No Horizon Is So Far
Two Women and Their Historic Journey Across Antarctica
by Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft
List Price: $15.00
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0143034243
Publisher: Penguin
Liv Arnesen is the first woman to ski solo to the South Pole. Her book about the journey was a bestseller in Norway.
Ann Bancroft is the first woman in history to ski to both the North and South poles. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
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Q: No Horizon Is So Far is written from both of your perspectives, with interludes from your contributor, Cheryl Dahle. Why did you choose this format? What are the benefits, for both the readers and yourselves? Can you describe the creation and organization process of writing a book with three people?
AB: We wanted the book to flow and converse as our conversations did on the trip. So we didn't want to each take a chapter. Using Cheryl also allowed us to include things that wouldn't have come up in our conversations, yet the reader needed to know. What we discovered was that we experienced the same events quite differently.
Q: Being coleaders of your own expedition required you to fulfill many roles: explorers, fundraisers, teachers, spokespeople, and now authors. Can you discuss your feelings toward these various functions and how you shared the responsibilities?
AB: We share everything. With only two of us we did what needed to be done. Rarely did things or jobs need conversation. This is a joy. We both take full responsibility with this kind of sharing. Sometimes the decision on who does what is taken care of by taking turns. Other times its because of division of skills and sometimes because someone is simply tired and the other fills in.
Q: Making a trans-Antarctic passage requires an enormous amount of self-confidence and ambition, but also caution and scrupulous judgment. How do you walk that balance of ego and humility? Do you feel that you occasionally stray too far in one direction, and if so, how? How do these opposing character traits affect your daily life?
AB: The balance of ego and humility is often taken care of by the place we are in. Antarctica demands nothing less than pure honesty. Too much ego can put the person and the team in jeopardy. Years of experience have certainly helped us to understand this. We both operate very similarly. For us, its more important to be safe and leave a positive legacy than to go on at all costs. Sharing the journey with so many people also helps keep our egos in line. It keeps us very tuned into the fact that this trip is not just ours but all that come with us.
Q: You both cite Ernest Shackleton as a role model and thank teachers and family members for their inspiration and support, but what have you learned from each other? What have you learned about yourself that you didn't know prior to your journey together?
AB: I am inspired and learn from Liv every day. She has huge doses of inner strength. I try and reach deep to find mine and want to be my best when I am with Liv. For me, expeditions are a place for me to try and stretch and grow. I learn new things about myself as well as reaffirm old things. The injury I sustained on the trip was a place where I needed to dig deep to find ways to cope and stay with the journey when I doubted myself. The decision at the Ross Shelf reaffirmed to me that I can come up with the courage to make the hard but right decisions.
Q: As adventurers, you both have suffered numerous injuries and near-fatal experiences. When returning from a trip, which is the most difficult to recuperate from: the physical injuries, the mental effort, or the isolation? How long does it take you to adjust to "normal life"?
AB: It used to take a while to adjust to coming back in the early years of expeditions. Now I am ready for another phase of the experience-the coming back part. Part of our job is to come back and immediately share the journey with people, the media, and so on. So we make ourselves ready. We also rely heavily on each other at this time as we know most people have no idea what we went through on the ice. Once we're back, we need each other then as much as we did on the ice.
Q: You achieved a milestone in both polar exploration and women's history, hopefully facilitating future female expeditions. Can you discuss your opinions of women's athletics today? What would you like to see change? Who, if anyone, do you admire for their contribution to women's equality in sports?
AB: I have seen women's athletics grow at a rapid pace over the last twenty-five years. I speak to young women and girls who are growing up believing women's opportunities have always been there. In a sense this is wonderful, yet our opportunities are always under assault. Title IX is still threatened so we need to educate and be vigilant to ensure there are many opportunities for girls at an early age. Liv and I hope that by blazing new trails in what we do, we can continue to change attitudes that threaten girls and women from pursuing their dreams and potential.
Q: The journey didn't end the way you expected. Can you discuss your initial feelings about this, and how those feelings have changed with time? If you could redo the expedition, would you do anything differently?
AB: The decision at the Ross Ice Shelf was a painful decision because we are goal focused and felt deep disappointment. There was never any questioning that it was the right decision, however. Taking on such large expeditions demands that you also prepare for situations out of your control and having to make the necessary decisions that result from those situations.
There is actually little about the expedition we would change. If we had control over the wind, we would have changed it, that is for sure! Because of the long training and testing we were very happy with all of our gear except the tow-that would be one piece of equipment that we would change.
Q: Can you discuss the work you have done since you wrote No Horizon Is So Far? Are there other destinations you hope to visit? Other expeditions you hope to lead?
AB: Liv and I have been back to Antarctica since writing the book; it was a very different type of trip and we went to a different part of the continent. We visited the peninsula with kayaks. We also kayaked the Great Lakes for several months. Much of what we have been doing since our crossing would involve sharing our messages with others using the expedition metaphor. We are currently in training for our next huge challenge. We will attempt to cross the shifting ice cap of the Arctic Ocean this coming February. We will pull specially designed sleds, swim when the ice opens up in special dry suits, and be faced with the greatest physical challenge of our career.
Q: "Dare to dream" was the theme of the educational curricula you provided to classrooms around the world, linking their lessons to your experiences during the Antarctic crossing. As former teachers, do you have any suggestions for your readers as how to foster confidence and positive thinking in children today? How can readers apply the lessons of your expedition to their own lives?
AB: We think that what happened to us on the ice and how we dealt with it is relevant for any environment. Putting one step in front of the other, recognizing that making dreams a reality is hard work, and working together and sticking to it works for all of us. We can always do much more than we believe. Let children surprise us and themselves!
Q: In No Horizon Is So Far, you both make clear how important education is to you. Reaching more people with your message is obviously part of the motivation behind writing this book, but what else were you hoping to accomplish? To what degree do you feel that you satisfied those goals?
AB: Our hope is to inspire others to find what Liv calls the things in life that make your heart beat a bit faster. We also wanted to document our story in an intimate way that would last-what better way to do that than with a book? There are so few women's stories told about women who pursue this kind of journey of adventure, stamina, and perseverance. And we wanted add our tale to what we hope will be a growing number of stories of women taking journeys like ours.
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Excerpted from No Horizon Is So Far © Copyright 2009 by Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft. Reprinted with permission by Penguin. All rights reserved.
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