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Polar Exposure: An All-Women's Expedition to the North Pole
This inspiring account of a diverse all-women’s expedition to the North Pole reveals the highs and lows of record-breaking, modern-day exploration.
“A wonderful collaboration both on the Arctic ice and onto the page. Each team members voice arises to offer a view beyond the physical giving us the essence of a unique adventure.” Ann Bancroft, first woman to reach the North Pole and coauthor of No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Historic Journey across Antarctica
When British Explorer Felicity Aston put out an open call for women with little to no experience willing to brave the elements on an expedition to the North Pole, she was stunned to have over 1000 applicants. After narrowing it down to ten women from ten different countries—some of whom had never seen snow before—the team spent the next two years training for this unique opportunity.
Each member of the team tells part of the story in her own words, chronicling their grueling preparation in Iceland and Oman, the anticipation for the journey, and the terrifying conditions of the Arctic. Set against a backdrop of Arctic pack ice that is thinner, newer, and less stable than ever before due to climate change—the team face the realities of hungry polar bears, extreme temperatures, and the possibility that anything and everything could go wrong at any moment.
Aston beautifully weaves each woman’s account into the greater expedition narrative, reminding readers of the teamwork needed to complete such a feat. Over 60 stunning photographs illustrate the journey, illuminating the breathtaking landscape along with the joy, pain, and determination of these ten women.
Polar Exposure is a powerful celebration of the perseverance of women in science, sports, and exploration that sheds light on all that it takes to reach the top of the world.
“A wonderful collaboration both on the Arctic ice and onto the page. Each team members voice arises to offer a view beyond the physical giving us the essence of a unique adventure.” Ann Bancroft, first woman to reach the North Pole and coauthor of No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Historic Journey across Antarctica
When British Explorer Felicity Aston put out an open call for women with little to no experience willing to brave the elements on an expedition to the North Pole, she was stunned to have over 1000 applicants. After narrowing it down to ten women from ten different countries—some of whom had never seen snow before—the team spent the next two years training for this unique opportunity.
Each member of the team tells part of the story in her own words, chronicling their grueling preparation in Iceland and Oman, the anticipation for the journey, and the terrifying conditions of the Arctic. Set against a backdrop of Arctic pack ice that is thinner, newer, and less stable than ever before due to climate change—the team face the realities of hungry polar bears, extreme temperatures, and the possibility that anything and everything could go wrong at any moment.
Aston beautifully weaves each woman’s account into the greater expedition narrative, reminding readers of the teamwork needed to complete such a feat. Over 60 stunning photographs illustrate the journey, illuminating the breathtaking landscape along with the joy, pain, and determination of these ten women.
Polar Exposure is a powerful celebration of the perseverance of women in science, sports, and exploration that sheds light on all that it takes to reach the top of the world.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
272 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2022
11 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Felicity Aston
10 books18 followersFelicity Aston, is the first and only woman in the world to ski across Antarctica alone. She completed the 1084-mile, 59-day journey in January 2012 and wrote a book about her experiences; 'Alone in Antarctica' published by Summersdale.
In 2009 Felicity led the 38-day, 600-mile Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, the largest and most international women’s team ever to ski to the South Pole. The team included women from Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Singapore and New Zealand. Felicity was responsible for selecting, training and leading this diverse, multicultural team of ‘ordinary’ women for one of the most arduous journeys on Earth. Her book about the expedition, ‘Call of the White: Taking the World to the South Pole’ was published in March 2011 and was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Competition that year.
Previously, Felicity has led several other notable expeditions including the first British women’s crossing of Greenland, a 450-mile winter crossing of Lake Baikal in Siberia and an adventurous expedition in Iceland for young people with a brain injury. She was also part of the first, ever, all-female team to complete the Polar Challenge, a 350-mile endurance race to the magnetic north pole and has completed the notorious Marathon Des Sables, a 150-mile foot race across the Sahara.
