Sleigh down beside me...

Husky trip across arctic

An Irish father of three is set to travel across the Arctic Circle on a husky-drawn sled to raise money for charity.

Mike Perrick, a 42 year old bank worker from Malahide, south county Dublin, is planning to harness four huskies to a sled and travel for hundreds of kilometers across the Arctic Circle. The trek, to raise money for Oxfam Ireland’s work in Africa where up to 25 million people face life-threatening food shortages will take one week.

"I like the cold. I've always preferred cold to warmth,” Perrick told Dublin’s Evening Herald Newspaper. “This is for the right cause."

He will travel in a group of 10 people along with a doctor and a guide and hopes to raise more than €6,500 for the charity. Setting off in early February the group will face plunging temperatures as low as minus-25C. Perrick also told the newspaper that when it comes to fuelling the team with food during the trip his huskies must always take priority.

"Each person is responsible for their own dog team for the week. That means I'll be responsible for feeding my huskies. Dogs must always be fed before people on the journey."

He also revealed tips he has picked up to ensure the trip goes smoothly, saying: "I'm also advised that if I fall off the sled I must never let go of the reins or else the dogs could keep running for another five miles before realising I've fallen off," he said.

To prepare himself physically for the 200km journey he has been running, playing football and going to the gym. He revealed that his children Andrew (13) Emma (9) and Karl (7) are excited by their dad’s upcoming adventure. This is not the first time Perrick has raised money for Oxfam Ireland: he previously raised more than €6,000 for the charity by running a marathon in New York.