I broke the world record for being the fastest person to ever make the South Pole journey – which is one of the only times where a woman has physically surpassed
Polar Adventurer and Sports Personality Fiona Thornewill MBE was a media sensation around the world in January 2004 when she became the fastest solo polar walker in the world. The lady dubbed by the press as Ice Queen & bravely trekked across 700 miles of dangerous Antarctic wasteland in subzero temperatures pulling a 285 lb (130 kg) sledge to the South Pole in a record 42 days. Fiona and Mike Thornewill were the first married couple to reach both the North and the South Poles.
My name is Fiona Thornewill, I am a Polar Explorer. Walking through the absolute majesty of our polar regions is probably the closest experience a human can have to being on another planet – so how privileged am I to have been there several times… My mind hardly knows where to start reminiscing to you of my journeys. I remember my sat-phone failing after 10 days and loosing communication with the outside world – the total solitude of just little me, and my exquisite, but remote ice wilderness. Sometimes I would battle against blasting spindrift, become pinned down in storms, cross crevasse fields with heart in my mouth – but not once was I tempted to give in. We are all stronger than we think we are! And I remember vividly the moment I reached the South Pole alone. ‘The sun blazed through a cobalt sky – peppered with flecks of silver spindrift and a white horizon extended without boundary, to a remote inlet 1100 km away. My emotions were so rich, relief, pride and utter contentment and a sense of achievement – fully proportional to what I had overcome. Not only that, I even broke the world record for being the fastest person to ever make the journey – which is one of the only times where a woman has physically surpassed a man…