Fastest solo, unsupported ski journey to the South Pole (female)
Who
Preet Chandi
What
31:13:19 day(s):hour(s):minute(s)
Where
Antarctica ()
When

Preet Chandi (UK), aka "Polar Preet", skied solo from the Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf at the edge of the Antarctic continent to the geographic South Pole in 31 days 13 hours 19 minutes between 26 November and 28 December 2023. Without resupplies, she covered a straight-line distance of approximately 1,130 km (702 mi), arriving at the South Pole at 2.24 a.m. (Chilean Time) on 28 December.


Pulling a 75-kg (165-lb) sled with all her camping equipment and supplies, Chandi skied for an average of 12 to 13 hours each day.

This surpassed the time of Caroline Côté (Canada), who skied solo from the Hercules Inlet to the South Pole in 33 days 2 hours 55 minutes between 9 December 2022 and 11 January 2023.

This record followed less than a year after Chandi, who is a physiotherapist in the British Army, had undertaken the longest solo unsupported one-way polar ski journey, covering 1,484.53 km (922.44 mi) from the Hercules Inlet to the Reedy Glacier over 70 days 16 hours between 13 November 2022 and 23 January 2023. Although an unprecedented distance, Chandi was disappointed at the time, as she had been seeking to become the first woman to ski across the Antarctic continent from coast to coast, but due to bad weather had to end the journey about 160 km (100 mi) inland.

With three Antarctic expeditions, in consecutive years, now under her belt (Chandi became the first Asian female to ski solo to the South Pole on 21 November 2021–3 January 2022), she reflected on her latest journey: "This was completely different to my last expedition. I completely pushed myself to my limits on my last expedition. A speed attempt is different. After my last expedition, I knew I could cope well on the ice which gave me the confidence to tackle this head-on."