Former England rugby international Mike Tindall has revealed his wife Zara and children will be helping him to prepare for his charity ski challenge by staging their own mini-championships.
Mike Tindall is set to participate in a charity ski marathon (Image: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
The World Cup winning centre has been getting in some practice after hitting the slopes of Avoriaz in the French Alps.
It is for his fundraiser, Mikey’s Mountain Miles, which is being held from March 5 to 9 in Saalbach, Austria.
Mike, 45, told the Daily Express that his son Lucas would be getting involved in the action even though he is just two.
The star said: “I’ve always had this dream of doing a ski challenge because a) I love skiing, b) I quite like doing things which I can turn into something which will help charities that I am invested in.
“So I’ve sort of played around with this idea since before Covid. It’s basically a marathon ski in terms of how many kilometres you can cover in three days.
“It’s not just about who is the true athlete within the group, it’s a challenge that everyone can go for.”
He said Zara, 42, is on his team. “It’s in school time, as it’s during the week the kids won’t be there, but we are taking the kids there next week. So we will do our own version with them.”
“Mia [aged 10] can ski, Lena [five] is on that journey where this will be her first trip where she can probably go out with an instructor. And then Lucas is going to be in ‘kindy’, he’s only two so he will have a go. He can jump. [Ski ace] Chemmy Alcott said once you can jump you can ski so he will hopefully get out there. I think he will have a blast.”
The fundraiser, which is sponsored by Skiset, is being held in aid of the Matt Hampson Foundation, which supports the treatment of young people seriously injured through sport, and Wings for Life, which is helping to find a cure for spinal cord injury.
Mike, who first started skiing on school trips and had to put his love of the slopes on hold during his time with the England team, said he hoped to make the fundraiser a biannual event in the future.
