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Woman sets off on solo polar trek

Nine years ago, Ann Daniels had never carried a rucksack. On Sunday, the former bank manager and mother of four from Devon in southern England was pulling a sledge heavier than her own body weight in a temperature of -30?C at the start of her bid to become the first woman to reach the North Pole on her own.

Armed with a .44 Magnum handgun to ward off polar bears, the 40-year-old explorer set out in the perpetual twilight of an Arctic winter from northern Siberia on Saturday morning. In the next 58 days, she must walk more than 966km in temperatures as low as -50?C, navigating capricious ice pans, scaling ice ridges up to 10m high and paddling across open stretches of ocean on her sledge.

If she reaches the North Pole, she will become the first woman, and only the third person ever, to survive the uniquely challenging solo trek. Last year, French-Finnish adventurer Dominick Arduin died making the attempt in a kayak.

Departing from Cape Arktichevsky in Russia, Daniels has already overcome two significant obstacles: Siberian bureaucracy and the financial constraints of her "DIY" expedition, described as uniquely "low-tech" by her support team.

Leaving behind her partner Tom O'Connor, 35, their daughter Sarah, who is two next month, and triplets from her former marriage, Daniels flew out to Russia last month.

Her passion for Arctic extremes was ignited when she undertook a polar relay with 20 other women in 1997.

After reaching the south pole as part of a five-strong all-female expedition, she became the first woman to reach both north and south poles when she and fellow explorer Caroline Hamilton arrived at the North Pole in 2002. She is now Britain's only professional female polar guide. But Daniels nearly had to give up her solo trek when she was repeatedly delayed by officials in Russia.

A week ago, the helicopter that would take her out on to the ice had started its engines when officials ordered her off the craft.

With less time to complete her journey, she had to lighten her load to increase her speed as she walks on skis and pulls her sledge.

She will now have a food package dropped at the halfway point.

"She's had a really tough time," said Hamilton, a film financier who has helped raise funds for the trip. "I'm sure it's a huge relief to be out on the ice, in control of her own destiny. But you are not in control of the weather and the shifting sea ice."

"That's the biggest challenge -- handling whatever the Arctic throws at you. The one thing that's predictable is that it is unpredictable," he said.

Daniels' immersion suit could be the key to the success of her expedition, enabling her to cross open water between ice pans by paddling with her hands and floating on her canoe-shaped sledge, made with buoyant kevlar -- more commonly used in bullet-proof body armor.
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