"On the whole I'm a pretty calm person anyway, so I think it will be okay." That was 33-year-old Hannah McKeand, from Newbury, before she set off on a trek towards history. She's aiming to complete the 690-mile journey from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole in the fastest time on record. That means getting there in less than 42 days to beat the previous best, alone on a set of skis for the duration. | "It's so cold that nothing's terribly easy at the moment." | | Hannah McKeand |
Well, not quite alone. Hannah's had BBC Radio Berkshire's Henry Kelly to talk to each week, via satellite phone. 'I was half buried' Henry and Hannah spoke while Hannah was completing a training exercise in Antarctica leading up to the start of her solo expedition. "I'm sitting in the middle of nowhere, between two small hills - which is quite exciting, for Antarctica," Hannah told him. "There's a strong wind which is dropping to the temperature to minus 20 degrees, which is pretty nasty. "I've got very little visibility, there's lots of snow blowing around. There's no snow falling but the old snow is blowing up to a kilometre off the ground near the tent - I was half buried after the night." It all sounded bleak to Henry, who asked if there were any other signs of life around her. "There's nothing at all - no penguins, no nothing. The base camp is about 15 miles away now, and that's where civilization is, but I'm heading south into nothing at the moment." 'That's it, I'm getting in my sleeping bag' Hannah is no stranger to expeditions, despite her background in the considerably less physically taxing environment of theatre marketing. She's been to the South Pole before, trekked through African deserts, pitched up in Afghan mountain ranges, and competed in a round-the-world yacht race. Even after all that preparation Hannah said she was facing harsh realities, as she explained why she uses skis. "The snow is fairly firm but if you start walking in it you sink down - on skis you slip over the top of it quite easily, that makes life easier. "But it's so cold that nothing's terribly easy at the moment." That was just the training for Hannah. A week later Henry caught up with her again - this time she was trekking for real, and finding it just as tough. "It's been so windy the last few days that one day I just stopped and said 'That's it, I'm getting in my sleeping bag, I'm not playing any more!'
 | | Hannah's website shows a map of her progress. |
"I've done about 100 nautical miles now with 500 to go. I'm doing better than I had hoped so that's got to be good. I've got to step up the pace though."
Find out more and follow Hannah's progress using her website:
Hannah McKeand's website >
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Henry took advantage of the satellite phone link-up to introduce a special guest into the conversation. Hannah's dad, Ian, got the chance to pass on his best wishes and support to his intrepid daughter. "I've had so much support from my dad," said a delighted Hannah at the other end of the line, eleven thousand miles away. | 
