My ambitions - and everyone should have ambititions - are more comfortable and less dangerous - I want to be able to ride up that hill as fast as possible and without puffing at the top, and then zoom down the other side, triumphant.
But you've got to admire the dedication and ambition of those who like going into cold places...
Polar Dream: The Heroic Saga of the First Solo Journey by a Woman and Her Dog to the Pole, by Helen Thayer
Simon & Schuster, 1993
252 pages, plus acknowledgements. No index. 8 pages of color photos
Description
Seldom has there been a story as enthralling or inspiring as Polar Dream - the real life adventure of Helen Thayer's courageous journey to the magnetic North Pole.
In 1988-at the age of 50-Helen Thayer became the first woman to ski solo to the Pole, her only companion a big, black husky she'd named Charlie. Polar Dream is the vivid first-prson account of this grueling 27-day odyssey, during which Helen and Charlie trekked 345 miles through the desolation and dangers of the Arctic. There they braved brutal subzero temperatures, gale-force storms, treacherous ice floes and, toward the end of the journey, near starvation as well as the greatest danger of all - marauding polar bears.
But Polar Dream is more than a tale of heroic determination in a hostile world of ice. It is also a testament to the intense bond of love and trust that developed between Helen and Charlie, a dog wise in the ways of Arctic survival. Several times, Charlie risked his own life to protect Helen from huge, hungry bears. And he learned to become just as skillful at begging for Helen's food and, eventually, winning his way into her tent-and her heart.
Helen writes of the incredible beauty of the Arctic and of her hopes, fears and deep feelings of isolation. Her book is an amazing account of courage and endurance in the face of unrelenting hardship, and a touching tale of loyalty and love between human and animal that will not soon be forgotten.
Born in New Zealand, Helen Thayer is a professional mountain guide and a former discus thrower, sled racer and US National Luge Champion (1975.) She was the recipient of the American Mountain Foundation Outstanding Achievement award in 1988 and in 1990, she served as the American leader of the first international US/Soviet arctic women's expedition. She has also climbed the highest mountains in North America, South America, and the former Soviet Union.
In May 1982 she and her 65-year old husband Bill became the first - and oldest - married couple to reach the magnetic North Pole on foot, unresupplied.
When they're not fending off polar bears, fighting frostbite, or climbing mountains, Helen, Bill and Charlie make their home in Snohomish, Washington.
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