COME New Year's Day 2010, two Singaporean women are hoping to stand on the South Pole, breathe in the freezing air and plant the country's flag atop a layer of ice.

But only one of them will have the chance to become the first Singaporean woman to reach the bottom of the world.

On Sunday, organisers picked two finalists for an all-female expedition to the Pole.

Called the Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition, the team will include eight women from eight different Commonwealth countries.

The group is scheduled to begin its expedition, on skis, next December.

Freelance IT consultant and fitness instructor Sophia Pang and senior engineer Lina Goh, both 36, were named on Sunday as the Singaporean contenders for the team. They were chosen from over 80 applicants, of whom 10 were shortlisted for an interview.

Next spring, Miss Goh and Mdm Pang will attend a final selection and training camp in Scandinavia, accompanied by two women each from Cyprus, India, Ghana, Brunei Darussalam, New Zealand, Jamaica and the United Kingdom.

Besides picking up skills like cross-country skiing, dressing for the cold and tent-pitching, the finalists will spend a week skiing and camping out in windy, minus-30 degree Celsius conditions.

Next December, the final eight team members will set out on a 30-to-40-day trek to the South Pole.

They will ski over 500 miles (800 km) hauling sledges containing all their food and equipment, and camp on the ice.

They aim to celebrate New Year's Day 2010 at the South Pole - perhaps with scientists from the base there.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.