2 friends make history as first women to overwinter in the Arctic without men
2 friends make history as first women to overwinter in the Arctic without men
Polar explorers Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby spent a year and a half on Bamsebu in the Norwegian arctic, self-isolating and making history by becoming the first women to overwinter in the Arctic without men.
Polar explorers Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby spent a year and a half on Bamsebu in the Norwegian arctic, self-isolating and making history by becoming the first women to overwinter in the Arctic without men.
Their journeys began in August 2019. Hilde and Sunniva spent 14,000 hours together in self-imposed isolation.
"We get asked a lot how we coped," Sunniva said. "Did we ever fight? The answer is yes, we fought. The thing that I'm very proud of [is] we did, we talked it out.
It was a dream fulfilled for the seasoned polar guides who lived there without electricity or running water.
Women are first to overwinter in Arctic without men
Polar explorers Hilde and Sunniva spent a year and a half on Bamsebu in the Norwegian arctic, self-isolating and becoming the first women to overwinter in the arctic without men.
"Plan A was to come for nine months, so we brought as much in the way of fresh and frozen and package that we could. A lot of it stayed outside in polar bear-proof barrels," Sunniva said.
But the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the ship coming for them was canceled in May 2020.
"That turned into 19 months," Sorby said.
The pandemic also limited Arctic travel for scientists, so Hilda and Sunniva became citizen scientists, collecting data for NASA and polar researchers.
"This is Base Camp Bamsebu and this is our citizen science lab. This is an ice-core drill. And we bring this out with our little snowmobile out on the ice," Sunniva said.
Researcher Gro Mjeldheim studies human resilience and how people cope to overcome problems and challenges in life. She said Hilda and Sunniva are a fascinating study.
"They sent me diary notes. What I learned most was how they together overcame problems and challenges and kind of had this commitment to the goal," Mjeldheim said.
To persevere through that isolation, Hilde and Sunniva celebrated the small joys each and every day.
Fast-forward to today, the two's fortitude is being recognized globally, and FOX 11 made the trip back to Bamsebu with them.
"This is your first time being back since you overwintered?" asked FOX 11's Christina Pascucci.
"Right, the first time. It feels emotional to be back. We spent 19 months here," Sunniva said. "Taking people out of that climate despair or paralysis and into engagement, that was bigger than we were."