A team of mountaineers, including two from Bradford, is bidding to become the first to conquer the highest peaks in one of Europe's most inaccessible regions during a single expedition.

Tim Sander, of Oxenhope, and Elaine Gilligan, of Saltaire, will brave temperatures which could plunge to minus 30C (22F) when they venture more than 70 miles (120km) inside the Arctic Circle to climb all eight 6,000 ft (2,000 metres) mountains in Sweden's Sarek National Park.

April's three-week expedition will see the pair, who both work for the Friends of the Earth in Leeds, and four friends skiing cross-country to reach the Scandanavian peaks.

Sponsored by the Base Camp Ilkley mountaineering shop, the team will have to drag 120lb sleds containing all their food, clothing and equipment to a series of base camps before attempting the individual climbs.

Mr Sander, 36, said he had decided to organise the ski mountaineering challenge after falling in love with the area during a visit last year.

He said: "People have climbed these mountains but we haven't been able to find any documentary evidence of any team from Britain, or from anywhere else in the world, having done all eight of the peaks over 6,000ft (2,000 metres) in Sarek during one trip.

"We've done all the British mountaineering challenges - like doing all the 3,000ft peaks - so it just seemed natural to try to do all the peaks over 6,000 ft out there.

"I really enjoy climbing in the Arctic conditions, and just being out there in such a beautiful unspoilt natural environment will be fantastic.

"But we have set ourselves a goal, and if we do achieve it that will be something really magical.''

He added: "It's a real wilderness out there and totally unspoilt, which is why we have to take such great care

"There are no roads, cars, houses, litter or even human footprints, and we probably won't see anyone else for the whole three weeks.

"We're going into the Arctic environment, carrying all our equipment, so in that respect it will be very tough.

"Whether we're successful depends completely on the weather - if it's fine we'll stand a chance, but if it's awful we're not going to get very far and we will be tent-bound most of the time.''