Malaysia's 'Ice Queens' enter Antarctica

Members of the All Women Expedition to Antarctica (Aweta) have begun to enter the site of the South Pole.

An Aweta spokesperson said the team, led by polar adventurer Sharifah Mazlina Syed Abdul Kadir, had entered Antarctica about 2am (Malaysian time) yesterday, Christman Day.

“They have embarked on their adventure and their first journey is from 89 degrees south to the South Pole.

"So far, the team has managed to travel two kilometres and the weather there is sunny, with temperature about -29 degrees Celsius," she said when contacted yesterday.

The spokesperson said the team members were in good shape and were still trying to adapt to the situation there.

The team is on a mission to unearth and retrieve a time capsule planted by Sharifah Mazlina (above) during her first mission to Antarctica in 2004.

The location of the capsule might have changed - or submerged - after 15 years of being buried in the South Pole, or it might be inside the US Research Centre area.

In 2004, Syarifah Mazlina became the first Asian woman to travel to the South Pole. She reached the North Pole in 2007.

The team, comprising pharmacist Nurul Atiqah Tamarun, 31, Army Corporal Siti Jumaidah Bensali, 34, and Home Ministry administrative and diplomatic officer, Salehah Abu Nor, 33, had been slated to begin the mission from Dec 18 until Jan 3.

- Bernama