Catharine Hartley, a young woman with no previous experience, broke three world records when she took part in the first extreme tourist expedition to the Antarctic and Arctic in 1999 and 2001. Catharine and her companion Fiona Thornewill became the first British women to walk to the South and then North Pole and the first women of any nationality to have man-hauled their sleds to both. When Catharine listed walking to the South Pole among her New Year's resolutions, her friends reacted with skepticism and laughter, for she is not your usual explorer complete with beard and grim toughness.