Preet Chandi believes she has broken a third world record by covering 1,130km (702 miles) of Antarctic ice in 31 days, 13 hours and 19 minutes.
This needs to be verified by the Guinness World Records team.
Capt Chandi, from Derby, said: "I'm tired - but so glad I made it."
A very impressive achievement.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@spyderjon works his magic again.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Her previous "records" are a bit underwhelming when you actually hear the details. Pretty much everyone doing an Antarctica expedition leaves with some kind of record these days, however niche and artificial.
@boarder2020, it's pretty good, and despite the criticism that every adventurer seems to come back with some sort of record ("quickest crossing by a man under 6ft and aged over 57") that's part of the media game.
If you're not impressed, try it yourself and come back and report on your success. I know first hand what conditions can be like there and what some of the routes entail, and anyone who makes it deserves credit.
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adithorp wrote:
Don't tell @Frosty the Snowman,
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
that's part of the media game.
Yes. I understand that's a big help in getting funding for your trip and for your post trip book and after dinner speech gigs.
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If you're not impressed, try it yourself and come back and report on your success.
I'd be happy to if someone was going to stump up the money, which I guess is around $100k? I will go for a full crossing, fail, but spend enough days out there to claim the "longest" solo expedition record while travelling much slower than others
Fwiw I have a few non-polar FKTs. They are completely unimpressive and thousands of trail runners could beat them. I just happened to run a couple of niche hiking routes in kyrgyzstan nobody else has. I have no idea if this time she has done is particularly good, or it's just something that is not attempted by many (I assume most solo expedition goals are simply to make the pole rather than try and do it as quickly as possible). For all I know there are thousands of x-country skiers that would smash the time but dont have the money to go out and do it.
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I know first hand what conditions can be like there
Supposedly she had great conditions. Should that be held against her? I don't really think so, but again it's another confounding factor in judging these records. The person that is a day slower but deals with huge headwinds and storms is likely a more impressive feat than the person that did it a day faster in perfect conditions. Maybe we just have to accept a little luck is involved.
Like I said I will leave it for those with more knowledge of polar travel than me to judge just how good her record is. Of course simply getting to the pole solo is a great accomplishment in itself.
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boarder2020 wrote:
For all I know there are thousands of x-country skiers that would smash the time but dont have the money to go out and do it.
Tania Noakes, an army captain, did 2,533km to cover Norway end to end in 82 days. So it would seem to be a similar time. Tania is a very fit cross country skier and obviously Norway is not the Antartic so that maybe gives some kind of perspective. Ms Chandri was pulling a pulka, which complicates the whole operation. She was covering 36km per day, which would seem to be a considerable distance in the conditions and given the extra weight but details are scant about the trip. Christian Eide has the overall record of 24 days completed in good weather, the Americans running the South Pole base did not invite him in for a cuppa and were "unwelcoming" according to Eide.
Ms Chandri is using Asnes metal edged nordic skis with a simple nordic NNN touring binding - probably for reliability but not skiability. I'd imagine any slopes, especially with a pulka, would have been "fun". They are also not so great to ski on scrapled, icy snow of which I imagine there is a lot in the Antartic.
On the point of bad weather, Scott's expedition proved deadly due to bad luck with the weather. Amudsen faced the same conditions to Scott but moved faster, arriving on the 14th December 1911, so took advantage of the weather window. Ultimately in the Antartic your luck with the weather runs out. Scott reached the pole in mid January and perished on the return.
at the end of the day no one gives a fig about the professional Norwegian who got it all right, it is Scott's tragic expedition that captures the imagination.
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ousekjarr wrote:
@boarder2020 If you're not impressed, try it yourself and come back and report on your success.
+1
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@ed123, I'm more than willing. How much will you be contributing to my sponsorship?
@davidof, Tania's expedition was a lot longer. Also from what I gather she was not trying to do it as fast as possible, the goal was simply to get from a-b. Also she experienced some pretty awful conditions along the way (-40c), and when she started there would only have been around 6 hours day light per day. I expect crossing Norway involved much more vertical elevation also, of course that may also mean some coasting down hill. Tania wasn't pulling a sled, and in comparison it was much less remote with access to huts and resupply. So difficult to directly compare the two.
Apparently Chandi skied around 12-14 hours per day. Of course that's impressive. But in the world of ultra endurance it's not uncommon for much longer days. Again though it's difficult to compare as the Antarctic environment is completely different.
