At 17, Katie Walter is the youngest person ever to reach the South Pole. She talks to Fiona Forman about trekking 112 miles for charity through the Antarctic wilderness One hundred years after the legendary explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton failed to complete the last 112 miles of his mission to the South Pole, Katie Walter – a 17-year-old girl from Nottinghamshire taking a break from her AS levels – picked up where he left off and finished the expedition. Navigating her way through glaciers and ice fields, while dragging a sledge weighing 40kg uphill and facing a relentless wind chill of -50°C, Katie bravely took on the challenge of a lifetime to raise money for two charities close to her heart.

What inspired you to do the South Pole expedition?
My headmistress read something out about it at school and I thought it over for two seconds before I decided I wanted to do it. I felt it would be a challenge and an adventure.

Did you set out to break the record for the youngest person ever to reach the South Pole?
It was really just by chance. It’s difficult for a person of any age to get there. I had to have lots of fitness tests and someone came to talk to me to make sure I was mentally ready.

Which charities did you do it for?
Dyslexia Action, because I’m dyslexic, and the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Trust because I live on a farm, so when people get injured they have to be airlifted to hospital.
I’ve raised nearly £2,000 so far.

When did you start preparing for the trip?
I started training about two years ago. I went running and dragged a 40kg tyre back and forth, then when it got to a year before the trip I increased to two tyres. A few months before I went I tried to do some fitness work every day, but it wasn’t easy – some mornings I’d wake up and think, ‘Why am I doing this?’

Who did you go with?
I was with Mike, who was the leader, and three other people, Shally, Ian and Wendy. We walked at a different pace because some people suffered more with the altitude, and some were fitter than others. We had to spread the weightload out, so people who were fitter like me and Ian had a heavier weight to carry.

Did you ever want to give up?
On the third day I suffered quite badly with the altitude. I thought I couldn’t catch my breath and started to hyperventilate, so Mike had to help calm me down.

Did you ever get lonely?
I had six hours every day to myself to think and sometimes I made the fatal mistake of thinking of home – then I’d start crying and fog up my goggles and they’d freeze! There was a lot to cope with mentally. I had to keep my mind occupied because you can’t lose your focus at any time otherwise you could get things like frostbite. I had to keep positive.

How did you celebrate Christmas?
I called home in the morning and I brought cards and tinsel with me, but we didn’t rest – we walked six miles that day. In the evening I had a tiny little Christmas pudding, but for dinner I had dehydrated spaghetti bolognese!

How did you feel when you reached the South Pole?
I called my mum as I walked the final 10 metres. It was amazing – I was in floods of tears. It was a few years of work and I was sad because it was over.