Trained as a Physicist and Meteorologist, Felicity’s first polar experience was as a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey. Based for three years on a remote research station on the Antarctic Peninsula, her job was to monitor climate and ozone.
Felicity
In 2009 Felicity led the 38-day, 600-mile Kaspersky Lab Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, the largest and most international women’s team ever to ski to the South Pole. The team included women from Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Singapore and New Zealand. Felicity was responsible for selecting, training and leading this diverse, multicultural team of ‘ordinary’ women for one of the most arduous journeys on Earth. Her book about the expedition, ‘Call of the White: Taking the World to the South Pole’ was published in March 2011 and was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Competition that year.
Previously, Felicity has led several other notable expeditions including the first British women’s crossing of Greenland, a 450-mile winter crossing of Lake Baikal in Siberia and an adventurous expedition in Iceland for young people with a brain injury. She was also part of the first, ever, all-female team to complete the Polar Challenge, a 350-mile endurance race to the magnetic north pole and has completed the notorious Marathon Des Sables, a 150-mile foot race across the Sahara.
Trained as a Physicist and Meteorologist, Felicity’s first polar experience was as a scientist with the British Antarctic Survey. Based for three years on a remote research station on the Antarctic Peninsula, her job was to monitor climate and ozone.
Felicity
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 9, 2023
I love how humanizing this book was, sharing the story of a polar expedition not with bravado and hubris, but with humility and reality. I appreciated how all the voices of the team members were represented in the first person, sharing how varied perspectives can be despite sharing the exact some experience. The only thing I wanted more of was the aftermath: the medical study results and the welcoming back home.
February 5, 2023
I learned about this all-woman, multi-cultural expedition to the North Pole while on a recent Antarctica expedition ship, the Vantage Travel Ocean Explorer. Ida Olsson, a member of the expedition team on our cruise ship, was part of this historic expedition to the North Pole and gave a very interesting lecture onboard about her experience skiing to the North Pole. I bought the book while onboard and read it as soon as I got back home. I found the story riveting, and could not put the book down.
Many of the women on the 10-person team, particularly those from Arab countries, had never skied and had never even visited the cold Arctic regions. They were selected by Felicity Aston based on their willingness to participate and a can-do attitude. Surprisingly, there was no test of physical fitness or specific experience. They participated in several training sessions and field exercises in Iceland and Oman before undertaking the challenge.
I learned a lot about Arctic exploration, the logistics of launching such a large expedition team, and the peculiarities of actually locating the North Pole from a moving ice sheet. The ongoing theme throughout the book was, of course, how climate change has reduced and threatened the polar ice cap. In the coming years, such an expedition may simply be impossible because the ice will be too thin and too unstable - a disturbing and sobering thought.
Many of the women on the 10-person team, particularly those from Arab countries, had never skied and had never even visited the cold Arctic regions. They were selected by Felicity Aston based on their willingness to participate and a can-do attitude. Surprisingly, there was no test of physical fitness or specific experience. They participated in several training sessions and field exercises in Iceland and Oman before undertaking the challenge.
I learned a lot about Arctic exploration, the logistics of launching such a large expedition team, and the peculiarities of actually locating the North Pole from a moving ice sheet. The ongoing theme throughout the book was, of course, how climate change has reduced and threatened the polar ice cap. In the coming years, such an expedition may simply be impossible because the ice will be too thin and too unstable - a disturbing and sobering thought.
April 25, 2024
Super interesting story and well written. I especially liked the perspective from each member of the team. It made for a fuller picture of what the experience was like. Definitely a great read!
April 5, 2023
A friend who works at a bookstore gave me an advanced copy of this book to read because it made her think of me. What a compliment! I really enjoyed this story of how 11 women from different countries and vastly different cultures came together to accomplish such an amazing feat! I can relate to the British author when she says, “As a woman who has been fortunate to have both freedom and privilege, …” The idea that one Muslim woman had to gain permission from her husband and family to join the expedition was a reminder to me that my lifestyle is a privilege stemming from several strokes of dumb luck. After finishing the book, I searched for and found two really interesting podcast interviews of the author.