I'm definitely not suggesting what Chandi did was easy. But until lots of superfit experienced people have attempted the record it's hard to judge exactly how impressive it is. Which is problematic as the cost is a huge barrier meaning only a very few people will ever attempt it. Also, it's probably far easier (physically and in terms of sponsorship and making a career from it) to go for a new artificial record where there is no real competition and you are pretty much guaranteed it by default.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
boarder2020 wrote:
But until lots of superfit experienced people have attempted the record it's hard to judge exactly how impressive it is.
Don't hold your breath, how many people want to spend 30 days dragging a sledge across a featureless wasteland in freezing weather to not even get a cup of tea when they reach the south pole? I imagine the super fit have better things to do
So maybe not purely a physical performance but certainly requiring mental fortitude and organisational skills.
Anyway records are made to be broken.
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The mountains are the means
The man is the end
The idea is to improve the man
Not to reach the top
Walter Bonatti
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Hurtle wrote:
Dave of the Marmottes wrote:
@spyderjon works his magic again.
I believe he may have been involved in setting up her kit, not that he was pacing her throughout
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
ousekjarr wrote:
...If you're not impressed, try it yourself and come back and report on your success.
I don't really understand the logic of that argument. I'm not impressed with Liz Truss, but do I really have to become an incompetent politician in order to be able to express my opinion? I don't think that works at all.
The "record" pretends to be important, but only for the completely ignorant, who in this case are journalists.
"unsupported" - does that mean she didn't have a beacon, radio, or access to emergency services in case of emergency? That's what "unsupported" would actually mean.
Scott/ Amudsen: I think that's only a thing for British folk; anyone with a wider education sees that story very differently. Shackleton is the man.
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phil_w wrote:
Scott/ Amudsen: I think that's only a thing for British folk; anyone with a wider education sees that story very differently. Shackleton is the man.
I went to a big exhibition "The Race for the South Pole" at the Confluence museum in Lyon. The whole thing was devoted to Scott with just a tiny corner where they mentioned that Amudsen had actually got there first. So not just a Brit thing.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@phil_w, "unsupported" means no supply drops, no depots, no convenient sheds along the way, etc. If you really do want people to die if something goes wrong, denying them a beacon or rescue services is not your decision to make and I don't think it is a view that many would share, and even with the modern aids such a trek comes with a significant risk of death if things go wrong. The route is chosen for its accessibility, but there is still the risk of storms, crevasses, icefalls from cliffs and many other things which can still kill you fairly easily, so this is not exactly a walk along the Pennine Way or indeed anything even vaguely similar.
As for Liz Truss, bear in mind that she set out to go from A to B in 2 years, backtracked 0.5% of the way along and then was kicked off the team. Not exactly a valid comparison, is it?
Shackleton is not the man - he's one of the men, and he came close to killing himself and his whole crew. That he was able to effect a rescue with a spectacular piece of seamanship (or luck, depending on your viewpoint) is to his credit, but Scott came closer to success and Amundsen achieved it. None of them were superhuman, none of them were perfect, but all of them were driven individuals who left a legacy. Don't belittle any of them, and also don't belittle someone who has gone out to do something that I suspect very few on Snowheads would be able to achieve, and none in that time.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Don't belittle any of them, and also don't belittle someone who has gone out to do something that I suspect very few on Snowheads would be able to achieve, and none in that time.
Nobody is belittling anyone. Nobody is saying it is easy. The problem with Chandi's record is there is no bar to judge it on, and there is no realistic opportunity ($$$) for the majority of people that could be faster to actually attempt it.
I can tell you all about my FKTs in kyrgyzstan, but they are rather worthless for the same reason. When someone runs a marathon or cycles up alpe d'huez we have a pretty good idea of exactly where they stand in relation to others. When we look at Chandi's time we have no idea - it could be one of the greatest feats ever, or it could just be that she happens to be the fastest of a very tiny minority of people that have attempted it.
I have to say the artificial creation of her last record (and of Antarctica records in general being pretty suspect) does make me question the current one more than I probably otherwise would.
I believe he may have been involved in setting up her kit, not that he was pacing her throughout
Antartic kit supply/set-up has been a little specialism of mine since I set-up the kit for Ben Saunders' unsupported expedition a number of years ago. It's a pretty small group of people who attempt this feat (of madness IMO) and I appear to have accidentally become the go-to-guy for bindings, mod'ing boot/binding interfaces, Quiver Killer inserts, permanent skin attachment etc for those going to both poles and likes of Northern Greenland and Nunavut etc.
