Meet Preet Chandi First Woman Of Colour About To Take On A Solo South Pole Trek

Preet Chandi on solo Antarctica Trek: The 32-year-old also known as Polar Preet is an Army officer, Nordic skier, physiotherapist, ultra-marathon runner and endurance athlete. She is the first Asian and woman of colour set to take a solo Antarctica to South pole trip.

The Derby woman, Harpreet Chandi during her 700-mile journey, will face a wind chill of -50C and snowstorms while dragging a sledge weighing about 95kg when she sets off. The expedition will take around 45 days. She will be sharing daily voice blogs during the journey. Preet has been preparing very hard for this difficult expedition. Previously she has undertaken ultra-marathons, including Marathon des Sables across the Sahara desert, and a 27-day expedition on the ice cap in Greenland. She joined the British Army when she was 27 years old.

On her website, she expressed her reason for taking the expedition as "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. Hopefully doing something that pushes me so far out of my comfort zone will inspire others to do 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."

To prepare for the journey she has been pulling a tire on the roads near her home as a practice for pulling her sledge across the Antarctic slopes. A two-metre-long plank containing all her food and equipment. She is flying to Chile on 7 November. From there weather permitting, she will set off on her trek on 21 November and expects it to take between 45 to 47 days.

Preet says that it is not the norm for an Asian woman to be in adventure sports, hence she often comes face to face with questions that reflects peoples curiousness and surprise over what she does. She told The Guardian that people often thought she was going to South Hall (A suburban district in West London) when she said the South Pole. In an earlier interview, she said that it was her Senior Medical Officer at the first regiment who encouraged her in getting involved with Army Adventurous Training.

On breaking barriers she said, “But I get that people have barriers all over the place and I hope that I can inspire people for lots of different reasons. It doesn’t matter that you are not the image that society expects to see, you can do it regardless.”

When she conquers her target she wants to set up an adventure grant. She says, “There are more and more female adventurers out there. And there’s more diverse groups, which is absolutely brilliant. It’s really inspiring to see.”

Capt Chandi is engaged to David Jarman, who is a reservist with the Honourable Artillery Company. He will fly to Chile for Capt Chandi's return from the Antarctic.

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Picture Credit: polarpreet.com