A council worker who is a champion jouster on her days off is set to scale a 3,000ft mountain dressed in her full replica 15th century armour.
Emma Pearn will trek up Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, south Wales, wearing the custom-fitted armour weighing 32kg – nearly two thirds of her own bodyweight – in support of The Royal Armouries.
The 30-year-old, who has been jousting professionally for three years, say she is concerned she won’t be able to see her own feet.
She said: ‘Pen y Fan is a mountain I know but I really don’t know what it’s like climbing a mountain in armour. It will be uncomfortable, and I don’t know what it will be like carrying that weight for so long.
‘One of the challenges might be that I can’t see my own feet when I wear the helmet.
‘I will be wearing medieval footwear and will be able to see just about three feet in front of me.
Emma Pearn will trek up Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons, south Wales, wearing the custom-fitted armour weighing 32kg – nearly two thirds of her own bodyweight – in support of The Royal Armouries
The 30-year-old say she is concerned she won’t be able to see her own feet
Emma, who is also a council worker, has been jousting professionally for three years
Emma at one of the many jousting events she attends in her spare time
Emma’s armour is entirely hand-made and fitted specifically to her. It is based on an effigy of St Florian in Austria and belongs to the gothic style armour making it ‘particularly mobile and well-suited to fighting on foot’.
Emma, from Gloucester said The Royal Armouries has been ‘instrumental’ in bringing the ‘exhilarating’ sport of jousting back to life.
Within her short career, which started in 2021, she has travelled across Europe, competing at and winning the Queen’s Jousting Tournament, the Arundel International Tournament and most recently the Royal Armouries Bank Holiday Tournament.
She said: ‘I have been riding since the age of seven and soon after started competing in modern sports fencing.
‘I practice Historical European Martial Arts and also hold a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do.
Emma said she is worried that she will not be able to see her feet when she is wearing her helmet
Emma’s armour is entirely hand-made and fitted specifically to her
Emma, from Gloucester said The Royal Armouries has been ‘instrumental’ in bringing the ‘exhilarating’ sport of jousting back to life
Her armour is based on an effigy of St Florian in Austria and belongs to the gothic style armour making it ‘particularly mobile and well-suited to fighting on foot’
‘The skills and conditioning from each of these disciplines have all been crucial in learning to joust.
‘As well as raising the profile and awareness of jousting as a sport the climb is also designed to celebrate women within it.
‘Just like any other equestrian sport men and women compete as equals against each other.’
The mountain climb is taking place on September 28 in support of The Royal Armouries national museums of arms and armour.