Photographer Tony Green of Conock, near Devizes, this week heads off to Switzerland to tackle the longest toboggan run in the world to raise funds for Help for Heroes.

The course, which starts 9,000ft up on Faulhorn, Grindelwald, is 15k (9.3 miles) in length, with a drop of over 5,400ft.

The nearest cable car is three hours’ walk away and access involves a climb of nearly 2,000ft pulling a sledge.

Mr Green, 61, got the bug for sledging back in the bad winter of 1963 when he was 13. He can remember spending nearly every day for five weeks sliding down the hills near his home in Dorset.

“The passion for the snow and winter sports has never gone away and at the age of 59 I was taken down the Olympic bobsleigh track in Lillehammer in Norway in a four-man bob reaching speeds of 80mph and 5.2g.”

His sledge, sponsored by sledges.co.uk, is an Austrian Rodel Racing sledge made by Kathrein. Mr Green took this sledge to the Alps in Austria and Germany as part of the training last Christmas.

He said: “It’s very controllable on twisty sections and not only very fast on the downhill straights but extremely stable as well – even on ice.

“This sledging challenge is something I have always wanted to do so I thought, why not add another?

“I want to raise as much money as possible for Help for Heroes, after all, it’s for guys who face a challenge of a different sort every day. “ Mr Green is joined by 50-year-old Terry Owen of Devizes who shares his passion for sledging. They are driving the 700 miles to Grindelwald as it is much easier to transport the sledges in a 4x4.

Mr Green added: “A further ten inches of snow is forecast there this week so conditions should be fantastic.”