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The Antarctica team carried tents, stoves,
rations, medical kits, and navigation and communication equipment on sleds
weighing 55 kilograms, pulled with a harness that girdled the hip with crossed
straps on the back for support. (Courtesy: Reena Dharmshaktu\WFS)
ANTARCTICA - FIRST INDIA WOMAN TO SKI TO SOUTH POLE
Women's Feature Service
India - New Delhi
By Yasmin Bajoria
An accomplished mountaineer, with
numerous expeditions to Himalayan peaks behind her, the 38-year-old recalls her
quick realisation of the difference between Antarctic and Himalayan conditions,
"In the Himalaya, when the sun is out, you are quite comfortable. The sun
provides warmth, even on a windy day. But in
Her bubbly laughter is back as she then
describes the arduous process of refuelling the body during skiing. "While
skiing, our faces were completely covered. Beneath our snow goggles, we wore
'gorilla masks', which covered the nose, mouth and cheeks. The breath would
freeze and long icicles would form on our masks. When we stopped for our snack
breaks, we had to first break those icicles before removing the mask to put
food into our mouths," she describes.
The Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth
Antarctica Expedition was a dream that eight women fulfilled under the
leadership of British polar expert, Felicity Aston. Originally Aston's pet
project, the expedition was conceived to spread a message about women's
empowerment, about climate change and environmental degradation, and to
celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth on January
1, 1950. "I'm fortunate to live in a country and society where I can make
my own choices in life. But there are a lot of women out there, even in the
21st Century, who don't have that freedom," Aston had told the media in
The final team had eight members - from
However, before the expedition, the
Ghanaian member was struck by malaria. Though she recovered, the period of
illness had eaten into her preparation time and it was considered unwise for
her to go on the expedition. Her place in the team was taken by a Briton, an
adventurer who had earlier been to the South Pole and whose experience was an
asset. Another member who had to drop out was the Jamaican, suffering frostbite
in her fingers during acclimatisation training in
Despite it being summer in the southern
hemisphere - with round-the-clock daylight in Antarctica as a result - they
faced temperatures around minus 30 degrees Celsius and 80-knot winds as they
skied 900 kilometres from the coast of the continent to the geographic South
Pole. The team carried tents, stoves, rations, medical kits, and navigation and
communication equipment on sleds weighing 55 kilograms, pulled with a harness
that girdled the hip with crossed straps on the back for support. The team also
carried back its garbage, including human waste - becoming the first such
Setting out from the "Messner
Start" on the ice shelf of Antarctica's coast facing
"If we could achieve our goal,
anyone can achieve theirs," is the message the expedition has emphasised.
Dharmshaktu points out that they would never have got to
Her other great debt, she says, is to
her husband, mountaineer Lovraj Singh Dharmshaktu from Uttarakhand, who has
climbed Everest three times as well as the more fearsome Kanchenjunga. Never
losing sight of his roots in his beloved Munsiyari - where he often skipped
school to hike alone in the Himalayan foothills - he has kept home and hearth
going to enable her to pursue her dreams. Today, as she enjoys a hard-earned
rest at home and basks in the sun and the media attention, he stays at hand to
make tea, cook lunch and join smilingly in the interviews and felicitations.
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