Helen Thayer
Encyclopedia
Helen Thayer is a New Zealand born explorer. At the age of 50 she became the first woman to solo to the magnetic North Pole pulling her own sled without resupply. She travelled on foot all the way with no outside help. She now lives in the United States. With her husband Bill, a retired helicopter pilot, she continues to develop educational programs for students.
Thayer is the author of Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole, Three Among the Wolves: A year of Friendship with Wolves in the Wild and Trekking the Gobi: Desert of Dreams and Despair.
She has received the NW Explorer's Club's Vancouver Award, and the Robert Henning Award from the Alaskan Geographic Alliance for exploration and education.
She has done the following:
Thayer is the author of Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole, Three Among the Wolves: A year of Friendship with Wolves in the Wild and Trekking the Gobi: Desert of Dreams and Despair.
She has received the NW Explorer's Club's Vancouver Award, and the Robert Henning Award from the Alaskan Geographic Alliance for exploration and education.
She has done the following:
- Traveled alone to the magnetic North Pole accompanied only by her polar bear dog Charlie.
- Walked across the Sahara Desert following an ancient trade route of 4,000 miles
- Walked across the Mongolian Gobi DesertGobi DesertThe Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
1,600 miles - In two kayak expeditions she kayaked 2,200 miles in the Amazon
- Lived alongside a wolf den for over six months and traveled the Canadian polar sea to study wild wolves for one year
- Honored by the White House and National Geographic
- Named “One of the Great Explorers of the 20th Century” by National Geographic Society and NPR
- Inducted into the Snohomish County ( Washington State) Sports Hall of Fame
- An internationally acclaimed motivational speaker
- An accomplished high altitude mountain climber
- Represented 3 countries (New Zealand, Guatemala, USA) in international track and field
- United States National luge champion
External links
- Helen Thayer's web site
- Biography at HistoryLinkHistoryLinkHistoryLink is a website that is an encyclopedia of Washington State history. The site has more than 4,500 stories. There are 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images....
- http://www.metropulse.com/news/2009/may/06/most-important-explorer-helen-thayer-appear-knoxvi/
- http://www.ypress.org/news/at_age_50_highspirited_helen_thayer_fulfills_polar_dream
- http://www.newwest.net/city/article/explorer_helen_thayer_in_missoula_to_speak_about_change_in_the_gobi/C8/L8/