Openshaw-Rowe banks on rugby resilience to create Antarctica history

She is now only weeks away from beginning an epic adventure in Antarctica where alongside fellow firefighter Georgina Gilbert, they will attempt to become the first emergency services team to conquer the 1,130 km route from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole, unassisted and unsupported. They will be pulling 85+ kg pulks (supply sleds) in temperatures as low as -50c with possible wind speeds of over 60mph. They aim to complete the quest in 45 days.

When expedition plans were first launched in 2019, it was intended five explorers would make the trek but through a combination of circumstances, injury and funding issues, Openshaw-Rowe and Gilbert are the last two remaining. The duo don’t need any reminding of how daunting their task is after another member saw her hopes of taking part dashed when she had to be helicoptered out of the Hardangervidda National Park in Norway after suffering from frostnip after two weeks at nearly -30c.

As the trip gets ever closer fund raising for the trip has become top priority. Openshaw-Rowe, who earned 19 Wales caps between 2015-17, admits it has proved extremely draining, time consuming and it’s proved to be a real emotional roller-coaster. But they refuse to buckle as they say they are trying to be visible role models for women and it’s their duty to keep going and keep pushing forward.

Rebecca Openshaw-Rowe put some invaluable time aside long enough to answer some questions about the next few weeks ahead.

What is the reason for this expedition?

Growing up, people of our age were told that as a girl you can’t do that because you’re a girl or you shouldn’t be doing that because you’re a woman or do you think you should do that as a female?

We don’t want that to be the sort of thing future generations have to deal with. Gender shouldn’t be a barrier to trying to achieve things and we want it to be so that it’s not even thought about – you just do what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what your gender is.

That’s a big thing for us and then the other thing is just to be visible role models, especially as firefighters because there’s only 8% of the workforce of operational firefighters in the whole of the UK who are female. The communities are diverse, and we need a diverse workforce.

When you first began your training, you couldn’t even ski – how has that progressed

The last couple of years we’ve spent a lot of time in Norway and Sweden training doing specific expedition training. Obviously in the first couple of training trips it was all about learning to Nordic ski which was highly amusing. At the beginning we spent a lot of time on the floor and I certainly spent a lot of time falling over – probably around 20 times a day and I was absolutely covered in bruises.

We have learned things like simply surviving in the cold – putting your tent up on the ice in the snow which is so alien to most people in Britain, cooking inside your tent and not burning the tent down which we came close to a few times – if I’m honest that would have been very embarrassing as firefighters!

We’ve gone from complete novices over the last two years to be polar explorers and it’s been great fun to be honest. It’s been a real journey – we’ve had brilliant experiences during our time in Norway and Sweden.

Has there been any point where you’ve questioned doing this venture and wished you had stuck to rugby?

I’ve got to be honest there was a point on our final trip. We spent three weeks in Norway up on Hardangervidda plateau which is where everyone does their polar training.

It’s where Scott and Shackleton did some of their training – it was  – 30 for a good week while we were up there and there were a few mornings where we would wake up at 6am to get ready for the day and the whole tent was frozen on the inside. There was freezing fog inside the tent, my sleeping bag was frozen on the top and inside my sleeping bag it was also frozen and I just thought what am I doing? It was so tough, it was really resilient-building and it really made us question what are we doing, do we really want to do this?

There were definitely a few mornings where I had those questions but once you got out of that sleeping bag and just got the cooker on and started the routine again for the day, you go outside and a lot of the time it’s actually beautiful up there in Norway and I’d chat to George and we kind of motivated each other really.

We’re a bit silly myself and George and we’d share a laugh and a joke and then those doubts would disappear and the realisation of why we’re doing it would strike home. I think it’s good to have those thoughts and it is a process that you should go through because we need to be tested before we go to Antarctica.

Are you getting nervous as the expedition gets nearer?

We’ve been planning for four years, and I can’t quite believe that we’re at this point now. We’re ticking over making sure we avoid any injuries and illness because at this point it’s quite critical that we keep ourselves healthy and well before we go.

Has your years of playing rugby prepared you physically and mentally for the trip ahead?

For me, I’m dragging a sled behind me which probably weights about 90 kilos so it probably weighs about the same as me so I’m basically dragging myself behind me. The sled will get lighter as we eat our food, but I don’t think we’ll feel it as it will be so gradual.

The kind of robustness you need to have for rugby and as a second row – I was always doing all the grunt work and the scrummaging and the rucking and things. I think that helped me with preparation for this.

The resilience you get from rugby, especially getting all the knocks should stand me in good stead. We’re going to have a lot of aches and pains and maybe some injuries while we’re out there and I think rugby players say you train through your injuries. Most people play covered in tape and they’ve got some niggles or maybe an injury and you just get on with it and I think that’s definitely going to help me in Antarctica.

When do you depart?

We fly to Chile on November 10^th before spending a week there prepping all of our kit and our food and then we fly on November 18^th to Antarctica at a place called Union Glacier which is like the base camp for the logistics company that organise everything.

From there we’ll ski straight to the South Pole hoping to do that in around 45 days – hopefully that’s an average of 25 kilometres a day.

We’re on Nordic skis but we are pulling 90 kilos behind us so that certainly slows our progress down and we’ve also got the terrain to deal with. It’s not completely flat, it is quite lumpy and bumpy and then you’ve got the weather as well – they have a lot of storms in Antarctica and it can be very windy so if we’re going into a headwind it could be sort of 60-70 miles per hour.

Does anything about the the trip daunt you?

I’ve definitely started to have a few little anxiety pangs and dreams now we’re getting a lot closer. I’ve started to get a little bit excited as well and I’ve seen things about Antarctica on the telly but I’ve also had a bit of anxiety for sure.

I think ‘is the cold gonna get me?’ That’s our biggest worry and I do worry about the cold and cold weather injuries, hypothermia and frostbite.

Myself and George – are we gonna fall out? I’m sure we will fall out a few times. We’ve had a. few little arguments along the way already – it’s a long time to be with one other person so there’s definitely that to consider and I think the worry of injury as well, is my body gonna hold up, is my body going to survive the 700 miles.

During the expedition how will we be able to track your progress?

We have two sat phones to take – we’re able to text which is amazing. Every day I will probably be texting my other half and once a week we can make wi -fi phone call so I’ll ring home once a week giving an update on how things are.

Your expedition means you’ll miss Christmas and New Year’s Eve – how big a blow is that?

We are taking a little bit of Baileys with us and we’ve got a tablet so we will be downloading some Christmas films for Christmas Day and I will be taking a little Christmas pudding with me as well.

We’re going to take a few little treats to definitely keep the morale up and help us along the way so as New Year’s Eve approaches we will have our own little party in the tent. It will be a very different Christmas and New Year this year but one I’m sure we won’t forget.

You can follow the intrepid explorers’ progress via their website while you can contribute to their justgiving page here