subscribe: Posts | Comments

Pushing the limits: Helen Skelton skis, kites and cycles to South Pole for Sport Relief

0 comments

Rosy Moorhead
WVoN features editor 

Permanent blisters, a hacking cough, a dodgy tummy and a bad bout of dehydration.

This would wipe the best of us out, but of all that whilst travelling 500 miles in temperatures approaching -48 degrees Celsius and severe snow storms? You’d have to be mad, wouldn’t you?

Or Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, who arrived at the South Pole at 11.40am (local time) on Sunday, January 22, after 18 gruelling days by ski, kite and, in a world first, by bike, in aid of Sport Relief (see WVoN coverage). 

Staking her flag in the frozen ground, Skelton said:

“This has been a massive adventure and at times it felt like it was never going to end. My body hurts in so many different places, mentally I’m exhausted and I’ve only washed once in the last 30 days, so to be finally standing at the pole feels incredible.

I’ve seen how Sport Relief money makes a big difference and that’s why I can’t complain about any part of this because it’s nothing compared to what some people go through every day of their lives.”

During the challenge, the presenter set a new Guinness World Record title for the fastest 100km by kite ski, after covering that distance in just seven hours and 28 minutes. That’s the equivalent of travelling between London and Northampton.

This is one of the toughest physical challenges ever undertaken in aid of Sport Relief and Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Britain’s most famous explorer, said of Skelton: “I take my hat off to [her].

I have to admit when she first told me that she was going to cycle part of the way to the South Pole, I laughed.

“But through pure grit and determination she has got there and shown that, yes, you can use a bike to reach the Pole. Her incredible efforts are a great example of willpower.”

Skelton is something of an adrenalin junkie, judging by the many challenges she’s undertaken for charity in the past.

For Sport Relief 2010, she kayaked over 2000 miles down the Amazon River, picking up two Guinness World Records along the way.

In February 2011, she became the first person to high-wire walk between the chimneys of Battersea Power Station for Red Nose Day.

Skelton hopes her incredible efforts will inspire people to enter the Sport Relief Mile on March 25 and raise money to help those living tough lives in the UK and the world’s poorest countries.

Skelton’s polar challenge for Sport Relief – in figures:

  • 329 miles covered by kite ski
  • 103 miles covered by bike
  • 68 miles covered by cross country ski
  • 30 nights spent camping on the ice
  • Over 50 rations of dehydrated food consumed
  • At least 15 metres of medical tape used on her feet
  • 1 wash (with a sock and a bucket of water)
  • 1 change of underwear
  • Coldest temperature during the challenge: -48 degrees Celsius 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *