Preet Chandi MBE

Described as “A trailblazer, and the most determined, tenacious, and motivated woman,” Preet Chandi is the ninth woman in history to ski solo to the South Pole, and the first woman of colour to complete a solo expedition on the continent. Driven by an unending desire to push her mental and physical boundaries, Preet is an Army officer, physiotherapist, Nordic skier, ultramarathon runner, and endurance athlete with an iron will that has led to her making history and breaking barriers in the world of adventuring. 

Facing the ultimate test of endurance, Preet packed forty-eight days of food and fuel to complete the solo, unsupported, seven-hundred-mile expedition from the coastline of Antarctica to the geographic South Pole and completed the journey in just forty days. Her aims for this expedition were to inspire as many people as possible. She did not grow up learning of polar explorers or know much about Antarctica when she decided to embark on this adventure. Preet wanted to show that everybody starts somewhere. 

She is a captivating speaker who encourages audiences to push past their boundaries, believe in themselves, and to set out to achieve their goals without being labelled a rebel. She emphasises that, no matter where you’re from or what your starting point in life is, you are capable of smashing the glass ceiling into a million pieces and creating your own definition of “normal” on the journey to success. 

Preet has always been fascinated with how much the human body can endure. Her first ultra-marathon, which was fifty miles in the Peak District, left her feeling sick, but she had already caught the bug. The scale of her adventures started to grow and her definition of what is normal began to change.

She completed Marathon des Sables one hundred- and fifty-six-mile ultramarathon in the desert and began to create her own challenges, such as a twenty-four-hour step-up challenge during lockdown to raise money for NHS Charities. She also organised a thirty-hour endurance event whilst on whilst on operational tour in South Sudan.

Preet’s full time role is as a physiotherapist in the British Army where she has completed large scale exercise and deployments in Nepal, Kenya and South Sudan.