A COURAGEOUS father-daughter duo have successfully completed a challenging adventure by walking across a frozen lake in -30 degree temperature to raise funds for charity.

Sean Chapple, 52, and his daughter Chloe, 17, returned safely from a “harsh and demanding” 150km trek which saw them cross part of Lake Baikal, in eastern Siberia.

The duo had to pull all of their supplies in sledges during their epic challenge.

Mr Chapple, who is a former Harwich and Dovercourt High School student and was part of the Parkeston Scout Group, had previously undertaken record-breaking expeditions to Iceland and the North and South Poles.

He said: “I am really proud of Chloe in completing this expedition as the conditions were pretty harsh and demanding, and certainly in terms of the cold it was not too dissimilar to experiences I have had in the Arctic and Antarctica.

“Whilst we had great equipment, it takes a lot of self-motivation and determination to keep going in sub-zero temperatures, especially in the mornings when you may not really want to get out of a warm sleeping bag.

“My adventures began as a young lad with 1st and 2nd Parkeston Cubs which instilled in me the desire to explore and I’m always trying to inspire my children to keep active, enjoy the outdoors and stretch themselves. Chloe certainly did with Lake Baikal.”

Chloe, who lives with her family in Somerset, said the expedition was one of the scariest experiences she has ever had.

She said: “Walking across the lake and being able to look down through the ice into the depths of the lake always made me feel nervous.

“You could hear the sound of cracking ice underfoot almost continuously.

“Sometimes the ice would crack and push against each other creating walls of broken ice over which we had to drag our sledges.

“When the sun went down the temperature dropped dramatically, on some days the drop was over 15 degrees which occasionally made lighting our cooker difficult as fuel had frozen in the pipeline.

“I never felt ill-equipped as my dad has lots of experience in cold weather expeditions, and we took some fantastic equipment to keep us warm, safe and able to communicate with the emergency rescue teams on a daily basis.”

The adventurer signed up to the seven-day challenge to raise money for the International Glaucoma Association as Chloe was diagnosed with the condition five years ago.

“I am really pleased that more than £1,000 has been donated to the charity,” she said. “I hope that my journey inspires others to step outside their comfort zone and try something different.”

To donate money to Chloe’s cause, visit bit.ly/3cT65Js.