Polar women in final warm-up

Members of the first all-women expedition to the North Pole donned Arctic kit yesterday for their final training session on gale-swept Dartmoor. A hike across the high moor from Princetown was followed by an exhausting session of pulling tyres attached to waist harnesses - preparation for hauling 120lb sledges for hours a day in temperatures as low as -45C.

The women are members of the 20-strong McVities Penguin Polar Relay, chosen from 60 hopefuls after a series of tough SAS-style tests on the moor last autumn. The expedition starts on 13 March.