A KEEN ice hockey player from Royal Wootton Bassett plans to jet off and make history in his sport, by competing in the highest ever match.

Nick Onslow, 42, a store assessor with Domino’s Pizza, will be scaling new heights when he takes part in the match in the Himalayas.

Nick, who played ice hockey as a child, before losing contact with the game as a teenager and rediscovering it recent years, said: “I have a friend who organises tournaments around the world every year. I always look at them, but I texted my friend the other day, and he asked whether I was coming to the Himalayas.

“I didn’t know anything about it, but I realised that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Nick, who plays for Swindon Spitfires Ice Hockey Club, and his fellow players, drawn from all over the country and abroad, will fly out to Delhi on 29 January.

They will then make their way to the Himalayan town of Leh, which, at an altitude of 3,500m, will give them the opportunity to acclimatise to their surroundings.

Having joined the party late, Nick admits that his team are all a little out of their depth with the upcoming venture.

“I am anxious, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know what to expect. I never thought in my life I’d go to the Himalayas, let alone play ice hockey somewhere so remote.

“We are all out of our comfort zone a bit – we will be sleeping outside in this hut, just in sleeping bags, in -20°C.”

After a few warm-up games, the team will then take on three others in a tournament from 5 February on a makeshift pitch. At 4,000m above sea level, this is where the Guinness World Record is expected to be claimed.

The competition is organised by The Hockey Foundation, who aim to spread the game and provide equipment in India and other countries.

Nick has found help from the All-Star Hockey Shop in Swindon, who have provided him with a sleeping bag, and who will also donate some equipment for the foundation.

More information about the trip can be found at www.hockeyfoundation.org