Woman learns to ice skate for 100-mile race

A British woman, who is preparing for a 100‑mile ice skating race across a frozen Mongolian lake, says she had to learn to skate for the challenge.

Anya Eames, 51, from Frampton on Severn, Gloucestershire, will take on the Mongol 100 across Lake Khuvsgul to raise money for youth charity Increase the Peace and the Great Western Air Ambulance.

The four‑day race will see competitors walking or skating the route before camping on the ice, where temperatures drop to –30°C.

"I've been learning to skate over the last few weeks," she said. "I've skated before, but this time there's no rail to hold onto."

Eames has been taking skating lessons for several weeks and must get used to the special boots required for the expedition, which must also function as regular boots if the blade is removed.

"If snow comes in, you can't physically ice skate on the snow," she said. "That's where the blades come off the boots, and I can either then trek or run across the snow," Eames said.

"It's also a sacred lake, so no forms of liquid can be spilt on it at all. You can't let any liquid from a bottle hit the lake, and if you need a wee, you have to overcome that challenge," she added.

Competitors are supervised from a distance by Mongolian guides on horseback.

"There are wolves and other animals that can be a danger to us out on the lake, so we have the guides helping us, and there's also a backup vehicle - which is a horse and cart."

While it will be Eames's first time taking part in the Mongol 100, it will not be her first charity challenge in adverse climate.

In 2023 Eames took part in a trek with a husky team, across the arctic, raising £5,000 for the charity Dreams Come True.

She also took part in an Arctic ski in 2024, raising £2,000 to open a youth centre in Frampton on Severn.

"The benefits of that have been amazing," she said.

"We get an average of 23 children turning up each Thursday and it's a safe place for them to come and interact with other people in the village and we actually get kids from outside Frampton coming too," she added.

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