25-year-old Hungarian girl crosses the North Pole on a dog sledge

Kitty Zaja had the honour to represent Middle- and Eastern-Europe at one of the most prestigious dog sledge tours on the Noth Pole. She accomplished the 300 kilometres long expedition with 19 peers of her, as marieclaire.hu reports.

About the event

Fjällräven Polar is organised annually since 2013 and its aim to prove that

anyone can accomplish such an extreme tour with quality equipment and proper training.

Fjällräven is a Swedish company that makes hiking equipment. Additionally, it also organises the event. Fjällräven provides the necessary equipment, training, meals, and even the trip to the North Pole for all participants.

Photo: www.facebook.com/Fjällräven-Polar-703418763141360/

Training and the expedition

As in every year, members had to take part in a two days long training in Stockholm before beginning their journey from Signaldalen Valley to the Swedish Väkkäräjärvi. The training was not only for having fun and meeting each other, because experts taught the participants useful skills. For example, they got to know how to direct a sledge and how to use the equipment properly. After that, they could experience extreme weather conditions in wild nature far from civilisation for five days. They spent the -20 Celsius degree cold evenings in expedition tents and had to cook for themselves. Furthermore, they were responsible for warming up the snow to have enough water for the day. Participants travelled an average 60 kilometres per day in the breathtaking landscape of the North Pole. A key feature for accomplishing the expedition was having an unbelievably strong bond with the dogs.

Fjällräven Polar Kitty Zaja North Pole dog sledge

Photo: www.facebook.com/kitty.zaja

Fjällräven Polar 2018

4573 people applied for Fjällräven Polar in 2018 from 144 countries around the globe.

Applicants had to send videos and pictures; then the best two made it to the competition from every district. An international jury gave points, and people could also vote for the introduction materials. 47 Hungarians applied, and

Kitty got 38110 votes that made her the third most popular applicant in the world.

Photo: www.facebook.com/kitty.zaja

Kitty’s experience

“Fjällräven Polar was an unbelievable experience where one can learn more not only about nature and surviving but also himself. We had to work for everything. They taught us how we have to boil water, how we have to set the fire, and we have to sleep, for example, we have to pitch the tent even if the wind almost blows it away. On the other hand, there was plenty of time to think about what matters in life. At the Polar, only you, nature, and the dogs exist, and the breathtaking, endless white nature of course. I made this trip with special and amazing people who arrived from all different parts of the world with different backgrounds, but still, we managed to create life-long friendships in a week.” – as Kitty said.