Polar Preet becomes world's fastest woman to ski to the South Pole solo

British Army officer Harpreet 'Polar Preet' Chandi has become the fastest woman to complete a solo, unsupported South Pole ski expedition.

Captain Chandi covered the 1,130km of Antarctic ice in 31 days, 13 hours and 19 minutes.

When verified by the Guinness World Records team, she will have beaten the previous record by one day, 14 hours and 34 minutes.

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In a recent blog post, Capt Chandi explained that she had returned to Antarctica "without letting the world know in advance".

She said: "This trip was a bit different for me. I honestly didn’t know if I would be quick enough, but thought I’ll do everything I can and let's see!."

Capt Chandi said the record belonged to "everyone that helped me get here".

She explained: "It is ours. I’m sure I will not hold the record for long and will happily help the person who beats it."

Capt Chandi told BFBS the last trip had been so hard that it helped her complete her most recent challenge.

Last February, Capt Chandi was waiting for surgery and explained the impact of her Antarctic trek on her body.

"I don't feel as bad as I did… earlier this year and it's a real nice sense of achievement and its nice to be finished… before the New Year," she said.

She also said her experience on the last trip had helped her on her low days.

"There were a few low days but I think in those low days I reminded myself that I've had worse," she said.

"On the low days… I just had to remind myself to put that day behind me."

Capt Chandi added: "Getting to the pole is always a high and actually finishing and then I think I was just like 'I can’t believe I actually did it, I can’t believe I actually got the ski record’ and I still don’t know if I can believe it."

This marked her first return to Antarctica after she broke the world record for the longest, solo, unsupported and unassisted polar expedition by any woman in history, according to her team. 

When asked if she had another trek in mind, she replied: "[I] can't imagine not doing anything else, but it might not be something that is perceived as bigger.

"For me, no adventure is too small."