by 
On this Day:
On May 27, 1997 the first all female (20 British women) team reach the North Pole.
Answering an ad in a newspaper, 20 amateur explorers attempted to ski from Arctic Canada to the top of the world.
The frigid landscape of the North Pole is a stark and dangerous environment. There is no land underneath the rugged terrain on the geographic top of the world; it’s all ice interspersed with frequent stretches of deadly cold water. This treacherous environment has long tempted explorers—from Robert Peary and Matthew Henson’s first trip in 1909 to Will Steger’s unsupported dog sled trip in 1986.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most epic but least known adventures: the first all-women relay expedition to the North Pole. ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 podcast recounts the inspirational and harrowing story of how 20 amateur women from the U.K. came together to undertake one of the most challenging expeditions on Earth.
The idea for the trip was “hatched on a whim,” reporter and producer Rose Eveleth explains in the podcast. In June 1995, film financier Caroline Hamilton was chatting with her friend’s boyfriend Pen Hadow, who was a polar explorer. She listened to his description of skiing to the North Pole and was inspired. “I thought, if he could do it so can I,” she tells Rose.
The problem was that mounting an expedition was expensive. In Hadow’s estimation the venture would cost roughly half a million dollars. So the duo came up with a plan to drum up publicity and sponsorship cash: Hamilton would organize the first all-women expedition to the North Pole. She wasn’t just looking for super-elite outdoorswomen. Instead, she would open the expedition up to any woman who was fit enough to participate.
A few months later, a noticed appeared in the classified ads of The Telegraph:
“Applications are invited from women of any age, background and occupation, but they will have to prove fitness and commitment. They will have to put up with real pain and discomfort. They will wonder every ten steps what they are doing but they have the opportunity in an epic endeavour.”
That ad attracted 200 applications—and 60 those women showed up in the remote moorlands of Dartmoor National Park for two rounds of grueling tryouts. The group was whittled down to 20 amateur adventurers. Among the lot there was Ann Daniels, a former bank clerk and mother of young triplets; Sue Riches, a breast cancer survivor; Victoria Humphries, Sue Riche’s daughter who joined not knowing of her mother’s participation; and Matty McNair, one of two polar guides who would lead the group of amateurs to the top of the world.
The team was divided into five groups of four adventurers, each of which would tackle one leg of the 416-mile slog over the ice from Arctic Canada to the Pole, pulling their gear behind them on sledges. Facing temperatures of almost -50 degrees Fahrenheit, blasting winds and ever-changing ice, which could (and occasionally did) crumble into open water at any minute, the women carried on.
Getting wet can quickly turn deadly due to cold. In this image Riches and Humphries (standing on ice chunks) are recovering from their bout in the water. Matty McNair
The challenges were deadly. On several occasions the plucky but inexperienced explorers came close to freezing to death. And though we won’t spoil the conclusion to the podcast, know that the trip not only challenged the minds and bodies of the women, it also reshaped the course of many their lives. Some of the participants continued on to trek to the South Pole and to relive the venture to the North Pole.
In the end, the story is a little bittersweet. It’s unlikely that there will be any similar expeditions up North any time soon—if ever. In recent years, melting sea ice has made human-powered trips to the pole extremely treacherous. Every year, the ice has grown thinner and less stable. But perhaps these amazing women’s sacrifices and spirit of adventure can inspire people in the fight to protect our breathtaking but delicate environment.
Jason Daley
First, a Joke:
Why do polar bears only live at the north pole?
Because if they also lived at the south pole, they would be bipolar bears.
Second, a Song:
Twenty women are heading for the North Pole and the record books as the first all female expedition to reach the top of the world. The Penguin relay expedition is made up of five teams, with four women in each.
The housewives, surgeons, teachers and policewomen are making the historic trip from Resolute Bay on the northern tip of Canada to the geographic North Pole. Each team walks for two weeks on the sea ice before handing on the baton to the next team who are airlifted in to continue the 400 nautical mile journey.
Accompanied by two professional women polar guides, the teams are made up of women from all walks of life. The idea behind the relay team came from organiser Caroline Hamilton who wanted to give women the opportunity to take part in the expedition without having it cost a lot of money or time away from work and families.
Already three teams have made their way across the sea ice which is currently melting in the Spring thaw. Delta, the name of the third team set off after taking the baton from the Charlie team which had run out of food when the weather closed in preventing the plane from landing.
While Delta headed off into the white horizon, Charlie arrived back at base camp at Resolute in Canada. There, champagne was cracked open and of course drunk by the triumphant women. Among the Charlie party was mother and daughter Sue and Victoria Riches.
Thought for the Day:
“I’m not exactly the preconceived image of a polar explorer — I’m not tall and I don’t have a beard, I’m a woman and I’m 5ft 3.” But she added that “you don’t have to lose your femininity to do something powerful that requires physical strength.” – Rosie Stancer
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Have a great day!
Dave & Colleen
© 2022 David J. Bilinsky and Colleen E. Bilinsky
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