Every Step - Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman to Ski Solo Across the Southern Ice - page 4

thumb pressed flat against the throttle I could feel it picking up
speed on the flatter ground and I enjoyed the freedom of flying
over the snow, letting my eyes drift across the soft curves of
the undulating landscape. Solitary peaks rose above the snow
surface leaving graceful arcs and semi-circles of blue and purple
shadows on the otherwise raw white. Overhead, thin high cloud
traced delicate curlicues in the sky as if mimicking the geometry
of the shadows on the ground. Taking it all in, my breath caught
in my chest and I let my thumb slip off the throttle so that the
snowmobile came to a gentle stop. I stood up on the clattering
machine and let myself indulge in the euphoria that had welled
up inside me. I threw open my arms as if I could extend them
around the whole landscape, around the whole of Antarctica.
I had the overwhelming urge to scoop it all up, to skim over
the flawless surface, to lose myself in its immaculate vastness.
I stood there for ages feeling my heart expand to envelop the
entire continent. There was nowhere on the planet that could be
more fulfilling, nowhere on Earth I would rather be. I had found
my perfect place, my perfect match.
In many ways that sense of elation has never left me. Two
and a half years later when it was time to leave Antarctica for
the first time, I stood out on the ship's deck and watched the
skyline I knew so well gradually morph into an unfamiliar view
as we sailed out of the bay and into a different perspective. A
friend who had worked on the base with me and who was also
saying his goodbyes to Antarctica came to stand close by in
companionable silence.
'I thought you'd be in tears, Fliss,' he said eventually.
It struck me as odd too that I didn't feel more emotional.
I wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was because after such
a long time away from home, I was ready to go despite my