Record-breaker Polar Preet en route to Union Glacier as Army officer begins journey home

After a delayed rendezvous because of weather and poor terrain, Polar Preet has rendezvoused with her pilot and has taken off to head to Union Glacier.

British Army officer Captain Preet Chandi – known as Polar Preet – is expected to spend some time recovering at Union Glacier, the Antarctica base camp, before leaving the continent.

Capt Chandi 'broke the world record' for the longest, solo, unsupported and unassisted polar expedition by any woman in history, according to her team last week.

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She is said to have passed the previous female record which was 1,368 km skied by Anja Blacha from Germany in 2019.

This was not Capt Chandi's first Antarctic mission. In January last year she became the first woman of colour to reach the South Pole unsupported, a challenge she completed in 40 days, just short of the female world record.

Polar Preet had to endure temperatures of -50°C and wind speeds up to 60mph as well as hauling a sledge weighing around 120kg, loaded with her kit.

Capt Chandi is a physiotherapist from 3 Medical Regiment working at a Regional Rehabilitation Unit in Buckinghamshire, providing rehabilitation for injured soldiers and officers.

In October, the Princess of Wales became a patron of Polar Preet's Antarctica challenge.

The Prince and Princess of Wales even made sure to wish Capt Chandi good luck before she set off on her latest expedition.