Harpreet Chandi, a 32-year-old captain of Indian-origin serving with the British army, has become the first woman of colour to reach the South Pole after a 700 miles solo unaided trekking expedition across the freezing Antarctic wilderness.

Captain Harpreet Chandi, known as “Polar Preet” to her friends, pulled her own sledge loaded with her kit and battled temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of up to 60mph to accomplish the remarkable feat.

She reported the successful completion of her journey on her blog: “Hello everyone, checking in from Day 40. I made it to the South Pole where it’s snowing. Feeling so many emotions right now. I knew nothing about the polar world three years ago and it feels so surreal to finally be here. It was tough getting here and I want to thank everybody for their support.”

“This expedition was always about so much more than me. I want to encourage people to push their boundaries and to believe in themselves, and I want you to be able to do it without being labelled a rebel. I have been told no on many occasions and told to ‘just do the normal thing’, but we create our own normal. You are capable of anything you want. No-matter where you are from or where your start line is, everybody starts somewhere. I don’t want to just break the glass ceiling, I want to smash it into a million pieces.”

She began her journey on November 24 when an aircraft dropped her off at the starting point on the Union Glacier.