On qualifying from secondary school, she went on an Alpine mountaineering course in Courmayeur where she met her husband, Bernard Muller a seasoned climber.
[3] During the European winter of 1996–97, de la Ferrière became the first French woman to reach the South Pole unassisted, covering the distance from the Weddell Sea to the Amundsen-Scott base at temperatures around -40 C while dragging a 150 kg (310 lb) sledge behind her.
As I walked along, I would turn around, look at my tracks, they were endless, it was wonderful.De la Ferrière returned to Antarctica in 2009, this time to head the French Dumont d'Urville Station for a period of 15 months.
No longer interested in feats of endurance or exploration, she now spends the remainder of her time lecturing in France and Europe, explaining how important it is to study the Antarctic in order to improve understanding of climate change.
[6] In early 2000, de la Ferrière published an account of her Antarctic experiences in Seule dans le vent des glaces (Alone in the glacial wind).