How to get to South Pole? Preet Chandi became fastest woman to ski across Antarctica solo with a little googling, a lot of guts and a pioneering streak
- Chandi, appearing in Hong Kong on International Women’s Day, reveals how being told to get married and conform to expectations ‘lit a fire’ in her
- In three record-breaking Antarctic expeditions, the British Army medical officer went to ‘some of the darkest places I have been’
Preet Chandi may have felt safe to assume she would not see polar bears in Hong Kong this weekend, but she “did not know they lived in Antarctica” before planning her three record-breaking expeditions there.
The physiotherapist and British Army medical officer in December became the fastest woman to ski solo across the ice-covered continent, taking 31 days to cover 1,130km (702 miles).
Almost 12 months earlier, she did not make it all the way across but managed the longest solo unsupported polar expedition. A year before that, she became the first woman of colour to ski to the South Pole solo.
She says she typed “how to get to Antarctica into Google, and went from there”.
Appearing in Hong Kong as a guest of JP Morgan for Friday’s International Women’s Day, Chandi said being told no “lit a fire” in her to confound expectations.
