Dragging everything she could possibly need behind her, one woman became the first Cypriot national to ski to the South Pole. ELENI ANTONIOU meets her
Everyone’s done something they’re proud of but for Stephanie Solomonides the feat has won her a place in the record books; she is the first Cypriot to have skied to the South Pole.
Wearing this season’s popular colourful flat boots, dressed down with a long cardigan and jeans and sporting an arm stacked with bracelets and charms make no mistake, Stephanie isn’t your typical late 20s girl. She may look the part with a natural fresh face and chin-length brown hair but there’s something about her that sets her apart from the rest.
Talking to her in a quiet Nicosia cafe, it’s hard to believe that a couple of months ago she was surrounded by snow, vast vistas of snow disappearing into the horizon, and nothing else. She was also skiing, 560 miles in 38 days to be precise, and eventually ended up on The Today Show in New York speaking of her experiences. Yet she is casual, putting the words ‘Queen’ and ‘met’ in the same sentence without pausing. “It was a mind-boggling experience,” she says as she stops to clear up that she did in fact meet Queen Elizabeth II, someone, she adds, who is just “a granny and looks like she should go home and make tea for her grandchildren”.
Her journey started in August 2008 when Stephanie, an athletic 27-year-old IT Implementation Officer, decided, half an hour before the deadline, to apply to be part of another woman’s dream to bring together eight women from Commonwealth countries to ski across Antarctica to the geographic South Pole. “It was a completely spur of the moment decision,” she says. “A friend emailed me the link, so I filled in the application with absolutely no consideration of actually making it and sent it on.” Meanwhile 800 other women (this expedition would star an all-female cast) had done the same thing. Of the 800, eight were eventually chosen – from Ghana, India, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Jamaica and the United Kingdom – groomed, prepared and trained to be the first person from each country to achieve this extraordinary adventure’s goal.
“It marked the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth and the expedition aimed to demonstrate an intercultural understanding and exchange and at the same time promote women and the achievements they can accomplish. It was a unique opportunity to get involved in something of this magnitude and I took it without hesitation.” With parents and friends supporting her decision, Stephanie set out to begin training.
In February 2009, she traveled to Norway, where the first training session took place. There she learned how to cross-country ski, set up a tent and basic first-aid. “I had only ever been skiing once and some of the other girls there had never even seen snow, so the training was absolutely necessary.” In fact, she says, the only pre-requisite was the ability to speak English. Of course, based on the extensive training and magnitude of their aim, the women were picked for a number of characteristics. Stephanie is a clear example of the eagerness yet seriousness that were absolutely vital qualities to survive such a situation.
Training was intense. “Where we were going and what we were going to be doing was intense in itself, so it would’ve been silly to expect anything less from the training. “It wasn’t easy and we had to change our basic routines by eating smaller portions of food and incorporating more protein in our diet and of course, exercising.” She also started swimming again – a sport Stephanie has always loved – to gain strength.
Having found sponsorship, in the form of Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management systems, the team, now called the Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition team, came together at the beginning of November 2009 for some last minute preparations. They arrived at Patriot Hills, Antarctica, on November 12. “It was a gorgeous day when we arrived,” Stephanie recalls. “But it was a frightening experience landing on that blue ice runway.”
Leaving behind her accessories and everything from her life back in civilization – “every gram counts when you’re lugging so much equipment” – Stephanie and the rest of the girls landed in Antarctica decked in layers of water-proof fleeces, thermal underwear and wind-proof jackets, hats and gloves. Fashion-challenged as they were though, nothing, not even the sharp cold, came close to affecting the team’s positive attitude when they came face to face with the view. “It was relatively warm,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But the beautiful blue skies were the first thing that made me smile.”
Things would get a little frightening when, two days later, winds of up to 90km/h and what would later be named by the team as the Great Storm, shredded their tents, leaving them exposed and focused. “That was what we were,” she says. “Focused. We had to be. I don’t remember getting scared but instead just focusing on protecting the equipment and the team.”
The next day, having glued and sewed the tents back together the team moved forward feeling more united and connected after the terrifying experience. Things would get a little worse, however, when the Jamaican participant got frostbite in six of her fingers. Leaving the rest scared and shocked, she was flown out but thankfully later made a full-recovery. “It was shocking because we suddenly realised that if we weren’t aware and on our toes every second, things could turn very ugly. Kim-Marie hadn’t realised that a simple mistake like wearing slightly wet gloves would develop into frostbite in a matter of minutes.” Perhaps not so surprising given that temperatures dropped to minus 25. Stephanie herself suffered a similar problem as sweating was something she couldn’t avoid in the attire she was wearing.
Dragging 60kg of equipment and supplies behind them, the women set out again. They were averaging an exhausting 15 to 16 nautical miles (22km) a day yet excitement grew stronger as they closed in on their goal. “The first days we were utterly in awe of the vastness, skiing in a line, yet looking around us unable to understand where we were or what we were doing.”
However, being so over-awed would soon develop into mental pressure. “People don’t think of the fact that when you’re in a place like that, all you see is snow, nothing but the same view day after day. This can trick you into thinking you’re making no progress, stuck in the same place, doing the same thing. If it wasn’t for our iPods I don’t know what we would have done.” This would create another unfortunate situation as Stephanie’s i-Pod – charged by solar power – would later break, leaving her with nothing but her thoughts. “I was so upset, you have no idea. It got worse during the really bad days when the weather wasn’t on our side and I could feel the aches and pains but I couldn’t afford to get distracted. Unless there was a blizzard we were moving.”
So what exactly did a day in Antarctica involve? “Skiing,” she says bluntly. “That’s what we were doing all day. We had to reach our destination and that’s what I mean by mental pressure. We were doing the same thing day in, day out.” Stephanie is quick to note that if it hadn’t been for the team’s conversations and easy-going attitude the situation would have undoubtedly been harder. “You know, we missed our friends and family but thankfully we got along and it made things easier. We had fun.” The team did get the chance to speak to their loved ones however. “As Christmas drew closer, we were allowed a phone call to our relatives via satellite phones. It was great speaking to them and we were all looking forward to it but you could tell later on that day that most of us were lost in our thoughts and affected by their voices. That’s also one of the reasons we didn’t have contact with our families everyday. It would’ve been so hard to concentrate.”
At the end of each day, which would begin at 6:30 sharp, the women would set up tent and build snow walls. “These were there to protect us from the winds.” Dinner was a foil pouch which just needed hot water added to it before eating. Naturally, foods with extra fat, protein, sugar and carbohydrates were all these women were feasting on yet understandably some lost up to 6kg in weight. “We were eating up to 5,000 calories a day.” Which also meant that their bowels were in full working order. “Not that I want to elaborate on that, but I will tell you that it wasn’t left there.”
On December 29, almost 18 days after starting out, the Kaspersky Team arrived at the South Pole. “We were in tears when we got there. We were excited, satisfied and relieved we made it alive and well.” On the day of their arrival, team leader, founder and chief coordinator of the project Felicity Ashton PodCasted that the girls from seven countries became the first women from each to reach the South Pole.
Fast-forward a month of firsts later that included talks to primary schools, television obligations, press commitments and welcoming parties and Stephanie has never appreciated hot water, beds or toilets more. “I slept so much when I got back. Basically that’s all I did: eat and sleep. My mind also had to adapt to civilisation and life in Cyprus because I had been away for three months.” She’s back to work now although the memories of the expedition are still very much a part of her life. She has been on a non-stop route of interviews yet something about the way she talks of Antarctica towards the end of our interview implies Stephanie might actually do this all over again. She gives me a cheeky grin and says: “I’m already looking into it.”
