‘You don’t really look like a Polar explorer,’ she was told. So, British extreme athlete and captain in the British Army Harpreet Chandi set off on an expedition and trekked across Antarctica for 40 days – alone.
Chandi became the first woman of colour to do so when she finished her expedition in January 2022. She hiked over 1,126km unaided, pulling nearly 90kg of gear on a sledge in -50C weather.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons/uk army – crown copyright ogl
Chandi, who is of Indian Punjabi descent, said she has always been interested in pushing the human body to its limits. ‘Antarctica is the coldest, highest, driest and windiest continent on Earth. Nobody lives there permanently. I didn’t know much about the continent when I first started planning and that is what inspired me to go there,’ she said on her blog, Polar Preet.
Chandi is also completing an MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine, and is the Medical Lead for the Army Rugby 7s team. Picture: Wikimedia Commons/unknown- crown copyright ogl
‘Hopefully doing something that pushes me so far out of my comfort zone will inspire others to believe in themselves and push their boundaries. There are only a few female adventurers that have completed a solo, unsupported trek on this continent. It is time to add some more names, diversity and to make history,’ she added.
Take a look at the breathtaking, but unforgiving scenery Chandi trekked.
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‘I don’t want to just break the glass ceiling, I want to smash it into a million pieces. Who’s with me?’
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