A ONCE-in-a-lifetime Antarctic adventure beckons for a soldier from the Bradford district who is training for a place on Exercise Ice Maiden, an expedition of six female British soldiers attempting to cross the Antarctic via the South Pole under their own steam.

As a hopeful for the first all-female British military team ever to attempt this feat in October 2017, Sergeant Sara Canning, 32, an Aircraft Comms Specialist and careers advisor with Yeovil-based 1 Army Air Corps, will potentially trek 1,700km in temperatures as low as -80 degrees Celsius and battle wind speeds of more than 60mph during the 75-day trek from Leverett Glacier to the South Pole to Hercules Inlet.

Mother-of-one Sara, from Ilkley, has made it to the final 12 having been one of 250 soldiers who applied to take part. On the challenging selection exercise in Snowdonia in September, 50 became 22 and she has just returned from the next stage Ex Ice Bambi in Lakselv, Norway from March 1-8.

“I think I’ve done okay,” said former Ilkley Grammar School pupil Sara. “I’m quite physically fit. However, I’ve not really been in this extreme cold before. And, I’ve never Nordic skied before. I’ve mainly just done downhill."

Sara will join the remaining 11 on Ex Ice Ready in Norway in November, where the training becomes more lengthy and challenging, and the 12 will be whittled down to eight. The freezing Norwegian climate is the nearest they will come to that of the South Pole.