I've just been drafted into the team for the Alaska Challenge!

In September 2012 a team of 20 from Wickes, including some colleagues from our suppliers, will be attempting one of our toughest challenges yet - crossing the Talkeetna Mountains in Alaska: backpacking through the mountains, ice climbing over glaciers and rafting down rivers.

 The Team:

Jeremy Bird, Joanne Clarke, Tom Fitzgerald, Jonathan Fry, Ron Holmes, Mark James, Ian Kennedy, Dave Maddison, Rebekah Marshall, Melissa McGrath, James McKeand, Darryl Munday, Caroline O’Neill, Kelly Phillips, Justin Pilkington, Agata Plewa, Nick Porter, Steve Smart, Paul Sutton, and now ME!!!

This amazing challenge is going to be one of the toughest yet!  The team will hike for 8 days to complete a journey through the wild terrain of the Talkeetna Mountains. Each day they will hike for 6 - 8 hours with 70lb packs through a variety of wilderness terrain. Much of the terrain will be steep and most of this exploratory route is completely off-trail.

The route includes a full day of ice-climbing on the Matanuska Glacier and white-water rafting on the Matanuska River - a grade IV white-water challenge.

This is a wilderness expedition so there are no hotels, not even camp sites; the team will have to find somewhere to pitch their tents each night and find water to purify for their dinner and for drinking the next day.

This is the home of bears, moose, caribou and many other creatures so they will have to be vigilant all the time to avoid being someone else’s dinner!

On the toughest day they will have to climb the equivalent of England’s highest mountain followed by Scotland’s highest, still carrying those packs.

The team are all in training in earnest, but many of our group have never climbed a hill, let alone a mountain - so this could be called an act of insanity!  However, they’re a determined bunch of committed (highly competitive) individuals who want to take on an extraordinary challenge and raise money for a really worthwhile cause.

Wickes has supported Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research since October 2006.  Colleagues, customers and suppliers have raised over £2.4million to date with their fantastic dedication to fundraising and now it’s our turn!

This is a charity where your donations really do save lives, so please sponsor us now!