Our very own Ilina has been featured and Her Story is being told on ESPN! Here's an excerpt from the interview, you can read the rest on ESPN
On Dec. 27, Ilina Arsova was high-stepping through untouched snow en route to the top of the bottom of the world.
She was part of the first team to make a summit push at Mount Vinson in Antarctica in weeks. The season's abnormally high snowfall had produced dangerous avalanche conditions that canceled numerous expeditions. But the team got a lucky weather break and embarked toward the peak.
Arsova was accustomed to leading the way. Her knees felt strong, and her fear of frostbite in the minus-31-degree air was unnecessary. Her conditioning and cold-water training paid off. The crew progressed steadily and unlabored; the winds were calm for Antarctica. At about 4 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, she stepped onto the 16,050-foot pinnacle.
At the top of Mount Vinson, Arsova looked out at a world divided. Everything below her feet was awash in a sea of white; above was blue sky lit by the 24-hour sun. She'd relished the midsummer polar days in the Southern Hemisphere, which consist of endless, dazzling light for weeks on end. The katabatic winds crashed into her expedition parka while on the ice-crusted mountain. And she tightened her grip on a journal-sized version of her country's red and yellow flag.