April 2, 2023
British explorer Felicity Aston trains and leads an all-woman crew to journey to the North Pole – ten women from ten different countries (many achieving a first for their country in this attempt). This book is in “diary” form with entries from Felicity and then all the other explorers. Very interesting to see the nuts and bolts of skiing to the North Pole – from training to execution. (However, it does get somewhat repetitive because the journal entries are often covering the same ground.) Their journey has a lot of very moving points – with the destination not as important as what they learn and accomplish as a team. Felicity draws a parallel between the obstacles faced in their artic journey – leads and pressure ridges on the snow to be climbed and navigated for example – to the global problems we face with social justice and environmental change. When facing those pressure ridges, her team’s shortcoming and weaknesses were clear. But they worked as a team, everyone contributing from their strength, and they were able to conquer those obstacles, step by step. Some very inspiring messages here, along with a great adventure.
November 22, 2023
Really fascinating account of an all women's ski expedition to the North Pole in which most of the women had no previous experience. My fav thing I learned from this book was about Barneo - an arctic "airport" as close to the North Pole as an airport
can be that is set up on an ice floe at the beginning of every April and dismantled by the end of April because that's the only window in which the temperature and ice thickness will allow for planes to land. They fly in all the supplies including bulldozers to create a new runway) each season and that less than a month in April is the window of opportunity to traverse to the North Pole by foot by using Barneo as a jumping off point. However with global warming they aren't sure how many more seasons that will be possible now.
All within 50 years they expect that the North Pole will have seen its first and last explorer.
can be that is set up on an ice floe at the beginning of every April and dismantled by the end of April because that's the only window in which the temperature and ice thickness will allow for planes to land. They fly in all the supplies including bulldozers to create a new runway) each season and that less than a month in April is the window of opportunity to traverse to the North Pole by foot by using Barneo as a jumping off point. However with global warming they aren't sure how many more seasons that will be possible now.
All within 50 years they expect that the North Pole will have seen its first and last explorer.
August 12, 2023
I found this book while wandering around my indie bookstore earlier this year on my birthday book shopping trip. Why not read about a group of women skiing to the North Pole? Considering that I usually only think of the North Pole in relation the Santa Claus, I had a lot to learn. :) I really loved reading about the training and expedition from all the women’s perspectives which reinforces the fact that we are all just people, with hopes and dreams and problems. I also really loved the descriptions of the frozen sea and ice. My copy of the book is hardcover and after I finished the book I realized, to my delight, that if you take off the dust jacket the picture on the book is just the Arctic ice. Beautiful.
September 13, 2024
“[T]he story of the North Pole illustrates that environmental change in the Arctic is not something that will happen at a safe distance in our speculative future, or even in the present — it is already written in our history.”
This book was different from the polar exploration books I typically read where there’s a lot of death and danger; however this book was a nice change of pace in that it’s modern and a nice feminist and adventure victory. Many of the women who were on the journey were the first of their country to ski to the North Pole.
It was a quick read but I thought the number of entries from the various women could be excessive - though they did give me a good idea of how training and then the journey was for them.
This book was different from the polar exploration books I typically read where there’s a lot of death and danger; however this book was a nice change of pace in that it’s modern and a nice feminist and adventure victory. Many of the women who were on the journey were the first of their country to ski to the North Pole.
It was a quick read but I thought the number of entries from the various women could be excessive - though they did give me a good idea of how training and then the journey was for them.
April 19, 2023
What a wonderful story written by the first woman to ski across Antartica alone in 2012. I've been following Brit Felicity Aston on Facebook for a while and suggested my local library get the book in (which they did). The story of an all-women's expedition to the North Pole in 2018 was certainly full of challenges, for these European and middle eastern women who had not met before. It is a fascinating tale of what may be one of the last expeditions (currently the Russian base camp can't be used, plus the ice is melting and shifting). All the women contributed to the book. Recommended!
