Bradford College students inspired by polar adventurers

TWO record-breaking women shared tales of their polar adventure to inspire students to achieve their dreams.

Major Sandy Hennis and Lance Sergeant Sophie Montagne spoke to students at Bradford College about their incredible trek across Antarctica.

The pair were part the Ice Maiden team, a group of six women from the British Army, who, in January this year, became the first all-female group to use muscle power alone to ski coast-to-coast across Antarctica.

After sharing tales of the highs and lows of their 60-day, 1,700km journey in which they skied 10-hours each day pulling sledges weighing up to 80kg, battled temperatures of -50°C and wind speeds of over 60mph the two soldiers, who are both Reservists, asked the students to identify their own ‘Antarctica’ and encouraged them to have the confidence to achieve their own ambitions.

LSgt Sophie Montagne said: “We are visiting schools and colleges all over the country and asking – what are you going to do? It doesn’t need to be Antarctica. It could be any dream, any goal. Whether it is passing your course at college, passing your driving test, learning a language. Everybody has their goals and has something they want to achieve in life. It is just a question of how are you going to get there and putting the small steps in place to make it a reality.”