Cecilie Skog of Norway has become the first woman to conquer the "seven summits" of the seven continents and the two poles, her team has said, after she successfully skied to the North Pole.
Defying temperatures that fell as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius, Ms Skog, 31, and two partners reached the North Pole after a journey of 48 days and 22 hours, expedition spokesman Bjoern Sekkesaeter told AFP.

Ms Skog so became, in just seven years, the only woman in the world to reach both the North and South poles and the highest peaks of the seven continents: Mount Everest (Asia), Aconcagua (South America), Mount McKinley (North America), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Elbrus (Europe), Vinson (Antarctica) and Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania).
"Her life will not become boring... She still has all kinds of projects up her sleeve even though they may not all involve breaking records," Mr Sekkesaeter said.

Ms Skog and her partners left Canada on March 6 and reached the North Pole unassisted, each pulling a sled weighing 120 kilograms, more than twice Ms Skog's own weight.
The expedition began inauspiciously with a tent fire on the first day, though it was rapidly extinguished, and several falls into icy water, Mr Sekkesaeter said. AFP