Polar Preet has done it!

Wow what an achievement for Polar Preet as she reaches the South Pole!

Huge celebrations as Captain Preet Chandi arrived at the South Pole on 3rd January after her gruelling trek from the Hercules Inlet which took 40 days, 7 hours and 3 minutes. Already creating history as the first woman of colour to complete a solo crossing on the continent, she narrowly missed out on another milestone, the time set by Johanna Davidsson of Sweden who finished in 38 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes in 2016. Preet is now the third fastest female solo skier for this expedition behind Davidsson and Britain’s Hannah McKeand who recorded a time of 39 days, 9 hours and 33 minutes in 2006. She is also the first person to reach the South Pole on foot in two years.

This record breaking 700 mile solo journey over hostile and dangerous terrain is an extraordinary feat for Preet to have accomplished – or anyone for that matter. With a strength of character that most of us can only dream of, Preet had the determination and sheer grit to keep going through all the tribulations she faced on this epic uphill skiing expedition, traversing exhausting sastrugi (large waves formed by erosion of snow by wind) whilst battling wind speeds of up to 60mph and temperatures of -50C. Preet also suffered from exhaustion towards the end of the journey, as well as a persistent cough and sickness.

Team Army, Amey, Dell, Fujitsu, Harmonic, Microsoft, Qioptiq and Ultra are incredibly proud to have supported this amazing woman on her record breaking expedition and can only imagine the feats that she will accomplish in the future.

Maj Gen Lamont Kirkland, CEO Team Army said, “We are thrilled and delighted to have backed Capt Preet Chandi aka ‘Polar Preet’, who today achieved her incredible solo and unsupported trek to the South Pole. Her epic journey will surely inspire future generations to push their boundaries and believe that nothing is impossible. She will undoubtedly become a role model for young people from diverse and ethnic backgrounds to see a world with challenges rather than barriers. This has been an extraordinary and gruelling challenge and her story will likely have global impact.

The world needs more adventurous women so we are very grateful to the sponsors who have supported this incredible journey through Team Army/ Team Ethos.”

Checking in from day 40. I made it to the South Pole where it is 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.

This expedition was always about so much more than me, I want to encourage people to push their boundaries and to believe in themselves and I want you to be able to do it without being labelled a rebel. I’ve been told ‘no’ on many occasions, and told to ‘just do the normal things’, but we create our own normal. You are capable of anything you want, no matter where you are from or where your start line is – everybody starts somewhere.

I don’t want to just break the glass ceiling, I want to smash it into a million pieces …. who’s with me?

Captain Preet Chandi

Day 40

Day 39

Day 36

Day 35

ABOUT PREET

When she’s not in the Antarctic, Preet is based at a Medical Regiment in the North West of England where her primary role is as a physiotherapist, she’s also the medical lead for the Army Rugby 7s team and occasionally works with the Army Engagement team.

Although Preet has a day job, her first love is adventure, and pushing mental and physical boundaries. As well as playing tennis competitively for the Army she has trained to become a Nordic ski instructor. She has hiked and climbed in Kenya, Morocco, Mexico, Nepal, Bolivia, Peru, Iceland and the Alps and last year she completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables – a six-day, 251km ultra-marathon in the Saharan desert.

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SUPPORTERS

“This is a solo expedition but I’m not doing this on my own, there are so many people supporting me.”

Captain Preet Chandi

Amey

Amey Secure Infrastructure is the leading organisation in facilities services. We provide integrated asset, environmental and project management. We provide our clients with the knowledge and insight they need to manage complex estates that are essential to the safe running of the country.

Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.

Dell

Dell Technologies is committed to transforming businesses, shaping the future of innovation and developing technologies to drive human progress.

Qioptiq

Qioptiq is part of Excelitas Technologies, a technology leader in delivering high-performance advanced defence and aerospace solutions delivering mission-critical performance, reliability and support. We work closely with our customers providing expert capability every step of the way. Our expertise in Thermal, Fused and night vision equipment, energetic safety systems, electro-optics, sensors and detectors, enables us to meet the exacting requirements of our customers.

Fujitsu

For over 50 years Fujitsu has innovated with the MOD, Government Departments and intelligence communities, co-creating new technologies and capabilities. We understand that within the military, end-to-end digitalisation is crucial, and are committed to developing innovative digital solutions that overcome the complexities of transformation and deliver decision advantage. As a result, Fujitsu has security cleared staff and experience to deliver and manage both generic industry offerings and those tailored to specialist needs at all levels of classification. From IT Service Management, secure cloud, software defined networking, information and application integration, Artificial Intelligence and Dev Ops.

Fujitsu promote a Human Centric Intelligent Society, in which innovation is driven by the integration of people, information and infrastructure.

Team Army

Team Army and Team Ethos are co-brands of a programme which helps to fund sport, challenge and adventure in the armed forces community in order to improve health, wellbeing and recovery. We help the best get better.

Harmonic

Harmonic provides enterprise-wide business winning and project delivery services to some of the UK’s largest and most successful businesses. We achieve this through close, long-term client relationships that are underpinned by mutual trust and an ability to drive profitable and sustainable growth for our clients.

Ultra

Ultra Electronic Holdings plc specialises in providing application-engineered bespoke solutions. We focus on our customers’ mission critical and intelligent systems in the defence, security, critical detection & control markets. Our capabilities and technologies can be found on many of the world’s long-term military programmes.