Liv Arnesen from Norway and Ann Bancroft from Minnesota are on their way to become the first women to ski across the Arctic Ocean, from Russia to Canada, via the North Pole. Millions of children will follow the expedition from day to day on their website.
3/27/2006 :: The expedition set out from Cape Arkticheskiy on Severnaya Zemlya in Russia on 11 March. Their goal is to reach Ward Hunt Island in Canada around 1 June. By that time Liv and Ann will have covered almost 2000 kilometres (1240 miles) of snow, ice and open sea.
In Nansen’s and Amundsen’s footsteps
Both Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft have found inspiration in old polar heroes such as Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and Ernest Shackleton. The two women can also boast an impressive list of achievements. In 1986 Ann Bancroft was the first woman to reach the North Pole, while in 1994 Liv Arnesen was the first woman to reach the South Pole alone. In 2001 they made a 2847-kilometre, 94-day long skiing expedition together in the Antarctic. People all over the world could follow it in detail on their website.
"Dare to dream"
The two former teachers will be joined by twelve million children all over the world, who will follow their four-month journey via satellite phone hooked up to the internet. One of the educational programs is called “Dare to dream” and encourages children to follow their dreams. They have not only invited schoolchildren and their teachers to follow the expedition, but have also involved the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Together they hope to raise awareness of global warming and the ice melting of the North Pole.
"We wish to encourage both young and old and inspire them to follow their dreams," said Arnesen.
The team's preparation includes taking into account the dangers they may encounter. A movement in the ice almost every hour is a constant challenge when exploring Arctic waters. "If challenging nature is a game of chess, we might end up check mate. We are mentally prepared for that," she said.
But moving ice and waters are not the only dangers they might face. They could bump into a polar bear or two. The two women carry booby traps and guns for protection, even though statistically only two out of one hundred bears are aggressive towards humans. "Let's hope we don't run into those two particular bears," Arnesen said jokingly.
Follow the expedition
The expedition co-operates with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, which has ten million members in 150 countries. Arnesen and Bancroft expect as many as twelve million children, young people and adults to follow them during the expedition. Their website also has a link to a program on peaceful conflict resolution created by Pacific Lutheran University, from which Arnesen and Bancroft received a Peace Builder Award in January. You can read Liv and Ann’s daily dispatches from the icy wastes at www.bancroftarnesenexplore.com.
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Arild Strømmen / Synne Dyvik 11 Mar 2005