Who is Kaamya Karthikeyan, the youngest Indian to ski to the South Pole?

Kaamya Karthikeyan has made history.

The 18-year-old has become the youngest Indian and second-youngest woman in the world to ski to the South Pole.

Karthikeyan reached the South Pole on December 27 after trekking roughly 115 kilometres on foot. She pushed through brutal -30 degree weather and strong gales, dragging a sled packed with everything she needed for the expedition.

But who is Karthikeyan? What do we know about her?

Who is Kaamya Karthikeyan?

Karthikeyan is the daughter of Commander S Karthikeyan, an Indian Navy officer, and Lavanya Karthikeyan, an early childhood educator.

The Indian Navy congratulated her in a post on X.

“Kaamya braved harsh weather of -30 degree Celsius, gale force winds to cover approximately 60 Nautical Miles (nearly 111 km) on foot from 89 degree South, pulling a sled laden with her complete expedition load, to reach the South Pole on 27 December 2025.”

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The #IndianNavy congratulates Ms Kaamya Karthikeyan @KaamyaSahas, 18-year-old daughter of a naval officer and alumna of the Navy Children School #NCS, who scripted history yet again by becoming the youngest Indian and the second-youngest female in the world to ski to the… https://t.co/m8RgAVni52 pic.twitter.com/Dfrn2YljAe

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) December 30, 2025

An alumna of Navy Children School, Karthikeyan earlier completed the Seven Summits Challenge — Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson and Puncak Jaya/Kosciuszko — in 2024 at the age of 17, when she became the youngest Indian and second-youngest woman in the world to climb Mt Everest from the Nepal side.

Later that year, on December 24, she summited Mount Vinson in Antarctica. Karthikeyan also climbed Mt Denali in 2022, for which she became the youngest non-American to summit the peak.

Karthikeyan climbed Mount Aconcagua in 2020, becoming the youngest girl ever to reach its summit. In 2018, she summited Mount Elbrus and completed a ski descent as the youngest person to do so. Her earlier climbs include Kilimanjaro in 2017 and Mount Kosciuszko in 2018, according to the website groundreport.

Karthikeyan is on a quest to become the youngest person to complete the Explorers Grand Slam.  The Explorer’s Grand Slam is an adventurer’s goal which includes skiing to the North Pole and South Pole, as well as climbing the Seven Summits.

Karthikeyan received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in 2021. This is the highest civilian honour for Indian citizens under the age of 18.

The challenge of skiing to the South Pole

Braving minus 30-degree cold and powerful gales, Karthikeyan trekked roughly 115 kilometres to reach the South Pole on December 27, dragging a sled with her expedition gear.

The expedition was flagged off from the iconic Penguin Enclosure at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo in Byculla by Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Bhushan Gagrani in the last week of November.

The journey tested her endurance with sub-zero temperatures, powerful winds, whiteouts, thin air, and the constant challenge of navigating crevasses while managing supplies.

“The mountaineering prodigy is on a quest to become the youngest person ever to accomplish the Explorers Grand Slam, an ultimate adventure to climb the highest peak on all seven continents and ski to both the poles,” the Indian Navy said.

Now, only the North Pole remains to be conquered.

With inputs from agencies