After conquering South Pole, Shahrom eyes North Pole

Extreme temperature, tiring journey and erratic weather.

These were among the challenges that the country’s first national explorer to have skied to the South Pole faced in his close to 1000km journey.

Shahrom Abdullah, 37, in relating his experiences during the tough mission, said that at one point, he almost gave up.

“During the last week of the expedition, almost 180km to the South pole, I experienced short breath and breathing became difficult.

“I felt weak without enough oxygen. My team mates were ahead of me and I was left behind. They waited for me during our break time.

“Despite that, we achieved our target for the day. When I almost gave up, I thought about the hopes that the country, my club and my sponsors had in me. I didn’t want to dash their hopes. So, I gathered my strength and spirit to continue the journey,” he said during a ceremony held to celebrate his achievement at Menara Felda, here on Monday.

During the ceremony, that was also graced by Felda Chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Shahrom was presented with a mock cheque worth RM20,000 as a token of appreciation.

He said the expedition, which would have taken about 50 to 60 days to be completed, was managed to be completed in just 37 days 4 hours because of the cooperation by this teammates from Canada, United Kingdom and Jordan.

Sharing his experience on food and nutrition during the expedition, Shahrom said their lunch packs consisted of two Muesli bars, two protein bars, a bag of dried fruits, a bar of chocolate and nuts.

Shahrom, who hails from from Felda Chiku in Gua Musang, Kelantan, intends to ski to the North Pole next.

He also wants to climb 14 peaks over 8,000 metres, mostly in the Himalayas.

Shahrom started the KE7B South Pole Expedition 2015, on December 9, last year.