(Norwegian) Women in Antartica

We congratulate Hege Victoria Dybdalsbakk on setting a Norwegian record to the South Pole in 33 days, and 21-year-old Karen Kyllesø on achieving the record for the youngest solo explorer to reach the South Pole! Nowadays females are common in Antarctica, though this took a long time (and more than a few determined women) to do so.

Antarctica has long been a men’s world. When Shackleton recruiting for the 1914 expedition he received three female applicants. He didn’t accept any of them. Since the mid-1930s women have step by step been making their presence known in Antarctica. This began modestly with the wives of prominent navigators accompanying their husbands, then proceeded to female scientists. Although women had seen Antarctica from the decks of ship, no woman had set foot in Antarctica until Caroline Mikkelsen did in 1935. Her husband was working in a Norwegian whaling firm that did research and discovery expeditions. Though Mikkelsen was the first woman to set foot in Antarctica, Ingrid Christensen was the first to do so on the continent itself. She was also the first to fly over it. She received Norway’s top knighthood, the Order of St Olav, in 1946.

Liv Arnesen is a Norwegian explorer who became the first woman to ski solo to the South Pole in 1994. She later became, together with Ann Bancroft, the first women to ski across Antarctica. Their polar achievements have made them into role models for women and girls, in a field traditionally dominated by men. Liv Arnesen wrote a book called: “Good girls do not ski to the South Pole” recounts her experience on the ice – as well as the skepticism she faced from potential sponsors. “Have you ever hauled a sledge?” was a constantly recurring question, despite that she was the first women in 1992, together with Julie Maske, to ski across the Greenland ice without support or replenishments. Liv says: “We all have our South Pole”, motivating you to chase your own dream!