An all-woman trek to the North Pole, sponsored by WomenQuest, will feature a diverse group of women, several of them in their 40s. The team members will travel more than 150 miles on skis, in sub-zero conditions, to the top of the planet at True North.

These women are making the trek with several objectives that support the mission of WomenQuest: to challenge women physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Further, the expedition will have both short-term and long-term outcomes.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and here for a Trek Timeline.

History

The expedition is a rare example of an all-woman trek to the North Pole. It will mark the first time an all-women group has reached the pole from a Russian-based departure. The objectives the members seek to accomplish will be historic firsts.

Education

Schools in the U.S. and Canada will receive regular satellite transmissions from the ice detailing the team's progress. These transmissions will operate in conjunction with a curriculum distributed to teachers in selected schools prior to the expedition's departure.The curriculum will highlight environmental sciences, mathematics, and physical accomplishments. Underlying themes will be group cooperation, and empowerment. An outcome of the expedition will be the production of a CD-ROM detailing the expedition, aimed at pre-teen and teenage girls. Plans are for a companion game that lets them journey with the team and make their own trek decisions.

"Women at the Top"

The Arctic is a desolate, lifeless landscape with a climate few animals can survive. Throughout history, only a small number of men, and even fewer women, have reached the top. Now, an international team of women will make the trek.

"Women at the Top," a television program presented by WomenQuest, an educational non-profit foundation, will explore what brings these women together, and why in a world of adventures, they pick a journey over treacherous ice in sub-zero temperatures.

The program will document training and shakedown preparations leading to the ice crossing, and the arrival at the North Pole in May 2001. The accounting of this significant trek will produce the one of the most accurate views of the Arctic ever captured on video. In addition, it will record insightful interviews with these achievers during their daily struggle to push forward, stay healthy, and reach the top.

"Women at the Top" will gain not only national recognition in 2001, it will be an inspirational story of timeless significance.