Those seemingly dismissing Preets achievements on this and previous expeditions need to do some further reading as to what's actually involved in terms of mental/physical prowess and risk as well as the weather conditions/temperatures during her cross polar trip. And whilst an 'unsupported' trip does allow the use of a beacon/sat phone if the weather is bad and it all goes pear-shaped the chances of being rescued within a couple of days are virtually nil. Whilst Preet was hoping to go for the speed record on this trip she kept it on the downlow as new untried equipment (lighter boots/bindings but reduced insulation/durability) was being tested plus there was the weight saving option of only having one pair of skis (which are pretty fragile) with one set of back-up bindings. I don't yet know if she went with the one ski option.
Preet has had little to no support from the Army in the past so has taken a leave of absence from the Army (for a couple of years IIRC) to do this trip and some other future 'stuff'. And whilst the trip cost is a lot less than figures mentioned here this has now allowed her to seek some sponsorship which was previously very difficult to do whilst she was a physio in the Army. She still had to sell her car though to help fund this trip.
As for post trip books and after dinner speeches then Preets mission is to encourage physical activity in kids, especially girls, and after her last trip she toured dozens of schools to give talks etc and literally thousands of those kids have been following her progress on her recent trip on a daily basis - but it's not exactly a money maker
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Those belittling Preets achievements on this and previous expeditions need to do some further reading as to what's actually involved in terms of mental/physical prowess and risk as well as the weather conditions/temperatures during her cross polar trip.
Nobody is saying it's easy. We are simply saying it's much more difficult to guage how impressive her record is than it would be for something like running a marathon.
It could be really impressive. It could be achievable by many who just can't afford the expedition cost. We just don't know until more people (and ideally some with an elite sport background) give it a go - and I'm aware this is almost uncertain to happen anytime soon.
The fact she made an artificial record to cover up her failed Antarctica crossing does mean people are going to be more skeptical of her.
.......The fact she made an artificial record to cover up her failed Antarctica crossing does mean people are going to be more skeptical of her.
Oh come on. She didn't "make up" any artificial record at all. Her trip was beset with bad weather which slowed her progress considerably to the point were the conditions had become so dangerous that the 'authority' that manages these attempts told her she had to stop. She didn't actually have that far to go but the management of these attempts is very strict as they're constantly monitoring progress/food supplies/weather/snow conditions etc and if they say you have to stop then you have to. So the fact that she'd then been 'out there' (and survived) that long is then a fact, and certainly not made up.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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@spyderjon, from explorers web:
Preet Chandi, for example, had set out to ski from Hercules Inlet to the Reedy Glacier on the Ross Ice Shelf, a journey of some 1,700km and 75 days. Chandi struggled to keep up with the required mileage in the soft snow and sastrugi. But after 57 days, she eventually reached the South Pole on January 10.
Once at the Pole, Chandi announced that she would keep sledding onward until January 22 and then be evacuated by plane. Only yesterday did it become apparent why the British adventurer had not stopped at the Pole, despite having no time to reach the Ross Ice Shelf. She wanted to claim that “world record for the longest, solo, unsupported, unassisted polar expedition by a woman.” The record was hurried out by her social media team while she was still skiing.
Poke around a little, though, and you might begin to feel that this is a little contrived. The previous record holder, Anja Blacha of Germany, had set the distance of 1,381km over 57 days on a complete journey from Berkner Island to the Pole in 2019-2020. In addition, Blacha had no intention of setting a distance record.
Media reports place Chandi as having skied 51km (1,397km over 68 days) further than Blacha and having taken 10 additional days to do so. Those extra kilometers came as part of an incomplete expedition, and as a presumably conscious decision to go that little further simply to craft a record. Considered in that context, it doesn’t quite have the same punch.
The British polar adventurer’s remarkable achievement of skiing 1,397km solo in Antarctica should stand by itself. Does it really need to be spun to make what was an incomplete expedition sound more noteworthy? Does a marginal improvement on a previous distance warrant trumpeting it as a major accomplishment? And can you claim a record by going further than earlier record holders, who didn’t know they were setting/intending to set a record in the first place?
Note that many potential record claims are provided to adventurers by ALE, the logistics company that organizes most expeditions on the continent. They are in the business of selling their wares. Sometimes that means tantalizing adventurers by pointing out how distinct their expeditions are from others. In Blacha’s certification letter in 2020, ALE listed no more than seven potential records, including “the first woman under 30 to ski solo, unsupported, & unassisted to the South Pole.”
