Satish Gogineni Creates History: First Indian to Ski Solo and Unsupported to the South Pole, in Antarctica

Satish Gogineni, who recently became the first Indian to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole to raise awareness about mental health concerns on losing his family members, gets candid with Local Samosa about the experience of the expedition.

Recently, the south pole expeditions have been in the news. While such unconventional expeditions come to light once in a long time, they merely become a matter of a headline before it is forgotten for good, and there lie the endless stories attached to it - unheard and unsaid that might inspire many. One such inspirational journey was that of Satish Gogineni, who took an expedition recently and became the first Indian to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole, but for a special cause.

Starting at Hercules Inlet, Satish skied alone for 1,133 km across Antarctica, hauling a sled weighing more than 126 kg while ascending to the South Pole’s altitude of 2,300 meters. Over the course of 51 days, he endured whiteout conditions, relentless polar winds, and temperatures plunging below –40°C, skiing for up to 12 hours a day and burning more than 6,000 calories daily. His arrival at the South Pole in January 2025 marked a historic first for India.

As per a recent announcement by the UN, more than a billion people around the world – which amounts to around one in every seven – were living with mental health conditions in 2021, with anxiety and depressive disorders being two-thirds of all cases. Gogineni started a project called 'Project Spandana' in 2023 as a tribute to his cousin Spandana, who died by suicide, while earlier he lost his mother to suicide in 2011, making him take an expedition to raise awareness around the mental health challenges that Indians face.