Day three of Sara Davies, Vicky Pattison, Alex Scott and Laura Whitmore’s mammoth Red Nose Day challenge is underway. Having swapped fat bikes for cross-country skis and with another day of snowshoe trekking ahead, the freezing Arctic wilderness shows no signs of letting up for the intrepid celebrities.
Yesterday, the team battled continuous snowfall, bracing wind chills and temperatures of -12 degrees as they attempted to cover enough ground to reach their evening camp. Through a combination of cross-country skiing and snowshoe trekking, the foursome faced an emotionally and physically testing day which brought with it sweat and tears as the enormous gravity of the challenge and the pressure of not failing started to hit home.
Hundreds of miles away from the safe confines of Hemel Hampstead’s Snow Centre, where the team took to the slopes for their pre-challenge training, skiing in the harsh Arctic environment proved to be far more difficult than the celebrities could have possibly imagined. Navigating the knee-deep snow on their snowshoes also brought its challenges, leaving the celebrities tripping and falling as they trekked through the unpredictable terrain, while pulling themselves and their kit up steep inclines throughout the day.
Despite having spent ten hours negotiating the most extreme conditions, the foursome needed to dig deep – literally and metaphorically – once again as they reached their camp site. Racing against the fading light, Sara, Vicky, Alex and Laura needed to dig holes in the snow in order to put up their tents in the deteriorating weather.
Sara Davies said: “Yesterday was an absolute killer. We all started off in good spirits, taking in the beautiful scenery but by the time we were halfway up the mountain, reality was kicking in. I’ve never experienced cold like it and when it got dark everything was five times harder. But Alex was a machine at the front leading the way and that really pushed me on.
“We woke up this morning after a night in the tents, I stepped into the Mum role, making everyone a hot drink and our rations of porridge. We have another eight to ten hours of grafting today so we’re going to need to dig deep. The one thing that’s keeping us going is what we’re doing it for, to raise those vital funds for people that need it.”
To donate visit: comicrelief.com/sara
