girl on wire - comic relief high-wire walk: helen skelton crosses in 11 minutes without even a stumble on 28 february 2011 at 10:21am

congratulations, helen, from everyone at battersea power station an industri! we salute you, and you have the heart of a lioness.

the news is already out, of course, that bbc blue peter presenter helen skleton took on a mighty challenge in aid of comic relief 2011: to learn the very risky art of high-wire walking in a mere three months and become the first woman to ever to cross battersea's daunting 150-metre length on a high wire 66-metres above the power station and its boiler house event venue.

the media interest and coverage has been extraordinary, but then helen is nothing if not extraordinary. last year she became the first woman to solo kayak the mighty amazon river, in aid of sport relief that time.

yes, three months ago helen really had never walked on a high wire until she began training with world-renowned high-wire performer jade kindar-martin for what would become one of the most audacious stunts ever attempted in battersea's 75-year filming and stills history. what better year to attempt this extraordinary filming project than for the 75th anniversary of alfred hitchcock's arrival at the power station with a movie camera in 1936?

in truth, jade was actually the very first to cross battersea by high wire, but he's been doing this for 22 years. nothing takes away from helen's incredible achievement and breathtaking daring. helen is the first woman to achieve this feat and now also a record breaker for the height of a wire walk by a woman. expected to take around 15 minutes to cross from the north-west chimney to the south-west, helen was across the wire in a mere 11 minutes. confident and astionishingly wobble free, helen looked like she'd been wire walking for a great deal longer than a mere three months.

if you're in any doubt of just what jeopardy helen gamely put herself in, take a good long look at our exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures. ask yourself, would you step out on to that wire....?

tv coverage:

helen's high wire bootcamp: blue peter special
monday 07 march 4:30pm bbc1

helen's high wire walk: blue peter special
tuesday 08 march 4:30pm bbc1

comic relief special: girl on wire
friday 11 march 7:30pm bbc1