the rock fell nearly on top of him.

Butlike any dedicated athlete, Surette tried again, and succeeded in carrying theHsafellstone around the sheep pen.

Before he left Iceland, he stopped in atBjrnsson's gym to let him know how it went.

Bjrnssonwatched the video of Surette's successful attempt, gave him a fist bump and congratulated him.

"It was an absolute incredible experience, not just to lift the stone, but to be able to meet the world's strongest man and get his stamp of approval," Surette said.

He said he doesn't know what's next on his stone-lifting to-do list.

"I really feel like this was the ultimate test," Surette said."I just don't know whatI could possibly do to outdo this."

Another Nova Scotian, Gregg Ernst, carried theHsafellstone 70 metres at a world's strongest man competition in Iceland in 1992 to set what was then the record.