FORMER Worcester man David Vale has been experiencing life in the Arctic before facing the challenge of a lifetime.

The intrepid 65-year-old, who went to Stanley Road School and has a brother Derek still living in the city, went on an Arctic skills training week in Norway to prepare himself for the Polar Challenge - a gruelling 350-mile trek to the magnetic North Pole in April.

But Mr Vale, who now lives in France but supports Worcester Warriors, not only had to battle the elements and rough living conditions during the training week, but had to fight a virus as well.

"I completed the training but it was a struggle because I had this extra burden to carry. It is much easier to do training when you are fit and well. If you are not well, it is like pulling something behind you. But I did show that even at my vintage I can still do it," he said.

The training week consisted of spending two days in a military establishment in Norway where they undertook training. He and the other competitors then spent two nights under canvas before going on a four-day expedition - skiing during the daytime and then setting up camp and sleeping in tents.

Mr Vale was brought up in Worcester but moved away in the 1960s when serving with the Army. He is now retired from his last job, which was with the United Nations, and is planning to fulfil a childhood dream of visiting the North Pole.

"I am very confident and I want to make sure I arrive in the Arctic fit and well," he said.

He trains at his home in France where he goes out and does 15 to 20 kilometres skiing several times a week but is planning to increase the distance to 40 kilometres at a time as this is the sort of distance he will cover each day on the Polar Challenge.

The challenge starts on Monday April 21 and is expected to finish around Wednesday May 7.

It is a team event and takes place in one of the world's most extreme environments with temperatures as low as minus 50C (minus 58F) and among 80 per cent of the world's population of polar bears.