Wednesday 24 March 2010

Training in the Lakes!

We moved to the Lake District in 2006, the job I had as consultant with Marriott Hotels meant we could live anywhere in the UK we wanted. Having lived for 18 years in Wolverhampton, we were desperate to move, the Lakes represented such a change of scene and way of life that we took the chance and moved to Ambleside, and we are so glad we did.

The training for the Expedition is going to be intense, to prepare for the climb up the Axel Heiberg glacier is going to be intense, likened to running the London Marathon dragging a tyre - everyday. The glacier will represent just over a tenth of the overall 1100 mile crossing, but the sheer effort needed to ski uphill dragging a 140kg pulk will be very tough.

Luckily, living it what is clearly the Adventure Capital of the UK, we are in the best place to train for this trip. Building stamina and strength is key, fell walking, lake swimming, mountain biking at Grizedale and Whinlatter, kayaking on Windermere are just some of the key activities that are literally on our doorstep in Ambleside.

And the snow! The end of 2009, beginning of 2010 was like nothing I had seen in the UK, snow was on the ground for over a month so cross country skiing over the ferry at ferry nab was possible and even 'alpine skiing' at Yad Moss, which was only a 90 minute drive from our house and still in Cumbria! Skiing at Hellvellyn is next on the agenda when the season starts in November!

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