This is not a race…

One of the key principles behind our team’s approach to our adventure is that: this is not a race. That has inspired every aspect of planning, from the route, to the team composition, packing and our training.

The route blends waypoints discovered by pioneers of the ‘heroic age’ of polar exploration, including Amundsen, Shackleton and Scott. Between Amundsen and Scott, in particular, the media of the time framed their exploits as a “race” to be the first at the south pole. But while there was probably some imperialistic impetus or nationalistic pride motivating some of the sponsors, it’s not obvious that both parties were racing. Scott, in particular, was keen to make advances to scientific knowledge. So he took along 12 scientists – the largest Antarctic scientific team at that point – and pursued research in botany, geology, glaciology, meteorology palaeontology and zoology. Had he been laser-focused on racing, it’s doubtful he would have taken care to collect 16kg of fossils for Marie Stopes.

Marie Stopes is today remembered for her early promotion of family planning. But she was also a researcher in fossil plants, and not everyone knows that Captain Scott wanted her to accompany him on the Terra Nova expedition towards the South Pole. Sponsors wouldn’t allow a woman to go. We find it challenging to learn that 112 years later not a single woman has yet skied  up the Beardmore Glacier and then across to the Pole. Times have changed and we know it’s achievable, which is why we have a mixed team composition: it doesn’t need to be “proved” that women can do this. We draw inspiration from Liv Arnesen’s groundbreaking exploits, and our copies of Good Girls Do Not Ski To The South Pole are dog-eared. It’s still the case that girls’ and women’s participation in sports and physical pursuits is downgraded, hard to find sponsorship for or patronised.

With that in mind, our packing and our training reflect that we’re aiming for steady progress at a manageably fast pace, but we’re not aiming for any “speed records”. Sled weight has to be optimised (or we’ll hardly move!) but we’re not snapping our toothbrushes in half or going ultralight with kit selections. We know what a privilege it is to be in nature at its rawest, and the concept of “racing” doesn’t chime with us.