An Australian teenager is hoping to be the youngest person to conquer three polar regions.
Jade Hameister, 14, is flying out of her hometown of Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday night to head to the North Pole for an expedition that will see her eventually cover 2,000 kilometres (1243 miles) across three separate trips: the North Pole, Greenland and South Pole.
These three treks together, which are being called the Polar Hat Trick, will be undertaken separately. The North Pole adventure will take place across the next 21 days, the Greenland Crossing in April 2017 and finally, the South Pole in the summer of 2017.
Hameister got the idea for the epic journey from an Icelandic woman she met when she trekked the Everest Base Camp when she was 12 years old. The woman had done a South Pole solo mission and Hameister said she it inspired her to start her own adventure.
“It was a year later, that I decided I really wanted to do it and I kind of became obsessive,” Hameister told Mashable Australia. “[Training started] as soon as we found out it would be possible for me to do it at my age.”
She said her family talked to experts and adventurers to make sure it would be possible for her to take on the mission at just 14 years old. She said the major risk was her not making it. “I’m a bit excited, a bit nervous. Nervous about all the challenges we will experience,” she said, before detailing some pretty insane challenges.
“There is stuff like floating sea ice so we might fall through the ice of the Arctic Ocean and we will also be crossing open water lands, where someone will get on a raft and pull someone across. Well, get on the sled we are pulling and turn it into a raft,” she explained.
There is the hypothermia, the frost bite and oh, the polar bears.
There are also compression zones, which she said are where the ice collides to create 1 to 2 metre obstacles to ski over. Then there is the hypothermia, the frost bite and oh, the polar bears. Hameister sounds like an old pro, while speaking about the risks like they are just a walk in the park.
To prepare for the polar journey, Hameister started training intensively one year ago. Earlier this year, she attended a training camp in New Zealand where she learnt survival skills and how to ski. She has only previously skied once as a child, but explained the journey is more about weight balance and walking with the skis so you don’t fall through the ice.
“We did a five day training camp in New Zealand, learning the basics and how to cross country ski and the skills we will need to know,” she said. “In terms of training and fitness, we have been doing lots of crossfit to build strength and endurance. We have been pulling a tyre on beaches, and we have been at the Melbourne Altitude training room once a week.”
Jade Hameister will take on frost bite, polar bears and uneven ice.
Image: Jade Hameister,
The massive exploration, which will be documented by National Geographic, will see Hameister first head to Oslo for four days of preparations and training, before she is flown on Apr. 4 to a temporary base.
From here, the young adventurer will attempt to ski across more than 225 kilometres (140 miles) on floating sea ice in the Arctic Ocean to reach the North Pole.
Hameister won’t be doing it alone. She will have the support of her father, Paul, who has climbed Mount Everest, and master polar guide, Eric Philips, who was the first Australian with his partner to ski both the North and South Poles.
She said she is ready for the epic mission.
Image: Jade Hameister
It is not for the light hearted and is an epic mission for a teenage girl to undertake, but she said she is ready and prepared for the journey.
“I’m so excited. I’ve trained so hard for this and it has been such a big build up. I can’t wait to get on the ice,” Hameister said in an emailed statement. “I’m really hoping my trip will inspire young women to be more active and chase their dreams.”
The inspiring explorer will be documenting her wild adventure on Instagram with one photo a day.
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