Camped out on the drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean, the members of ‘Metelitsa’ - a Russian all-female team of ski enthusiasts and explorers - slept with knives underneath their improvised pillows. “When the ice cracks and starts drifting towards the open sea, we cut open our tent and jump out," one of the women wrote in her diary. She added: "If we're lucky enough to have somewhere to jump."

Metelitsa means 'blizzard' in Russian, the perfect name for this band of badass females who carried Kalashnikovs to protect themselves against bear attacks. Between 1966 and 1991, they made a record 20 expeditions to both the North and South Pole. Spanning several generations, these doctors, engineers and ecologists were bonded by a burning passion for extreme adventure.

"The unknown doesn't frighten us, it delights us!" founding member Valentina Kuznetsova liked to say. She was 51 when she ventured with a team of nine Metelitsa members across 1,420 kilometers of Antarctic snow and ice... on skis. "At our first stop, Mirny Station, we were told: 'Girls, if you walk three days on skis, you are officially superheroes.’ We walked for 57 days, in temperatures dropping to -55°C at night," Valentina wrote. For the last 12 kilometers of their epic journey, the women changed into bright red outfits. The images are epic: females on fire against the dazzling, deadly whiteness of the Antarctic.

Each journey of exploration - whether Polar of personal - starts with curiosity, but passion is where it really kicks into gear. Passion is where we step out of our comfort zone by surrendering to our desires. Why wait till you're 'ready' to fulfill your burning ambitions? The time is now. Dare to become so obsessed that you cannot wait a minute longer. Set your dream on fire and jump!

'Exploration is the physical expression of intellectual passion.' - British Antarctica explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard