A 21-year-old Norwegian woman has made history by becoming the youngest individual to ski solo and unassisted to the South Pole, her team revealed to AFP on Tuesday. Karen Kylleso completed this remarkable achievement overnight between Monday and Tuesday, marking 114 years since Roald Amundsen, a fellow Norwegian polar explorer, first reached the South Pole.
Born on May 9, 2003, Kylleso covered a distance of 702 miles in just under 54 days. Describing her accomplishment, her mentor, Norwegian adventurer Lars Ebbesen, stated to AFP, “It’s a page written in polar history.”
Sharing her triumph with the world, Kylleso uploaded images of reaching the South Pole on her Instagram account. In doing so, the young Scandinavian surpassed Pierre Hedan of France, who previously held the record for being the youngest person to reach the South Pole solo and unassisted at the age of 26 on January 7, 2024, as per Guinness World Records.
Standing at just 5 feet tall and weighing 106 pounds, Kylleso pulled a sled weighing 100 kilos, equivalent to twice her body weight, in her quest to reach the pole. In an interview with adventure company Shackleton in November, Kylleso shared, “Gaining weight has been one of the hardest parts. Since I’m smaller than the average male doing this, I need extra weight and strength to pull the same load.” She added that she increased her body weight by 10% before embarking on the expedition.
Braving freezing temperatures, Kylleso arrived at the South Pole late on Monday night with the thermometer reading around -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit). Prior to this extraordinary feat, Kylleso had already made a name for herself by becoming the youngest girl to ski across Greenland at the age of 15 in 2018.
Recalling his first encounter with Kylleso, Ebbesen shared, “She had barely even arrived (in Greenland) before she asked me: ‘Do you think I can also go to the South Pole?'” The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, commended the young adventurer on Tuesday, noting that she was “following in the trails of Norwegian polar heroes.”
On December 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen solidified his place in history by becoming the first person to reach the geographic South Pole. This feat was accomplished amidst a tragic race against Britain’s Robert Scott, who tragically succumbed to exhaustion and cold on the return journey along with his four companions.
Kylleso’s achievement echoes the inspiring journey of Preet Chandi, who a few years prior skied solo to the South Pole, becoming the first woman of color to achieve this remarkable feat. Reflecting on her accomplishment, Chandi shared with CBS News, “I want to encourage people to, you know, be proud of their
