This is Elham Al-Qasimi. She is a 26-year old from Dubai who is currently en route to the North Pole. Elham is on a solo mission to get there over three weeks on cross country skis — if successful, she will be the first Arab woman to do so. Her endeavor is a bit too aggressively sponsored for my liking (every other photo of her seems to show the brand name of her skis, her gloves, her Land Rover beanie) but I am nonetheless rooting for her success, and excited to see a local hero defy traditional female roles to do something totally empowering and out of the box. You can track her progress via her journal; she’s also @polarbent on Twitter.