'We're trekking the Antarctic to challenge sexism faced as firefighters'

ok.co.uk:

On 8 March every year, people across the globe come together to celebrate the achievements of women.This year, International Women’s Day centres around the theme #EmbraceEquity in a bid to create a world free from gender stereotypes or bias - something which the Antarctic Fire Angels are very keen to do.

While most of us mere mortals feel a sense of achievement if we make it to the gym twice a week, these five women are preparing to tackle something truly awe-inspiring – a trek of more than 700 miles across the Antarctic in temperatures of -50°C.

And they’ll be dragging sledges weighing up to 100 kilos while battling winds that could reach 60mph or more during their expected 45-day journey to the South Pole. “We’ll be unguided and have no assistance, no resupply of food or fuel, nothing.

Just the five of us skiing for 10 hours a day,” says 37-year-old Nikki Upton of London Fire Brigade. Together, Nikki, and fellow firefighters Georgina Gilbert, 48, from South Wales Fire & Rescue Service, Becky Hinchley, 31, from Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service, and Emily Butler, 32, and 41-year-old Rebecca Openshaw-Rowe, from London, are the Antarctic Fire Angels.Their mission?