British pair becomes the first all-woman team to walk to both poles

After almost three months of pulling 250lb (113kg) sledges across the shifting, melting ice cap of the Arctic, two British women became the first all-female expedition to walk to both poles yesterday.

Having endured treacherous weather and frostbite, Ann Daniels and Caroline Hamilton pitched their flag at the North Pole and celebrated with whisky and dried beef stew.

Their achievement, with jubilee celebrations under way, echoed the feat almost half a century ago of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who conquered Mount Everest days before the Coronation. The two women were said to be "euphoric" after completing a trip that proved far more arduous than they had imagined.

Ms Daniels, who has triplets, and Ms Hamilton, began their 750-mile trek from Ward Hunt Island, in northern Canada, on 12 March. They were also part of a five-member women's expedition that walked to the South Pole in January 2000.

Ms Hamilton, a 35-year-old film financier from Spitalfields, east London, said: "We are on top of the world and it is a wonderful feeling. We planted the Union Jack and sang the national anthem for the jubilee."

Ms Daniels, 37, who at the toughest times chanted her children's names to keep going, phoned her eight year-olds – Joseph, Lucy and Rachel – via satellite yesterday. "I am happy, excited and relieved," said Ms Daniels, from Whimple in Devon. "Speaking to your children from the top of the world is a special feeling. I now want to be back at home and have a normal meal with them."

Having arrived at the pole at about 4am British Summer Time yesterday, the M&G Expedition pitched camp before being flown to the Eureka weather station for their first hot shower in 81 days. Today they are expected to fly on to Resolute Bay, Canada, and back home on Friday.

Ms Hamilton said: "When you start to relax, you feel really tired, but at the moment adrenaline is keeping us going. In the last month we did 300 miles in 30 days. It has been an unrelenting effort."

The Prince of Wales, who was patron of their South Pole expedition, said: "I am very proud of my ladies. I always knew they would do it after their magnificent efforts in Antarctica. They have set us all a wonderful example of determination and true British grit."

The trip began slowly as they progressed over house-sized ice-block ridges and coped with blizzards so strong they were unable to set up camp. Ms Daniels also had frostbite. Progress improved later but a rise in temperature from minus 50 to minus 10 degrees centigrade brought new obstacles as the ice cracked around them.

The pair triumphed against time to complete the expedition as the ice cap melted. They knew they would only be able to stay on the ice as long as a plane could land and airlift them back to base.

They were saved hours of laborious detours by using all-in-one dry suits over their polar kit for the first time on their expeditions. The garments, developed for another expedition last year, enabled them to swim across freezing water.