Adelaide adventurer Katie Sarah returning after Arctic weather thwarts her North Pole ski trip

Devastated Adelaide adventurer Katie Sarah is on her way home after a turn in the Arctic weather ruined her planned North Pole ski trip.

Devastated Adelaide adventurer Katie Sarah is on her way home after a turn in the Arctic weather ruined her planned North Pole ski trip.

Ms Sarah, 50, was only days away from becoming the first woman to complete the Adventurers’ Seven-Seven Grand Slam.

The coveted achievement involves conquering the seven tallest mountains and volcanoes plus trekking to the South Poles and North Pole.

But a run of bad lack forced her to abort the final North Pole trek.

“It was devastating, because we were so sure that we were going,” Ms Sarah said from Oslo, in Norway.

Katie Sarah in Longyearbyen, Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. Picture: supplied

“It was weather; it wasn’t politics or paperwork,” she said of the disappointing end to the adventure which began 10 days ago when she and husband Tim arrived. They had been expecting to fly from there to the Barneo ice camp, which exists for a short time in April each year.

Initially delayed in obtaining a clearance to fly by political tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a Canadian plane arrived two days ago, coming in over the North Pole to check conditions were safe.

Katie Sarah in Longyearbyen, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. Picture: Supplied

On Friday, Ms Sarah still had high hopes of leaving within hours to start the trek of eight to 10 days.

The intended trek would have been harder than her pre-Christmas odyssey to the South Pole, where ice surfaces are more stable.

“The pilot just said, ‘Look, the weather is turning and getting really bad’,” Ms Sarah said.

“To get everybody out to the ice and then have to get them back, which is kind of important as well, it just wasn’t going to come together.”

For the fist time in 25 years, the Barneo ice camp was closed before anyone made it onto the ice and the season was cancelled completely.

Ms Sarah sees no reason not to be back there in April next year and will put behind her the roller-coaster ride between hope and despair.

“I always take the approach that anything can happen with very remote mountains or travel so you have to be realistic,” she said.

Ms Sarah vowed to return next year.

“I’ll go back. I’ve made the commitment, I’ve got the goal,” she said.

“I don’t give up easily.”