October 25, 2023
Adventurous story with many color photos of a 2018 ten-women expedition skiing to the North Pole. These were skilled explorers from Europe and the Middle East who trained in Iceland for the cold and in Oman on desert dunes to build endurance. One of them had been to the pole a few times before, and all had great records of physical stamina. They made it, but they might have been the last to ski there since the ice is getting thinner. A great account.
April 1, 2023
What an inspirational read,! I loved hearing about the perspectives of the different women as they got ready to take this journey. What they endured is truly mind-boggling. I’m going to be recommending this to a lot of people.
September 3, 2023
I loved this book . I read it so quickly and was an easy read . I loved hearing the other perspectives of the other women , they also made a film on this and I watched the film . The film is actually what got me to read the book . Overall it was amazing and really inspiring
July 8, 2025
Beautifully written account of an expedition
Felicity Aston and her team beautifully describe their journey to prepare and ski to the North Pole.Their bravery and determination is admirable. They teach us all that if we truly want to do something we can’t.
Loved this book!
Felicity Aston and her team beautifully describe their journey to prepare and ski to the North Pole.Their bravery and determination is admirable. They teach us all that if we truly want to do something we can’t.
Loved this book!
January 24, 2023
Inspiring. Incredible. Awe-striking.
March 17, 2023
SO WONDERFUL! Really enjoyed reading though this! It felt like I was friends with all the women and cried with them when they reached the north pole!
May 3, 2023
Great story and photos.
July 28, 2024
Interesting read about a group of novice women who made a ski a trip to the North Pole! Euro-Arab group wanting to raise awareness of what women can do.
December 24, 2022
A different style of reading but very good spoken from the words of the women themselves. A lot of "firsts" were set here. A multi-cultural learning experience for all of them. It would be great to go on an expedition of this sort. The author did and amazing job with working with all of them, and being an excellent explorer herself.
December 22, 2022
It’s a really cool story and I liked reading the various team members perspectives on the expedition.
May 28, 2025
A great non-fiction, it really makes you think about what you might be capable of if you allowed yourself to be open to wild possibilities and then threw yourself into it. The North Pole is such a fascinating prospect too, so different than Antarctica. And then how it keeps melting/shrinking…
Quotes:
"I've found that to know a person at their most vulnerable is to know them at their most brilliant." 16
"I firmly believe a good idea is one that will not be dismissed. And this idea refused to go away." 16
"I was annoyed with myself for the tears but then remembered something Audrey, the scientist investigating our cortisol levels, had told me. Apparently crying is the most efficient mechanism the body has for correcting an imbalance of cortisol. Put simply, when under stress--mental or physical or both--cortisol levels rise, and the quickest solution is having a good cry. I was comforted that my tears served a real and practical purpose and were not a sign of weakness after all. Standing in the ice, I didn't need a saliva swab to know that I was stressed. It felt good to visualize leaving my unwanted excess cortisol where my tears had fallen, and I returned to camp knowing I was thoroughly rebalanced." (page number got chopped off, but I love this so much!)
Quotes:
"I've found that to know a person at their most vulnerable is to know them at their most brilliant." 16
"I firmly believe a good idea is one that will not be dismissed. And this idea refused to go away." 16
"I was annoyed with myself for the tears but then remembered something Audrey, the scientist investigating our cortisol levels, had told me. Apparently crying is the most efficient mechanism the body has for correcting an imbalance of cortisol. Put simply, when under stress--mental or physical or both--cortisol levels rise, and the quickest solution is having a good cry. I was comforted that my tears served a real and practical purpose and were not a sign of weakness after all. Standing in the ice, I didn't need a saliva swab to know that I was stressed. It felt good to visualize leaving my unwanted excess cortisol where my tears had fallen, and I returned to camp knowing I was thoroughly rebalanced." (page number got chopped off, but I love this so much!)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews