Woman finishes steepest ice track in RAF first

Flt Lt Mimi Hobbs is believed to be the eighth woman in modern history to complete the track

A member of the RAF has become the first person from the service to complete the steepest ice track in the world.

Flt Lt Mimi Hobbs tobogganed the entire Cresta Run and is thought to be only the eighth woman in modern history to do so.

Women were banned from riding the track in Switzerland until 2018.

She said the experience was "terrifying" but "the best thing I've ever done".

The weapons foundation course trainer, based at RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, spent weeks preparing for the gruelling challenge in which speeds can exceed 70mph on the 514ft (157m)-high track.

"It was the most terrifying thing I've ever done, I can't compare it to anything else," she told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"Having your face that close to the ice, and the speeds you hit is terrifying but it's also the best thing I've ever done."

The ice track in Saint Moritz was built in 1885.

Up until 2018, women were banned from riding the track

Women had been allowed to race until the 1920s when the track was deemed too unsafe for them.

About 90 years later, at a St Moritz Tobogganing Club meeting, members voted by a two-thirds majority to allow women to ride the Cresta Run again and become members.

Flt Lt Hobbs said: "It's amazing to see all these women doing so well, Army and RAF women at the top and we are loving it.

"The first woman to go up there is such an inspiration, she's so strong-minded. She was there the day that I rode and gave me a big hug at the finish - it meant everything, I'll remember it forever."