Captain Harpreet Chandi: Captain Harpreet Chandi has created history by becoming the first woman of colour to complete a solo unsupported trek to the South Pole.

Key Facts:

• She is a 32-year-old Indian-origin British Sikh Army officer and physiotherapist also known as Polar Preet.
• She completed the 700 miles (1127 kilometres) in just 40 days while pulling a sled with all of her kits and battling the temperature of minus 50 degrees Celsius.
• She announced her achievement on her live blog on January 3, 2022, at the end of Day 40.
• She started her preparations in French Alps where she underwent the crevasse training.
• She has also trekked across Langjökull Glacier in Iceland and spent 27 days on the Icecap in Greenland.

About the South Pole:

• South Pole is one of the two points where the Earth’s Axis of rotation intersects its surface.
• It is also known as the Terrestrial South Pole, Geographic South Pole, or 90th Parallel South.
• It is the southernmost point on Earth and it lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole.

Discovery of South Pole:

• It was discovered by a party of Norwegian explorers led by Ronald Amundsen.
• They were the first-ever expedition to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911.
• Liv Arnesen from Norway was the first woman in the world to make a solo trip to the South Pole in 1994.