Fulda Challenge Selection in the Alps

28.09.2005

The five men and five women short-listed for the Fulda Challenge GB team will travel to Sulden, Italy tomorrow. Awaiting them will be three days of intense physical activity designed to test fitness, endurance, determination and driving ability.

Each one will be competing for a coveted place in the two-person UK team, which will consist of a super-fit man and woman. The successful duo will travel to the Yukon Territory of Canada early next year for one of the world’s toughest adventures.

The 2006 Fulda Challenge will take place between 28 January and 7 February 2006. The Yukon, Canada’s northern frontier, is situated in the Canadian Cordillera – a mountainous belt with a sub-arctic climate. As well as experiencing the magnificent scenery, the UK team will undertake a series of demanding activities including, ice climbing, cross country skiing, mountain bike racing, chasm crossing, snowshoe trekking and much more.

“To get through to this stage of the selection process is a great achievement,” said Fulda UK’s Brand Manager Marcus White. “There has been a long gap between the UK selection event and the European stage. The competitors have had time to work on their fitness and develop the areas that they know may be their weakest. I understand that all of their training schedules have been very strict – it should be an exciting and close run competition.”

The ten candidates hoping to win a place on the final team are:

Men
Martin Yardley, Devon
Mark Cryssanthou, Yorkshire
Paul Norris, Lancashire
Byron Lewis, Devon
Chris McSweeny, Midlands

Women
Kate Balchin, Surrey
Karen McDonald, Derbyshire
Louise Brown, Cheshire
Brigid McMahon, Aberdeenshire
Susannah Madge, East Sussex