Headline :35km gained after facing snowstorms, snow waves

NST
Date :11/12/2004
Page:05
Byline :By R.S. Kamini
Type : News

KUALA LUMPUR, Fri. - Intrepid ski-sailor Datin Paduka Sharifah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir is now 35km away from the South Pole station - the starting point of her 1,100km solo Antarctic expedition.
Although exhausted from her first-day journey, which started yesterday, the 39-year-old sports lecturer will continue to cover another 30km to 40km distance on her second day.
She still needs to ski-sail 1,065km to be the first woman ever to have ski-sailed solo from the South Pole to Hercules Inlet on the western edge of the Antarctic.
For those who wish to keep track of her journey using a home-based tracking device or GPS-based map, her co-ordinates at her last known position were latitude 89 degrees 41.5 minutes South and longitude 88 degrees 44.7 minutes West.
According to the expedition's project director Hazimah Zainuddin, Sharifah Mazlina needs a lot of rest to keep herself fit for the six-to-eight hour journey daily.
"The weather condition is unpredictable as snowstorms and huge snow waves, which Sharifah Mazlina experienced yesterday, could occur anytime," Hazimah said.
Sharifah Mazlina said in an email to the New Straits Times that she was still trying to get used to the 100kg extra weight, which includes the sled, food, clothes, telecommunications equipment and other things she has to bring along.
Her activity list for the second-day journey to Hercules Inlet, however, was not available at Press time.
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