He’s taken part in ultra-marathons through the Amazon rainforest and the Sahara Desert and scaled Mount Everest, but Dalip Shekhawat has more worlds to conquer.
The Manitoba teacher just returned from a gruelling week in the Antarctic, and says he’s already planning his next adventure.
Shekhawat told Global News that his South Pole journey, from Dec. 9 to 16, saw challenges like altitude sickness and adjusting to 24-hour daylight conditions, but overall was a “breathtaking” experience.
“The trek was very physically and mentally draining … but (it was) very transformative for me and it gave me lots of time to self-reflect and size up my problems,” he said.
“(I do this) to bring honour and pride to the country and the community, and finding inner peace. Going to these remote places gives me time to (consider) my place in the universe, and that brings me close to nature.”
Shekhawat said his group hauled 45- to 75-kilogram sleds through the snow, covering between 14 and 25 kilometres each day and leaving themselves exposed to the cold for as many as 13 hours each day.
Preparing for those kinds of conditions meant more than his usual intensive exercise regimen.
“I do a lot of training — cardio, strength training, a lot of running,” he said.
“It’s all-weather training. For the South Pole, I had to do a lot of winter exposure, winter camping, winter hikes, cold showers — which is actually ongoing — and lots of walks.”
Next up, he’ll travel to the other end of the Earth for a North Pole marathon in April, followed by a 200-km ultra through the Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan this summer.
“In the bigger picture, I have a long-term goal to climb the highest mountain in each continent, and reach both poles.”
“I’ve done 16 other mountain peaks in various mountains — the Alps, Sierra Madres. I’ve climbed in France, I’ve climbed in India — a lot of mountains in the Himalayas — and it’s ongoing.”
Shekhawat said he has the community back home to thank for helping him achieve his goals, as participation in such extreme events doesn’t come cheap. The South Pole trek alone set him back US$90,000. He said local organizations and individual donors have helped him along the way.