The Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition was a Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 expedition in which seven women from six Commonwealth member countries skied

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

 to the South Pole

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...

 in 2009 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth. They had been selected among over 800 candidates.

It took the expedition 38 days to reach the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is the American scientific research station on the high plateau of Antarctica. This station is located at the southernmost place on the Earth, the Geographic South Pole, at an elevation of 2,835 meters above sea level.The original Amundsen-Scott Station was...

, skiing six to ten hours a day, covering an average of 24 km a day. In total, they covered 904 km. They reached their destination on December 29.

The team took a day off on Christmas Day. Team leader Felicity Aston, of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, explained: "Half of the team don’t usually celebrate Christmas so the others are having great fun teaching them Christmas songs and explaining why they have to hang their smelly socks outside the tent on Christmas Eve".

The expedition marked several firsts. Era Al-Sufri, Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu, Sophia Pang, Stephanie Solomonides and Kylie Wakelin were, respectively, the first Brunei

Brunei

Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

an woman, the first India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n woman, the first Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

an woman, the first Cypriot

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

 and the first New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 woman to ski to the South Pole.

Completed the trek

- Felicity Aston (expedition leader) - Era Al-Sufri - Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu

Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu

Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu is the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole.-Early life:Reena was born into a Hindu family from Punjab. Her father was a Punjabi while her mother was from Uttar Pradesh. She grew up in Darjeeling. She attended mountaineering courses at the Himalayan Mountaineering...

 - Sophia Pang - Stephanie Solomonides

Stephanie Solomonides

Stephanie Solomonides, born in 1982 in Nicosia, is the first Cypriot to have skied to the South Pole. She reached it on December 29, 2009 as part of the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition. She and seven other women from seven other Commonwealth countries were selected among over 800...

 - Helen Turton (instructed and trained the team; replaced Barbara Yanney) - Kylie Wakelin

Pulled out

- Barbara Yanney. Contracted malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

 before departure. Recovered, but was unable to take part. - Kim-Marie Spence. Pulled out on the third day, due to frostbite

Frostbite

Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...

on her fingers.