Alone on the ice: Mass. native becomes first American woman to reach South Pole solo and unsupported

""I wanted to be very open about the ups and downs ... If you only talk about it once it's done, it's easy to sugarcoat," Eliastam told Boston.com. "But for me, people have been able to follow along and [have] seen so many ups and downs.""

""I cried a lot. I had some really hard days," Eliastam said. "I had things written inside my tent that I would read every single morning. Right above where I opened my eyes ... I'd written, 'The only way out is through, and the only way through is to keep going, so get up.'""

Monet Eliastam reached the South Pole after skiing 700 miles over 57 days, starting at Hercules Inlet. She hauled about 250 pounds of food and equipment while skiing 10 to 15 hours daily. For nearly three years she trained on the North Shore by dragging two Jeep tires across beaches and woods. She documented the expedition with daily Instagram updates and built a following. Days were long and physically demanding, with a daily calorie burn near 7,000 while consuming about 5,000, leaving her in a constant calorie deficit. She used tent-ceiling messages for motivation and endured emotional lows during the journey.

Read at Boston.com