Ann Bancroft - Waunakee Community School District

Ann Bancroft
Birth: September 29, 1955 in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
Nationality: American
Occupation: explorer, teacher
Source: Biography Resource Center Online. Gale Group, 2002.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Awards
Biographical Essay
Further Readings
Source Citation
BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
One of the greatest polar explorers of our time, Ann Bancroft holds the notoriety of being
the first woman to reach both the North and South poles. In 1986, Bancroft drove a
dogsled to the North Pole, and in 1993, she successfully led the American Women's
Expedition to the South Pole. Bancroft made history again in 2001 when she and
teammate Liv Arnesen became the first women to cross Antarctica.
Felt Empowered as a Youngster
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 29, 1955, and raised in Mendota Heights,
Minnesota, Bancroft grew up in an adventurous family that fostered her love of the
outdoors. She went on camping and canoe trips with her father and dreamed of being an
explorer. As a child, during the Minnesota winters, Bancroft would walk out into the
snowdrifts behind her family's house and pretend she was pulling a sled full of supplies
across the icy wastes of the South Pole.
Bancroft also attended YMCA camps. She has said that her first canoe trip left an
indelible mark on her. The group consisted of only females--four other girls and a woman
counselor. Bancroft's words to Becky Veres in the YMCA Youth Voice illustrate how the
trip impacted her life. "It was a great experience to have all women and it gave us a lot of
power. If you are empowered as a young person it is something that you will carry with
you all your life. It is like an internal compass that will lead you toward your goals and
help you reach them."
Conquered Learning Disability
Although Bancroft struggled with dyslexia, which made schoolwork difficult for her as a
child, she went on to become an elementary school physical education teacher. Bancroft

told Amy Lindgren of Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service that her learning disability
made college difficult, yet the experience helped her develop the strength to handle the
hardships of exploration. "On these polar trips, when it gets tough and ugly and you want
to quit, the only way to do it is to put one foot in front of the other. It's a familiar feeling
to maintain that focus on a goal."
After graduating from the University of Oregon, Bancroft taught at schools in the St.
Paul/Minneapolis area. In 1986, Bancroft took a leave from teaching after she was invited
to join a polar expedition led by Will Steger and Paul Schurke as the only woman on their
team. The expedition was successful, and Bancroft became the first woman to reach the
North Pole by dogsled.
Because of her success in reaching the North Pole, Bancroft was thrust into the spotlight.
She is quick to point out, however, that she doesn't go on expeditions to gain attention.
As Bancroft told Kyle Noone in an article posted on Myprimetime.com, "I didn't go for
any other reason but to fulfill my dreams. I think we do best when we follow our
passions."
Although Bancroft had intended to return to teaching, the expedition made it clear to her
that teaching in a school was not her path--exploration was. But not simply exploration
on its own: she wanted to combine it with teaching. Bancroft decided she could teach
through her explorations. To this end, she created computer and satellite hookups so that
millions of schoolchildren could follow her expeditions over the Internet.
In 1992, Bancroft climbed Alaska's Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. In
1993, when Bancroft led the American Women's Expedition to the South Pole, she
remained aware of her schoolchildren audience, carrying a 30-pound radio on her journey
so she could communicate with them. During difficult times on the trek, Bancroft
imagined 250,000 children riding on the sled she was pulling. She did not want to let
them down, and the image kept her going.
Trekked Across Antarctica
In 2001, when Bancroft was 45, she and Norwegian Liv Arnesen completed a 94-day,
1,700-mile trek across the continent of Antarctica. Bancroft told a Sports Illustrated
writer, "I've never been so tired. There were times we felt that we couldn't go another
minute." However, the beauty of the land, where it was light for 24 hours a day,
invigorated them. Rainbows around the sun and crystalline ice formations took their
minds off some of the exhaustion and pain they endured on the journey. On the trip,
temperatures averaged 20 degrees below zero, and the wind often gusted up to 50 miles
per hour.
When they set off on their journey, their sleds, filled with gear and food, weighed about
250 pounds. When the wind was good, they were able to attach sails to their waist
harnesses. The wind pulled them along, sometimes carrying them 60 miles in one day.
When there was no wind, they had to pull the sleds and it would often take them 12 hours

to cover 13 miles. They were isolated from the outside world, able to communicate with
their Minnesota home base only by satellite phone, and too remote for any help to reach
them if they needed it. More than three million schoolchildren followed their trek on the
Internet.
Bancroft told David A. Keeps in Sports Illustrated Women that despite the physical
hardships, the most difficult part of the trip for her was waiting in her tent for bad
weather to end. "Your whole being wants to be out on the ice," she said. "And yet the
elements are saying that you can't. It forces me to grapple with patience, humility, being
in the present moment. We get a chance to explore, internally, places that very few
people ever let themselves go."
Encourages Children to "Step Into" Life
Bancroft is the founder and leader of the Ann Bancroft Foundation, a not-for-profit
organization that encourages women and girls to achieve. In 1987, Bancroft was named
Woman of the Year by Ms. Magazine and in 1995, she was inducted into the National
Women's Hall of Fame.
When Bancroft is not exploring, she lives with her partner, Pam Arnold, on a farm in
Scandia, Minnesota.
Bancroft summed up part of her life's mission by telling Keeps of Sports Illustrated
Women, "I try to live my life the way we do on an expedition, to know yourself so you
know what limits to push. You never know when your moment of truth is going to be.
Life is so exciting if you just step into it."
AWARDS
Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year, 1987; inducted into the National Women's Hall of
Fame, 1995; named one of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year, 2001.
FURTHER READINGS
Periodicals
• Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, May 2, 2000.
• People Weekly, March 5, 2001.
• Runner's World, January 1994.
• Sports Illustrated, April 23, 2001.
• Sports Illustrated Women, October 1, 2001.
Online

• "Living the Dream," Ann Bancroft Foundation,
http://www.annbancroftfoundation.org/profile.html (April 2, 2002).
• "Ann Bancroft, Polar Explorer," Myprimetime.com,
http://www.myprimetime.com/misc/bae_abpro/index.shtml (April 2, 2002).
• "Ann Bancroft Reflects on Being a Y Kid," YMCA Youth Voice,
http://www.yesc.org/story.cfm?SID=223 (April 2, 2002).
SOURCE CITATION
"Ann Bancroft." Biography Resource Center Online. Gale Group, 2002.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale.
2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com.proxy2.library.uiuc.edu/servlet/BioRC