On The Scene
skyn ICELAND and Gabrielle Finn Take the Polar Challenge
I first heard of the Polar Challenge whilst attending an exhibition in London called One Life. I had just reached the mid-life crossroads of 40 and I figured it was time to achieve something extraordinary, and One Life promoted life-changing experiences. The Polar Challenge, I found out, was a 350-mile race to the magnetic North Pole... Now, I was no stranger to adventure, having climbed Kilimanjaro, trekked to Everest Base Camp and cycled from London to Paris. But I knew this challenge was in a different league altogether.
It was important to me that my life-changing experience likewise promote life changes for people who couldn't be there in the arctic. My cousin's little boy has a severe case of Muscular Dystrophy, and my special uncle bravely lost the battle against prostate cancer. I decided to use the Polar Challenge to raise both money and awareness to support the fight against these horrible diseases. So far, I've raised on the order of $14,000 for MD and cancer charities, combined.
The trip to the North Pole was far tougher than I'd imagined. We raced in teams of three, each member pulling a sledge averaging 100lbs,. and camped out on the ice for a period of 23 days. We had been trained to be self-sufficient in survival, boning up on our navigation skills, cooking using oil-based stoves, and dealing with blizzards, frost-nip/bite, hypothermia...and polar bears!
Good thing for that training, because we encountered all of the above! The most exciting was the incident of the polar bear: We performed the polar bear drill, which involves standing shoulder to shoulder and waving our skis around and making as much noise as possible. The polar bear then stood upright on its hind legs, waving around its front paws and snarling. It wanted us for breakfast! We finally shot the gun in the air and the bear retreated. Phew!
My skin suffered badly as a result of exposing it to such an extreme environment. Even though I kept my face covered up the wind and cold always seemed to cut right through the layers of wrapping. Most creams freeze if left for any length of time in these subzero temperatures. The Cloud Cream was no exception! But I prepared my skin for the intense cold by using the Cloud Cream on training days and on my return home. By that point, my skin was its own extraordinary challenge... But with the warmth, a break from the arctic wind, and daily doses of skyn ICELAND Cloud Cream, my skin recovered faster than I did!
Thanks for the support, skyn ICELAND... signed, Gabrielle Finn