Every Step - Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman to Ski Solo Across the Southern Ice - page 17

'Not many people have traversed Antarctica by themselves.
I'm pretty sure you'll be the first woman at least.'
I nodded in silence, unsure if this was a warning or
encouragement. In fact I had already done some careful
research and knew full well that only two people had crossed
Antarctica alone, both of them men and - significantly - both
of them Norwegian. Given the reputation of Norwegians for
being excellent skiers, resilient polar experts and legendary
explorers, neither fact seemed to bode well for my chances of
success. In total, my prospective route would be around 1,700
kilometres and I estimated that it would take me seventy days
if I incorporated a bit of time to allow for bad weather or
delays. Both of the Norwegians who had crossed Antarctica
alone had used kites and parasails but had chosen much longer
routes. They'd also made the journeys completely unsupported,
towing everything that they needed for their entire expedition
in their sledges right from the start. In contrast, I had the
opportunity to arrange for at least one resupply along my
route, possibly two.
I wasn't sure what worried me more; skiing 1,700 kilometres
or spending two months alone. None of the dozen or so
expeditions I had completed over the previous ten years
equated to what I was about to take on. In terms of distance,
the closest I had come was a double crossing of the Greenland
ice cap in 2006. My team of four had covered 1,100 kilometres
on skis in little over a month. But when it came to surviving as
a team of one, I had very little experience. During brief spells
working as a guidebook writer I had travelled by myself to
some remote corners of the world and back at home I would
think nothing of taking myself off on camping trips, walking
alone in the hills for days at a time, but these brief periods in my