Captain Harpreet Chandi, an Indian-origin British Sikh Army officer, scripted History by becoming the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition to the South Pole.
In November last year, the 32-year-old Harpreet had begun her mission when she embarked to Antarctica’s Hercules Inlet. She spent the next few weeks skiing solo across Antarctica and announced on January 3 that she had completed the 700-mile trek in 40 days.
She has also been journaling her experiences as Instagram posts.
“I made it to the South Pole where it’s snowing,” Harpreet announced. “Feeling so many emotions right now… it feels so surreal to finally be here.”
The expedition was not so easy. She had to battle temperatures of – 50°C and fierce winds of up to 97km per hour along with dragging an 87kg sledge for 40 days, over a distance of 700 miles, unsupported and all on her own. Polar Preet survived on snacks and freeze-dried meals for food.
According to Daily Telegraph, “skiing for up to 11 hours a day, she has kept herself entertained along the way by listening to Bhangra music which reminds her of her Punjabi roots”.
“Hello everyone, checking in from day 40. I made it to the South Pole where it’s snowing. Feeling so many emotions right now. I knew nothing about the polar world three years ago and it feels so surreal to finally be here. It was tough getting here and I want to thank everybody for their support,” she wrote on the 40th day.
According to her blog page, Harpreet is an Army Officer, physiotherapist, Nordic skier, ultra-marathon runner, and endurance athlete,.
To fulfil her expedition to Antarctica, she attended a course at Hannah McKeand’s Polar Expedition Training in Norway in Finse in Feb 2020, where she learnt about polar clothing, pitching tents, basics of camping, managing carbon monoxide inside a tent, basics of cooking, nutrition, navigation, travelling in a polar environment, reading the weather, handling electronics, emergency evacuation and expedition risk assessment.
Harpreet has dedicated her very first blogpost to her grandfather: “This one goes out to my Baba Ji (my Grandad), who lived an incredible long life up to the age of 99. He moved to the UK when I was born and raised me. He always made me feel just as important in a community where I sometimes felt as though I was less. I always used to think he looked like an Indian Santa Claus, he had crystal blue eyes, a white beard and the best heart. Thank you, Baba Ji, for letting me know that I was just as important. I hope you’re watching down on me for this journey.”
Harpreet, however, used her time to introspect on her life’s journey as she walked those miles to the South Pole. In one of her blog posts, she said: “it took me a long time to be proud of the colour of my skin. I used to be embarrassed, having eggs thrown at me and people spit at me when I was a teenager because I ‘looked different’ certainly didn’t help. It took me a while to appreciate my culture and my roots, so when I describe myself as a ‘woman of colour’ it is because I am finally proud of my skin colour, my roots, my culture. This term isn’t used to offend anyone. It is part of me and doing this expedition as a woman of colour is incredibly powerful. Having been told on many occasions that I don’t look like a polar explorer… lets change the image you expect to see.”
