Experience: I was the youngest person to ski alone to the south pole

The Guardian

11-04-2025

Growing up in Norway, I had heard a lot about polar exploration, including how Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the south pole in 1911. As a child I spent a lot of time outdoors – building bonfires, camping and skiing in the mountains.
Aged 14, seven years before my south pole expedition, I decided I wanted to become the youngest woman to ski across Greenland. I'm just under 5ft tall, and people are still shocked that I'm a polar explorer. When I became interested in skiing across Greenland, several guiding companies were unwilling to take me because I was so young. Then I met Lars Ebbesen, an experienced polar guide. Straight away, I felt he respected my ambitions.
I had to go on an expedition to Finnmark first – a county in northern Norway – to prove I was capable. It was dark and cold – temperatures dropped as low as -35C, but I fell in love with it. Crossing Greenland itself took 28 days because we had very bad weather. At one point, we couldn't leave our tent for three days. When our guide went outside to dig snow away from the tent walls, we had to hold him with a rope because the winds were so strong.
I wasn't scared, which I think was a little naive. The others on the expedition have since told me that they were very afraid and wondering how to protect me if the tent blew away. I was 14; the next oldest person was the guide, who was 30. I really grew up during that time. My mum says she can't remember me being a teenager.
It was on my 15th birthday that I decided to go to Antarctica. I didn't tell my mum about my plans at first. I just told my dad – he's like me, a big dreamer. My mum is more pragmatic.
My dad and I contacted Lars to work out the logistics. When I told my mum, she realised I had already made up my mind. My parents are great role models – a lot of parents tell their children to wait until they're older to explore their dreams. But if you wait too long you'll have other commitments.
When I began the expedition last November, I was 21. Pierre Hedan, the last person to break the record, was 26 when he arrived in January 2024.
The journey is 1,130km: from Hercules Inlet, on the edge of the Antarctic continent, to the geographic south pole. I had to increase my body weight by 10% to be able to pull the supplies on my sledge, so I did a lot of strength training to gain muscle. In the two months before leaving, I often ate two dinners, lots of ice-cream and chocolate pudding. Because of my height, I found it hard to find expedition clothing that fitted me. But a company in London made a suit that was perfect.
To prepare, I spoke to former polar explorers, watched documentaries and read every book on the subject. To keep me occupied on the trip, I had podcasts and music – my brother made me a playlist with everything from Norwegian house party music to the Beatles. But, the further I went, the more I enjoyed just experiencing the silence.
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On the expedition itself, I was surprised that there was so much snowfall – the Antarctic is technically a desert because it doesn't typically experience much precipitation. On the hardest days, I was in fresh snow up to my knees and could only go 9.5km in 10 hours. That tested my resilience. Then, when I arrived on the plateau 2,800m above sea level, I really felt the thin and cold air affecting my lungs. Towards the end, my lungs were painful, and I struggled to breathe.
Before finishing, I didn't allow myself to feel much, because I had to be focused. So when I arrived, 54 days after setting out, it was fantastic to revel in what I had achieved, though I also felt a slight emptiness because my life for so long had been about planning this project. In January, I received official accreditation from Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions confirming I had broken the record.
When I crossed Greenland, Lars nicknamed me 'the polar egg'. The idea was that one day I would hatch and do a bigger expedition on my own. When I reached the south pole I sent him an emoji of a chick emerging from an egg. Though with everything I've experienced I feel much older than that.
As told to Rachel Halliburton
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