Jade Hameister: Young Adventurer of the Year 2018
Sixteen-year-old Jade Hameister set five new records after successfully completing her epic 1,300km, 37 day journey along the Amundsen Coast to the South Pole in January this year. Jade is officially the youngest person and first Australian woman to ski from the coast to the South Pole (unsupported and unassisted) and the first woman to set a new route through the Transantarctic Mountain Range.
In April 2016, aged 14, Jade completed a record-breaking ski to the North Pole, for which she was named the Australian Geographic Society’s Young Adventurer of the Year. Then in 2017, she became the youngest woman to cross Greenland. With the completion of her South Pole adventure, Jade is now the youngest person to ski to both Poles and the youngest person to complete the Polar Hat Trick, a dream of hers for some time.
Her message to other young women dreaming of adventure is: “We need to shift our focus from how we appear to exploring the possibilities of what we can do. Don’t wait until you think you can do something perfectly. Just get started and have a go,” she says.
2018 Young Adventurer of the Year, Jade Hameister receiving her medallion from special guest Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
Read about all the winners of the 2018 Australian Geographic Society Awards
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