Supporting the Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition
In June of this year we received an e-mail from the Project manager of the Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition. The Expedition had already been brought to our attention through the involvement of one of our leading brands – Mountain Equipment however it was not until Helen got in touch that we appreciated the enormity of the challenge that lay ahead for these 8 women.
A team of 8 women from the Commonwealth countries of Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom will ski from the coast of Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole. Covering a distance of 800km in 30-40 days, the team will be completely self-sufficient for the duration of the expedition.
The team members from Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana and Jamaica will be the first person from their country to ski to the South Pole. Those from India, New Zealand and Singapore will be the first women from their country to do so.
Very few all-female teams have skied to the South Pole, and even fewer that are as international as the Commonwealth team, which represents 5 continents, 6 faiths and 7 languages. The expedition is the first Commonwealth-wide project to bring together women from all regions and hopes to draw attention to the achievements of women in the world today. The team members were selected from over 800 applicants. They are not elite athletes but ordinary women – including wives and mothers. Many of the team had not experienced sub-zero temperatures or spent the night in a tent before joining the expedition.
The team will be led by Felicity Aston who is a British expedition leader who spent 3 continuous years in the Antarctic, living and working at Rothera Research Station for the British Antarctic Survey. Her job as a meteorologist involved monitoring ozone depletion and climate change.
Ellis Brigham are proud to be to assist the expedition in their quest and we hope to bring you feeds from the expedition members as they make their way to the North Pole.
If you would like to find out more about the expedition then please visit: www.kasperskycommonwealthexpedition.com
The following kit has been provided by Ellis Brigham:
Spork
Lifeventure thermal mugs
Nalgene 1L wide mouth bottle
Terra Nova bothy 4 person
Thorlo ski light knee length socks
4L Ultra silk dry sacks
Stuff sacks
GPS (Garmin Etrex)
Mountain Equipment powerstretch gloves
thermal liners
fleece neck tubes
MSR XGK stoves
MSR 33oz fuel bottle