Artificial doesn't mean "easy".
After all it is free
After all it is free
Bloody hell!
"Dog with a bone" comes to mind somewhat.
However, I'm sure the majority on here will be impressed with her feat....
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@Bergmeister, +1 and yes, I'm impressed.
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I'm waiting for the Daily Fail headline...
Antarctic record dismissed as just spin by unknown mediocre snowboarder. "Records mean nothing unless they're set by an Olympian"
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Quote:
Antarctic record dismissed as just spin by unknown mediocre snowboarder. "Records mean nothing unless they're set by an Olympian"
I'm pasting from an article from a respected website.
I've never said her old record was easy, but it was an artificial record. Is it as impressive as Anja Blacha full crossing in less time? I don't think so personally, but perhaps there is an argument to be made weather was so different it makes them incomparable?
If I was to go to Antarctica and just keep lapping a 1km loop until I cover more distance would that be sufficient to break the record? Am I allowed to use SPOT during an longest expedition attempt? Can I take dogs if I don't use them for assistance but as food source I don't need to carry? I suspect not for all three, but the fact we don't know shows how artificial it is.
As I've said her new record may be really impressive. But we just have no idea yet. That's not the same as saying it was easy or not impressive (solo to the south pole is clearly a great feat on its own, regardless of time). But there is no bar to judge it on. It's the same reason my FKTs in kyrgyzstan are not at all impressive, if only a few have attempted it you can't make a real assessment of how good a time is.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Chandi marched solo to the South Pole in 31 days in Dec 2023, the fastest woman ever (if confirmed).
Her Dec 2022, 1,485km solo South Pole trek, the longest ever -- by a man or woman -- was only 90% completed to its original plan, and thus not liked by some purist explorers.
Her Dec 2021 solo trek to the South Pole took 40 days and was the warmup.
She has a good record.
One of the best female explorers worldwide of all time.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
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I watched a documentary about Mike Horn skiing across the North Pole. He covered 20km per day pulling a pulka. So Chandi's 36km per day looks quite good by that marker.
One of the best female explorers worldwide of all time.
Is doing routes others have done previously "exploration"? Kilian Journet is imo one of the best athletes ever, but I wouldn't call him one of the greatest explorers.
Again, I'm not saying what she did isnt difficult. I'm just not sure it's true "exploration".
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I watched a documentary about Mike Horn skiing across the North Pole. He covered 20km per day pulling a pulka. So Chandi's 36km per day looks quite good by that marker.
Mike though, is an old guy although quite fit.
But I'm assuming his goal was just to get from a to b and he wasn't particularly trying to go fast? It's like my fkts in Kyrgyzstan, they are on hiking routes, most people do at a leisurely pace. So the fact I'm the fastest doesn't actually mean I'm fast, it's just a niche route nobody else has really ran. (Plenty of trail runners could absolutely smoke my time!). Which is my point it's hard to judge just how impressive it is, as I said before it could be one of the greatest feats ever, we just don't know until there is a larger sample size of people trying to race it.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@boarder2020,
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as I said before
Indeed
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
ousekjarr wrote:
"unsupported" means no supply drops, no depots, no convenient sheds along the way, etc.
Apologies for not making clear that I know what the media mean by "unsupported" and also that it's in no way unsupported, in the sense that folk like Shackleton were unsupported. You're only "unsupported" until you're supported. It's not what it sounds like. Support is on the end of the sat phone..
It is what it is, but not because there's a boy scout badge waiting for it.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
boarder2020 wrote:
But I'm assuming his goal was just to get from a to b and he wasn't particularly trying to go fast?
that seems like a reasonable assumption, obviously you have supplies and certain constraints but I don't think he was setting a speed record.
I watched another documentary last night. This time for the Antarctic route. Matthieu Tordeur was the first French person to complete the trek on skis. It took him 51 days. This video is a short version of what I watched
The Marathon time is probably more due to her trail running at that distance. The 5K time is about what my son runs 5k in (my son isn't a runner but at his University he placed in the pack of the "Sportifs de haut niveau" and i think he came in under 20 minutes for 5K), not bad for someone who has trouble getting out of bed. Caroline won the 2019 edition of the tour des cirques ultra trail which maybe helps to place her level a bit https://distances.plus/athletes/caroline-cote-tour-des-cirques-grp/
Anyway who will be the fastest Trans woman to the SP?
