Viking Magazine - January 2022 - 14

a month after Arnesen returned
home, she began planning her next
expedition: a solo trek to the South
Pole.
Arnesen spent the next two years
preparing for the feat: She secured
sponsorships and insurance, and
intentionally gained 22 pounds
of fat reserves for her journey.
Most impressively, she overcame
excruciating back pain with a
disciplined training regimen that
involved daily three-hour hikes, in
which she carried 33 pounds in a
rucksack and pulled three car tires
to simulate the weight of a sled.
" I've been into sports, competing
in orienteering and cross-country
skiing, since I was a kid. You learn
how to lose and how to win, how
to prepare and not be too nervous, "
Arnesen says of how she mentally
prepared to be alone in the Arctic
for weeks. " I had also taken a class
in sports psychology in the mid1970s
and learned about mental
training. "
By November 1994, Arnesen
was ready for the 750-mile journey
that lay ahead. She prepared her
body and mind as best she could,
but high winds, bone-chilling
temperatures, whiteout conditions
and crevasses-deep cracks in an
ice sheet or glacier-were some of
the unpredictable, potentially fatal
elements she faced. She needed to
rely on the 220 pounds of clothing,
food, shelter and supplies she
hauled in her sled and rucksack
to see her through to the end of
her mission.
Two weeks in, Arnesen had
adapted to her new routine. Excited
to emerge from her sleeping bag
every morning, she'd wake at 6:30
a.m., eat breakfast, pack up and be
ready for the day ahead by 8:30 a.m.
Breaks came every hour for a quick
snack, and lunch was around 2 p.m.
One moist wipe served as a daily
shower in the evening. With no one
to talk to, she would often recite
poetry, to avoid an annoying tune
getting stuck in her head.
" It was splendid traveling alone, "
she writes. " My reason for going
solo to the South Pole had never
been because I wanted to be the
fir t woman to do so [...] I was
alone because I didn't know anyone
with the same overwhelming
desire to go to the South Pole.
[...] Modern Norwegian explorer
John Schjelderup Giæver once
wrote, 'Two men are ideal, three
is one too many, ten men is hell.' I
thought one woman was absolutely
perfect. "
On Christmas Eve, 50 days after
she started her expedition, Arnesen
reached the South Pole. " I was
overwhelmed by emotions, " she
says. " I felt thankful to be able to
fulfill my childhood dream. I said
'thank you' to the universe. My tears
were running, and I was thinking
about the life behind me and what I
wanted for the future. "
INSPIRING GENERATIONS
Though Arnesen fulfilled her
childhood dream of reaching the
South Pole at the age of 41, her
passion for exploration didn't stop
there. Two years later, she climbed
Mount Everest, turning back only
1991
Leading a
team of three
other women,
Arnesen
attempts her
first crossing
of Greenland.
Due to poor
conditions,
and a threat
from a local
police chief,
they are
forced to
turn back.
14
A LIFETIME OF EXPLORATION
1992
1994
Blue 1
Arnesen
and travel
companion
Julie Maske
set out
across the
Greenland
Ice Cap once
again. This
time they are
successful,
becoming the
first women
to complete
the journey.
January 2022
Arnesen
achieves
the feat of
reaching
the South
Pole during
a 50-day,
750-mile
crosscountry
skiing
trek,
once again
becoming the
first woman
to do so.
Arnesen and
American
Hercules
Inlet
SOUTH
POLE
explorer Ann
Bancroft
are the first
women to
sail and
ski across
Antarctica's
landmass.
Ross Island
Arnesen and
Bancroft are
planning to paddle
one waterway on
every continent
through 2027 as
part of their Access
Water Expedition
to raise awareness
for global water
sustainability.
1994
Route
2001
Route
2001
CURRENTLY
sonsofnorway.com
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - January 2022

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