Liv Arnesen is a world-renowned explorer, lecturer, author, and educator whose expeditions have been featured by the BBC, CNN, NPR, NBC Nightly News, and NBC’s Today Show, as well as in the New York Times, Outside, Sports Illustrated, and O, The Oprah Magazine. With Ann Bancroft, she wrote No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Historic Journey across Antarctica (Minnesota, 2019) and founded Bancroft Arnesen Explore, a nonprofit dedicated to global water sustainability, with expeditions planned through 2027 to raise awareness through education and storytelling. She lives near Oslo, Norway.

Roland Huntford’s many books include critically acclaimed biographies of Ernest Shackleton and Fridtjof Nansen and The Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen’s Race to the South Pole.

Ann Bancroft is one of the world’s preeminent polar explorers and the first woman to reach both the North and South Poles. An internationally recognized educator, speaker, and philanthropist, she founded the Ann Bancroft Foundation in 1991.

Contents

Foreword

Ann Bancroft

Prologue

Fruit is Best Enjoyed when Ripe

Ski-Touring between the Covers of a Book

Finding My Own Way

A First Test in Greenland

Skiing against the Tide

My Provocative Announcement

I Harden Myself in the Himalayas

“Have you ever hauled a sledge, my dear?”

Training with Tires and Pavarotti

The Earthquake

You Can Achieve What You Want

From the Cold North to the Freezing South

Steak and Red Wine in Chile—and We’re Off

Alone at Last

Wind, Weather, and Proper Clothing

I’m Enjoying Myself!

Message No. 6: “Finish South Pole”

And the Satellites Keep Orbiting

A Quiet Toast Halfway