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Helen Skelton takes on Antarctica challenge for Sport Relief: Video
Published Tuesday, Dec 13 2011, 00:01 GMT | By Ryan Love | Add comment
Blue Peter daredevil Helen Skelton will undertake her greatest challenge yet, when she attempts to travel across the Antarctic alone in aid of Sport Relief.
Last year, Skelton became the first person to solo kayak the length of the Amazon - setting two Guinness World Records - and earlier this year she walked a high-wire between the chimneys of Battersea Power Station for Red Nose Day.
The presenter will journey 500 miles to reach the South Pole alone, using a variety of methods including sky, kite and - in a world first - bike.
"The magnitude of this challenge is finally starting to dawn on me. My friends keep pointing out that nobody has ever used a bike to reach the South Pole, possibly because it can't be done," Skelton said.
"Maybe it can't, but the more people tell me it's impossible the more I think, if I can do this I can look any kid in the eye and say, 'Impossible and difficult are different things'."
As well as facing 80mph winds and temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius, the 28-year-old will also have to pull a heavy sledge carrying her food, equipment and supplies - weighing 82kg - behind her.
Skelton will use a specially designed ice bike, which took three months to build and weighs just less than 20 kilograms. If successful in her crossing, Skelton will set a new world record for the longest ever bicycle journey on snow.
Offering his support, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: "I wish the very best to Helen Skelton as she takes on this incredibly tough and gruelling challenge across Antarctica in aid of Sport Relief.
"Like Captain Scott, Helen is attempting something that has never been tried before and I applaud her pioneering efforts. I will be following her journey to the South Pole with great interest."
Blue Peter viewers will be able to follow Skelton's Polar Challenge for Sport Relief in a special nine-week series, which runs from the end of January.
Helen Skelton can be sponsored via the official Sport Relief website www.sportrelief.com/helen.
Last year, Skelton became the first person to solo kayak the length of the Amazon - setting two Guinness World Records - and earlier this year she walked a high-wire between the chimneys of Battersea Power Station for Red Nose Day.
The presenter will journey 500 miles to reach the South Pole alone, using a variety of methods including sky, kite and - in a world first - bike.
"The magnitude of this challenge is finally starting to dawn on me. My friends keep pointing out that nobody has ever used a bike to reach the South Pole, possibly because it can't be done," Skelton said.
"Maybe it can't, but the more people tell me it's impossible the more I think, if I can do this I can look any kid in the eye and say, 'Impossible and difficult are different things'."
As well as facing 80mph winds and temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius, the 28-year-old will also have to pull a heavy sledge carrying her food, equipment and supplies - weighing 82kg - behind her.
Skelton will use a specially designed ice bike, which took three months to build and weighs just less than 20 kilograms. If successful in her crossing, Skelton will set a new world record for the longest ever bicycle journey on snow.
© PA Images / Neil TIngle/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Offering his support, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: "I wish the very best to Helen Skelton as she takes on this incredibly tough and gruelling challenge across Antarctica in aid of Sport Relief.
"Like Captain Scott, Helen is attempting something that has never been tried before and I applaud her pioneering efforts. I will be following her journey to the South Pole with great interest."
Blue Peter viewers will be able to follow Skelton's Polar Challenge for Sport Relief in a special nine-week series, which runs from the end of January.
Helen Skelton can be sponsored via the official Sport Relief website www.sportrelief.com/helen.
More: Helen Skelton, Showbiz
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