The complete list of Helen Thayer’s accomplishments would fill volumes. In 2002 she was named “One of the Great Explorers of the 20th Century” by National Geographic. In her efforts to tie the four corners of the earth together, Helen’s adventures have taken her to every section of the globe. Helen has experienced 126 degree temperatures trekking across the Gobi Desert to -70 degrees atop the polar ice cap at the North Pole. The challenges that Helen has faced and overcome will inspire and motivate you as you plan your own Take It Outside adventure.

In 1988, at the age of 50, Helen became the first woman to walk solo to the Magnetic North Pole. Completely on her own with no human contact, Helen pulled a sled loaded with supplies for her 27 day journey to the pole. Helen had to overcome fierce wind storms, sea ice that would break around her and attacks from polar bears to reach the pole. With Helen’s detailed planning and her “Quitting is not an option” attitude, she was successful. A little help from Charlie did not hurt either.

Charlie was a large black Canadian Eskimo Husky that was Helen’s companion on her adventure to the Magnetic North Pole. Before meeting Helen, Charlie was an Inuit village guard dog whose job was to warn the village of approaching polar bears. Being fed frozen seal meat twice a week and living out in the elements, Charlie had little in the way of human contact before Helen. During her training for the North Pole attempt, Helen realized that she would need protection from polar bear attacks and purchased Charlie from an Inuit hunter. After only 3 days training together, Helen and Charlie set off on their journey. The challenges and dangers that they faced are chronicled in Helen’s best selling book, Polar Dream. Helen has turned her experiences on the ice into motivational lessons for all of us. Helen states, “My solo journey to the pole was like life itself. We all have our metaphorical North Poles. But we can reach them just as I did one step at a time.”

In 1992, Helen and her husband Bill became the first married couple to walk together to the Magnetic North Pole. Retracing Helen’s earlier route, they reached the Pole this time without Charlie. Helen said that to bring another dog would have made Charlie, who was resting at home, jealous.

In 1994 Helen and Bill, along with Charlie, spent a year in the Canadian Yukon documenting families of wolves. In her book Three Among the Wolves, Helen describes the wolves’ interactions with each other during hunting trips and life at the den raising cubs. Three Among the Wolves was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Festival.

At age 63, Helen fulfilled a lifelong dream of walking across the Mongolian Gobi Desert. Helen and Bill, who was 74 at the time, were the first to walk the 1,600 mile length of the Gobi Desert from west to east. During the adventure Helen and Bill experienced sand storms, temperatures over 120 degrees, scorpions and life threatening water shortages. Helen’s book, Walking The Gobi, is the story of Helen and Bill’s trek accompanied by Tom and Jerry, the names they gave to the two Bactrian camels that accompanied them. The story of the 81-day adventure is full of the challenges that were faced and how Helen and Bill worked together to overcome them.

Some of Helen's other accomplishments include:

• Winner of the United States National Championship in the sport of Luge.
• Winner of the American Mountain Foundation “Outstanding Achievement” award.
• Kayaking 1,200 miles in the Amazon Rain Forest studying the original inhabitants of the area.
• Walking 1200 miles throughout New Zealand studying Moari culture.
• Walking 600 miles following the largest Caribou herd in the world along their migration route to calving grounds in the North Slope of Alaska
• Along with many other explorations.

At 70 years old, Helen is now an Affiliate Professor of Geographic Education with the University of Alaska. Helen and Bill are also co-founders of Adventure Classroom. Their mission, with Adventure Classroom is to inspire students to reach their full potential. Helen uses her adventures to teach students to respect other cultures and our environment. In her talks to young and old alike, Helen shows through her actions how people can overcome challenges to achieve success. One of Helen’s formulas for success is “Perseverance overcomes problems, obstacles and the fear of failure. Sometimes it is one day or one step at a time.” One step at a time is how Helen’s next adventure will start. Helen and Bill’s next walk will be for 6000 miles across China, Tibet and Bhutan. Helen is also writing the biography of her loyal companion Charlie.

More information on Helen Thayer can be found at www.helenthayer.com or www.adventureclassroom.org. Helen's books, Polar Dream, Three Among the Wolves and Walking the Gobi, can be purchased at The Mast General Store or online at www.mastgeneralstore.com.