Even as the autumn climbing season in the Himalaya is starting to ramp up, we’re already starting to look ahead to the upcoming Antarctic expedition season as well. While still more than a month and a half away from truly getting started, there are already a number of adventurous individuals who are preparing to embark on a journey to the South Pole. Take Mollie Hughes for instance. This Scottish adventurer hopes to become the youngest woman to ever ski solo and unsupported to the bottom of the world, but in order to do that she needs to raise some more funds and she’s come up with a unique proposition to do just that.
Skiing across the Antarctic isn’t inexpensive, and Hughes has already come up with most of the cash she needs to fund her expedition. But she still needs £15,000 ($18,540) by October. To raise that cash, she has launched a Crowdfunder page and has already pulled in about £2200 ($2719). That won’t get her to where she wants to go however, so she has vowed to get a tattoo on her behind if someone donates the full amount that she needs. That person will be given free reign to decide what that tattoo will be. She did something similar a few years back while raising funds for an expedition to Everest as well, which resulted in two kissing chickens being permanently applied to her the right side of her bum.
Speaking of Everest, Mollie had already climbed that mountain twice, once from the South Side and once from the North. She is apparently the youngest woman to accomplish that feat, having done so at the age of 26. Now, she’s hoping to achieve a similar goal in the Antarctic by skiing more than 700 miles (1126 km) to the South Pole, solo and completely unsupported. Only a handful of women have ever done that and Hughes would like to add her name to the list. But in order to do so, she needs to raise just a bit more cash to get her off on this next adventure.
If all goes as planned, and Mollie manages to collect the funds she needs, she plans to depart for Antarctica around mid-November. She estimates it will take about two months to complete the entire journey, returning home to the U.K. around mid-January. If she does get her expedition funded and off the ground, you know we’ll be following her journey closely.
Shout out to Explorers Web for sharing the story.
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