Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton will be spending her Christmas in freezing cold temperatures in a tent in Antarctica. It’s all for a good cause and is her latest challenge for Sport Relief…

Tell us about your latest challenge!

Well, this year I am heading to Antarctica to attempt to get to the South Pole self-powered. We’re doing 500 miles and I will be kiting, skiing and using a specially-designed snow bike.

You always end up doing these extreme challenges. Who comes up with them?

This is the first one that hasn’t been driven by me. The Amazon and the high wire, I was nagging my boss that I wanted to do them, but this one they came to me with. I say ‘yes’ and I don’t think these things through. I think it was pure ignorance, and I didn’t realise just how cold it would be. You can’t even go outside and have a pee! It is so cold you have to pee in your tent. It will be up to -50°C.

Why are you doing this?

Because since I’ve been involved with Sport Relief and Comic Relief, the more projects you visit and the more kids you meet, the harder it is to say no. Every time I go to one of the Sport Relief-funded projects, you really do get a big virtual slap in the face. It makes you realise you have nothing to complain about. To be doing something that isn’t that pleasant for a few months is nothing compared to what some people go through. It gives you some perspective and makes you realise that you’re very lucky.

Why do you want to do such extreme challenges?

Because I wouldn’t ask people to donate unless I truly am out of my comfort zone. I have to stand by everything I say. When I look down the camera lens and say that I don’t think I can get through it, I have to believe it. This time I had to take it one step further.

How are you training for this?

A lot of it has been about learning about the environment and the major dangers. I went to Iceland for a few weeks, to do some cold weather training, and that was a massive wake-up call. If you get covered in snow and crawl into your tent, that snow melts and ends up as water in your tent and on you, which can lead to frostbite. A lot of training has been in practical things like that, whereas before it’s mainly been physical training and mental training. I’ve learnt things like how to heat a stove and melt water inside your tent without burning it and yourself down. You don’t think about those kinds of things.

Is it hard doing things in padded clothes?

Yes! Putting up a tent and melting snow while wearing gloves is really difficult. You have two layers of gloves on. Even things like getting things out of your bag, or tying kite lines in gloves is hard, but you can’t take your gloves off because you’ll get frostbite.

How hard will this be, compared to the other things you’ve done?

This is harder because of the environment – there are a lot of things that are out of my control. There was a guy who attempted to cycle to the south pole and he got stopped by weather. If the weather gets too bad, there is nothing I can do. That’s what makes this a lot harder. If you muck up it’s the kind of environment where you could die. If I am tired and forget where I am and take my gloves off, that could mean losing a finger. There’s no room for error here.

How can people do their bit for Sport Relief?

I’m hoping that kids will run the Sport Relief mile. We got such lovely, lovely feedback last time around, when people felt like they could do it, even if they were intimidated.

Check out some amazing pictures from Helen’s training here.

Why not take part in the Sport Relief Mile on 25 March 2012? Go to sportrelief.com to sign up to your nearest Mile now!