14 year old Jade Hameister from Melbourne became the youngest person to ski to the North Pole last Sunday.
The Melbourne teenager completed the first of her three planned polar expeditions including the North Pole, Greenland Crossing and the South Pole. Jade tackled the North Pole quest with her father, Eric, the 12th Australian to have conquered the Seven Summits. She was also joined by the first Aussie to ski the North and South Poles, Eric Phillips.
Jade spent 10 hours a day on skis pulling a 50kg sled behind her in minus 25 degree conditions.
As Jade writes on her website, she had climbed Mt Kosciuszko and completed her first triathlon season by age 6. By age 12, Jade had conquered the Mt Everest Base Camp Trek and was inspired by the courage of two women she befriended on that trip – one that was aiming to reach the summit and who had previously skied to the South Pole solo and the other who had been the first woman to summit Everest without oxygen.
Jade wants to present an alternative role model for young teen women and to inspire and empower them to realize their unique potential to be strong and happy; to build bodies they can be uniquely proud of and blaze their own path with confidence, optimism and strength and constantly discover what they are capable of doing and achieving.
Instead of focussing on how we look, Jade wants to shift the focus on to what our bodies can do and discover the incredible possibilities we are capable of and can contribute to this world.
Jade believes that physical appearance should not be the ultimate goal of teenage girls in defining health and fitness. Instead it should be a body that can serve you in your own goals and allow you to live a high quality life.
Well done Jade, we look forward to following your truly impressive journey!
