Анн Бэнcroft: Покорительница полюсов и защитница планеты

American arctic explorer and author
the actress

Ann Bancroft (born September 29, 1955) is an American author, teacher, adventurer, and public speaker. She was the first woman to finish a number of expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.

Bancroft was born in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Bancroft spent two years in Kenya in her fifth and sixth grades. Bancroft was a camper and staff member at YMCA Camp Widjiwagan in Ely, MN. Bancroft also taught Physical Education and Special Education in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. with Liv Arnesen. Bancroft has been on expeditions on the Ganges River in India, crossed Greenland, traveled to the North Pole, and crossed the South Pole.

Bancroft gave up her physical education and special education teaching posts in 1986 in order to participate with the "Will Steger International North Pole Expedition". She arrived at the North Pole together with five other team members after 56 days using dogsleds. This made Bancroft the first woman to reach the North Pole on foot and by sled. She was also the first woman to cross both polar ice caps to reach the North and South Poles. In 1992–1993, Bancroft led a four woman expedition to the South Pole on skis; this expedition was the first all female expedition to cross the ice to the South Pole. In 2001, Bancroft and Norwegian adventurer Liv Arnesen became the first women to ski across Antarctica. In March 2007, Bancroft and Liv Arnesen took part in a trek across the Arctic Ocean to draw attention to the problem of global warming. The two explorers were followed be millions of school children. However, according to The Washington Post, the expedition was called off "after Liv Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment." In 2017, Bancroft led an expedition on the Ganges River as part of the "Access Water Initiative Series." The Ganges River expedition's purpose was to raise awareness of the importance of clean water and that waste will travel downstream. This expedition was a 60 day trip on 1,500 miles of waterway. Future expeditions will be conducted on every continent. This initiative aims to encourage children to protect their waterways, which is a vital resource. Future trips include Africa in 2019, Oceania in 2021, South America in 2023, Europe in 2025, and Antarctica in 2027. and in 2006, she publicly campaigned against a proposed amendment to the Minnesota Constitution to prohibit any legal recognition of marriages or civil unions between members of the same sex. Bancroft also supports awareness of Access Water, Winter Warm Up challenges, and global warming.