Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: Eye Books; 1st Edition edition (1 Mar. 2010)

ISBN-13: 978-1903070789

Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 0.3 x 20.3 cm

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Tess Burrows

£9.99

“The spirit of adventure doesn’t get much tougher than this!”

Ben Fogle

Cold hands, warm heart Tess and Pete joined the historic South Pole Race, to compete with the likes of Olympic champion James Cracknell and Ben Fogle in the first race to the South Pole since Scott and Amundsen. To complete this mission they would have to battle severe medical problems, lack of money, hardship and deprivation. For Tess it was more than combatting cold hands with a warm heart, it was also a journey to push out the reaches of the human mind. Nobody said it was going to be easy…

Extracts

In the meantime we had nice ordinary things to organise like Pete’s 60th birthday party.  It was a merry

‘Yeah, we had a great time in the Arctic.’       

It didn’t really help that everyone then said ‘So where are you going to next?’ 

Why couldn’t people ask ‘What are you having for dinner tonight?’ or ‘How are your bunions?’ or ‘Does your cat have fleas?’ Why was it always ‘Where are you going to next?’?  

It demanded an answer so I jokingly replied, ‘Well, we’ve done north, so I guess it’ll have to be the South Pole.’ 

South Pole...  there we are again.

read more...

Extracts

In the meantime we had nice ordinary things to organise like Pete’s 60th birthday party.  It was a merry

‘Yeah, we had a great time in the Arctic.’       

It didn’t really help that everyone then said ‘So where are you going to next?’ 

Why couldn’t people ask ‘What are you having for dinner tonight?’ or ‘How are your bunions?’ or ‘Does your cat have fleas?’ Why was it always ‘Where are you going to next?’?  

It demanded an answer so I jokingly replied, ‘Well, we’ve done north, so I guess it’ll have to be the South Pole.’ 

South Pole...  there we are again.

So, soon after our long walk, I was happy to tackle something new - ‘The Welsh 3,000s’. This is an interesting day out in the mountains of North Wales. The challenge is to climb all fifteen peaks over 3,000 feet in Snowdonia. The challenger has to climb up and down mountains over a distance of 32½ miles, gaining an overall height of 12,305 ft and. If that sounds too easy, then it’s important to remember that it has to be achieved within 24 hours. It is undertaken by the young, the strong, the fit and the mentally deranged.

I soon changed too from sunglasses to the complete cover up system of goggles and face mask as my nose was feeling sunburnt already. We were wary that this was the most ozone depleted place on the planet.  Only some of the others had covered their faces up. I had noticed that Pete and I tended to wear more layers of clothes than the others. Perhaps it was that old bodies tend to find it harder to keep warm, unless it was just old age caution.  I was also somewhat fearful of the cold. It was hard to find the right balance.  I was trying out the special gaiters that Matty had made for us and my feet were much too hot.  But apart from a right foot rubbing and a few niggles in the ankles, my body felt pretty good.  I felt happy with the motion on the skis.  At this stage we were going slowly enough for style to make little difference.

We took a few steps from the tent to a patch of snow perfectly polished by the wind. Here we carved the figure of a six-pointed star with the shovel, about a metre across. And in the centre a circle. I breathed deeply at the beauty and wonder of the moment allowing the vibration to rise. I pictured in my mind a bubble of light holding the Earth and filled it with warm heart unconditional love, drenching it in rose quartz pink. And spoke for the purpose of the peace of the Earth  

‘We have carried these crystals across Antarctica to be the facilitators to send off the Peace Messages from the end of the Earth and uphold the ‘Climb For Tibet’ light energy grid. We now call to start the activation process.’ 

quotes

“Her astonishing courage and humour makes this terrifying journey a joy to follow.”

Joanna Lumley

“These pages offer inspiration to put in the 0065tra mile.”

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

“His Holiness directs me to send you his prayers and good wishes for your venture.”

P.A. to Dalai Lama

reviews

extras

How Laser Blended Vision at Accuvision enabled Tess Burrows to reach the South Pole safely

 

ABOUT

Tess Burrows

Tess Burrows is a peace activist, climbing instructor, healer, motivational speaker and grandmother.

After taking a degree in ecological science from Edinburgh University, she moved to Australia to grow trees. By the time she returned to the UK, she was the single mother of three young boys.

In 1990, she started adventuring in order to raise funds for projects close to her heart. Eight years later, with her partner Pete Hammond, she founded Climb For Tibet, to gather peace messages to declaim from high places. The charity has now raised more than £150,000, mainly for building schools in Tibet.

She is the author of three adventuring books – Cry From the Highest Mountain, Cold Hands Warm Heart and Touch the Sky – and two children’s stories, Soft Courage and Don’t Blame the Yeti, all published by Eye & Lightning Books.

Find out more about Tess at tessburrows.org.

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