@davidof, Caroline's Strava times are far from "elite". Top women are running marathons below 16:40min 5km pace Like you say she is focused on ultras, so may not be doing much on flat or actually attempted to run a good 5km or marathon for example. Although I'd agree her ultra trail running results may be more appropriate for the discussion than a 5km time.
I'd love to see someone with an elite x-country ski background train for it and give it a go. I have to think all those years of skiing and presumably more efficient technique would give them a big advantage. Would be interesting to see kilian give it a go too, has the physiology + strong skimo background + expedition style experience + ultra racing experience.
Like I've said Preets achievement is clearly impressive. We just don't know exactly how impressive physically yet.
From an explorer point of view I tend to agree with messner “The public only understands velocity, they don’t understand climbing,”. Would rather see clearly talented people like Nims and Preet do new never before done stuff, rather than old stuff quicker. But I suspect I'm in the minority, and adding another record does more for their publicity and sponsorships.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I think we need Charlie Big Potatoes on this thread
I suspect that the reason why lots of ultra runners haven’t smashed this record already is because they aren’t hard enough, simple as that.
@boarder2020, for an equivalent you may understand, an elite cross country skier would take to man hauling a 90kg sledge across Antarctica like you'd take to dragging a pallet with 6 layers of house bricks behind you on your FKTs in Kyrgyzstan.
In other words, not at all.
Ooh, Côté's marathon time is over 4 hours - there are hundreds of club runners who could beat that, but they still couldn't do 30Km per day for 35 days.
Jeez, you must be real fun at parties
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
ousekjarr wrote:
@boarder2020, for an equivalent you may understand, an elite cross country skier would take to man hauling a 90kg sledge across Antarctica like you'd take to dragging a pallet with 6 layers of house bricks behind you on your FKTs in Kyrgyzstan.
Ooh, Côté's marathon time is over 4 hours - there are hundreds of club runners who could beat that, but they still couldn't do 30Km per day for 35 days.
I don't know how competitive these ultra events are but Côté gets paid to run them by the organisers as a guest runner so she can't be that bad.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Quote:
@boarder2020, for an equivalent you may understand, an elite cross country skier would take to man hauling a 90kg sledge across Antarctica like you'd take to dragging a pallet with 6 layers of house bricks behind you on your FKTs in Kyrgyzstan
There is a reason why I said "I'd love to see someone with an elite x-country ski background train for it and give it a go.".
Clearly they would have to train for dragging the sled. However, they've likely been doing 900hrs+ training per year, have elite vo2 max and physiology in general, and I have to think years spent on snow working on technique gives them some kind of advantage. Even the most marginal of saving in efficiency adds up significantly over all the hours needed to ski to the pole.
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Ooh, Côté's marathon time is over 4 hours - there are hundreds of club runners who could beat that, but they still couldn't do 30Km per day for 35 days.
Hundreds is an understatement. I think it's surprisingly slow considering her ultra performances. But like I said there's a good chance she's never actually tried to run a flat marathon fast, I'm sure she could do sub 4 easily if she wanted.
I suspect most club runners don't have the strength to pull a sled, and they almost certainly don't have the ski skills or expedition experience in sub zero temps.
But I'm sure Chandi and Côté were in a similar position at some point. Clearly, they trained themselves for Antarctica.
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I don't know how competitive these ultra events are but Côté gets paid to run them by the organisers as a guest runner so she can't be that bad.
Depends on the race. The big ones like UTMB are extremely competitive, the smaller ones it depends who shows up. I'm not sure any races are paying runners, many have not even traditionally paid the winners! Usually it's sponsors covering costs, but there is not really much money in ultra running (although that is changing https://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/culture-people/prize-money-in-trail-running/)
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Looks like the men’s record has just fallen. Looking forward to boarder2020’s critique
@Arno, I will leave it to explorersweb's expertise:
"Colliard covered the 1,130km in 22 days, 6 hours and 8 minutes. He bested Norwegian Christian Eide’s 2011 time of 24 days, 1 hour, and 13 minutes by a little under two days.
Unlike some Antarctic speed records, which may be classified as the least slow in a very limited pool of competitors, Eide’s effort has long been considered exceptional. Over the years, others had tried to best it, but conditions had not been favorable."
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Like you say she is focused on ultras, so may not be doing much on flat or actually attempted to run a good 5km or marathon for example. Although I'd agree her ultra trail running results may be more appropriate for the discussion than a 5km time.
