Lockdown tips from woman who skied alone for almost two months

A RECORD- BREAKING adventurer is using her skills at coping alone in Antarctica to help people deal with isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mollie Hughes, ( picture by Mike Wilkinson), became the youngest woman to ski solo from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole last January. She achieved the world record on January 10 2020, aged 29, after spending almost two months in isolation skiing 702 miles.

Three years earlier she claimed her first world record when she became the youngest female to successfully climb both the north and south sides of Everest, the world’s highest mountain. Returning home to Edinburgh, she spoke at a series of events, giving an insight into how she coped while facing challenges such as whiteouts and temperatures hitting minus 45C.

When the pandemic first hit and the UK was placed into lockdown, Ms Hughes moved her inspirational talks online and began including tips on how to cope with mental health challenges posed by the virus restrictions.

She said: “It’s hard just now – it’s hard for everyone in so many different ways. For me I tried to as much as I could draw on the experience of isolation that I had before.

“One of the main things that got me through the Antarctic was breaking down my day into time segments – I’d ski for an hour- and- a- half and then stop for 10 minutes and ski for another hour- and- ahalf, and that really helped.” She addressed Standard Life’s workforce across Scotland shortly before Christmas.