Meet The Action Heroınes

Crossing the Atlantic, running over mountains and skiing to the South Pole – what drives these three women to seek out extreme adventure?

- Alice Grebot

The ANTARCTIC SKIER

WENDY SEARLE, 41, is a full-time civil servant. She skied across Greenland to prepare for her latest challenge: an unsupported solo ski to the South Pole, a journey only six women have completed before.

I became hooked on the idea of doing an Antarctic expedition four years ago. Through my job at the time, working for a military charity, I met an Army team embarking on one and it fired my interest. Antarctica is a continent like nowhere else on the planet; it’s the highest, driest, coldest, most inhospitable place on Earth. There’s an almost otherworldly quality about it. Before long I was reading about polar history and going to lectures on cold-weather injuries. While colleagues commented about how horrendous it sounded, I remember thinking, ‘Why would anyone not want to try this?’ I wondered if someone like me could do something like that.

That pipe dream grew into a germ of an idea, which then grew into a plan, and the plan became the expedition. Now it almost has a life of its own.

In November, I will be setting out from the coastline of Antarctica and skiing 715 miles completely alone. I aim to finish at the South Pole within 39 days, breaking the current women’s record.

I won’t pretend I’m not daunted by the idea of the expedition. But it’s about being able to carry on regardless; recognizing you’re scared and learning to live with that through the experience.

Of course, you can’t simply apply to go and do a solo trip to Antarctica. The people that fly you in and out have a duty of care and look at your ‘polar CV’. So, everything I’ve done so far has been stepping stones to building that CV so I can do this big one.