‘OUR CAMERAMAN ALMOST DIED’
At only 16 years of age, Australian Jade Hameister became the youngest person in history to complete the “polar hat-trick”, traversing the North Pole in 2016, the Greenland crossing in 2017 and reaching the South Pole in 2018.
Her gruelling journey is the subject of the upcoming documentary Jade’s Quest: To the
Ends of the Earth (airs Sunday at 7.30pm on National Geographic), which follows her Greenland crossing.
But filming didn’t always go smoothly. In fact, the crew very nearly lost their cameraman during production.
“Our cameraman fell into a crevasse one day,” Jade tells New Idea. “He was on the edge and made his way out but everyone was in front and he was at the back filming with me. I heard him yell and fall into the crevasse but no-one else did. That could have been a turning point for us if something had gone the other way.”
Having a camera filming her every move during the expedition wasn’t always easy for Jade, but she says she wouldn’t change a thing. “Sometimes the camera was annoying when I wanted space,” she admits. “But it’s good to have those moments recorded because I can look back on them.”
And while most would assume Jade already has her next adventure planned, she reveals she has to put her plans on hold to face an even bigger challenge.
“I’m in Year 11, so the focus is school for the next two years,” the Melbourne-based student says. “In Years 9 and 10 it was OK to go on the trips, but now the work is amping up a bit.”
Of course, once school is done, the adventurer has her sights set on the stars.
“I don’t have any expeditions in mind yet, but I am interested in space,” she says. “So we will see where that goes.”