The girls’ trip abroad with a difference… a husky expedition north of the Arctic Circle!

EIGHT women have just flown back from Norway.

But they weren’t on a girls’ weekend in Oslo, far from it.

Instead, the Atte Huskyteers, as they styled themselves, spent a week dog sledding almost 300km, from Signaldalen in Norway, to Kiruna in Sweden, well north of the Arctic Circle, in temperatures as low as -30°C.

“Not bad for a couple of 30-somethings and six women over 40!” says Amanda Nissen, from Tayside.

“That was where it all came from — what can eight women do if we put our minds to it?

“Some of us had done the odd 10k run but this was such a commitment, a year of fundraising and training, culminating in this week of Arctic weather.

“The most amazing thing about it was that you were in serious survival mode.

“Every minute of every day was an effort, even when you were trying to sleep.

“We met the Arctic full on and did get bitten by the weather with wind storms and blizzards in which you couldn’t see the person in front of you and it was -20°C.

“We were fit enough to deal with the sleds, but as soon as you stepped off the track you were up to your waist in deep snow.

“You’re in the wilderness without the basics of life — you can’t make a cup of tea until you get your tent up and you need to get your stove primed and then lit, and then it takes 10 minutes to boil your water — after you’ve found your water!

“There was no messing around, by the time you were pouring a hot cup of tea you wanted to go to your bed.

“By the end of our trek the lakes had melted a bit and once we got onto them, we couldn’t get off them because every time we tried we were waterlogged,” adds Amanda.

“Two girls actually fell through the ice.

“That was scary because they didn’t know once they got a metre and a half down they’d hit the next ledge of ice.

“They just felt they were sinking into freezing water, and we couldn’t help them because we’d just crack more ice.

“You knew you were in an environment in which if you made a mistake or didn’t look out for each other, you could be in trouble.

“At the end, it was just sheer relief but looking back, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.

“It was eight women in the wilderness. We knew all about each other and were really tight as a team.

“And because we were always in a line on the sleds, we couldn’t really talk, so we were glad to get together at the end of the day.

“When we finished, we were so exhausted and overwhelmed none of us phoned our family.

“We went out and got a bit drunk, and next morning phoned home and cried down the phone!”

The inspiration for the trek came from Amanda’s mum, Gillian.

“My mum always wanted to mush huskies in the Arctic,” Amanda says.

“She died of cancer six years ago, and I made this secret pledge that one day I’d do it.

“When she was ill I took her up to the dog sled centre. She was too ill to go sledding, but when she saw the huskies, you could see she just loved them so our mascot, Chilly Gilly, was named after her.

“But while that’s how it started for me, every other member of the team did it for their own reasons, such as someone they knew with MND or MS — everybody was carrying somebody in their mind.

“The idea was to raise money and awareness for smaller charities, so we chose Insight Counselling Dundee, Medical Detection Dogs and Coppafeel, as well as Age UK Scotland, and we’ve raised about £110,000 so far.”

Of course, the ladies were just part of the team, they had 55 four-legged friends with them as well.

“The dogs slept outside at night and in the morning, they were just little mounds of snow,” recalls Amanda.

“They were amazing. You got very close to your team — they’d wee on you if they liked you and they were always weeing on us!

“There were times in a blizzard when we couldn’t see where anything was and were just holding on to the sled.

“The dogs just kept going and did all the work.

“I’ve been on skis since I was three, but it turns out I am the worst dog musher in the world because I fell off all the time — seven times one day, much to the team’s hilarity.

“If there was a tree, I’d hit it, if there was a pole, I’d be the one to hit that.

“And you don’t want to fall off and be dragged in the first 15 minutes — because that’s when the huskies poo!”

For more information or to donate to the ladies, visit www.attehuskyteers.co.uk

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