The Canadian found that his Russian and Guinean ancestry made him an outsider at most rinks. Since his retirement he has been skating his own way
On a sunny winter day, Elladj Baldé soars beneath the snowy peaks of the Canadian Rockies, floating to weightless chords of a piano ballad.
Few things compare to the singular beauty of skating on wild ice. It creaks, pings and groans. As it shifts, it fractures in deep, silvery lines. And for Baldé, it’s a place to make art.
