KAREN KYLLESØ
“It has been both fascinating and inspiring to follow Karen’s way to the South Pole. It says everything about her that she has managed to reach such a level at her age – without compromise, without rushing.”
— Børge Ousland
NORWEGIAN • BORN TO BE OUTDOOR
• POLAR RECORD BREAKER •
How long does it take to hatch a polar egg into a complete polar explorer? Usually decades. In Karen's case, it took a phone call, a stubborn father, and roughly six years of an ice cap-sized to-do list.
The call came when Karen was twelve. Her father, Håkon, rang Lars and announced Ousland had "a problem": his daughter had decided she was going to cross Greenland on skis. That is more or less how Karen came into our lives — as a preteen's inconvenient dream, and a father who refused to let a "no" from every other company be the end of the conversation.
Karen grew up in Hjelmeland, a speck of a village tucked into the fjords near Stavanger — the kind of place most would assume has bigger mountains than ambitions. But with a cross-country mother and a hunting-addicted father, nature became second nature from the get-go: tagging along on camping and hunting trips, working the dog, learning to read weather and terrain the way other children learn their times tables.
It must have been an inspiring childhood, because it's hard to find anybody more in tune, and happier — not only on trips, but in life generally. It also, through her mother's love of running, skiing and training, built phenomenal core strength and stamina.
Karen went to a school built around cross-country skiing and was logging serious hours on skis while her future Antarctic rivals were still on their bicycles. A Norwegian TV programme of a comedian being dragged across Greenland, plus some footage of skiers on the North Pole, did the rest. The big dream arrived early and never left.
AT 21 YEARS, 1.52 METRES AND 48 KILOS, SHE BECAME THE YOUNGEST PERSON EVER TO REACH THE SOUTH POLE, ALONE AND WITHOUT OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE
But the bigger the dream, the more work it takes. Finnmarksvidda with Bengt laid the foundation. Then Greenland was nailed the year she turned 14, making her the youngest female ever to do it. At 21, standing 1.52 metres and weighing a mere 48 kilos, she became the youngest person — male or female — ever to reach the South Pole, alone and without any outside assistance. It was an astonishing feat that made world news, and she took it all in stride with her unchanged charm, smile, and infectious intensity.
KAREN'S SECRET:
GOLIAT? - NEVER HEARD OF HIM
It still begs the question of how it was all possible. Was thanks to her parents? Was it down to her brother? (definitely not :-•) Was it that Bengt, Bård Helge, Lars and others nurtured her the way male emperor penguins stand guard over the egg on their feet through the brutal Antarctic winter?
Unfortunately (for us), no — the bragging rights belong solely to her. Very few people understand the complexity and sheer amount of work that goes into reaching the South Pole. Very, very few Antarctic (or other major) expeditions are fully financed. Karen's was.
It took her years — sacrifice, work, skill-building, learning, honing every detail, and building polar and market understanding.
She stands out for being her delightful self, but she's also ‘return value’ — and that's what singles out the very best. She's value for everybody: her sponsors, her audience, those around her. But she's also sharp as a knife. She'll tell you what she thinks straight up ;-)
Not bad hatching, all told.
Highlights
Finnmarksvidda
Greenland
Alta to Abisco
South Pole
Svalbard
Hardangervidda
Lenker profiler:
https://www.instagram.com/friluftsjenta/
https://www.eventyraften.no/post/karen-malena-kylles%C3%B8
