Ann Bancroft

Ann Bancroft grew up in rural Minnesota in a family that camped and canoed, and was happiest outdoors. Indoors was harder: she had dyslexia at a time when it was rarely recognised, and she was told more than once that she was not university material. She scraped through, became a physical education teacher, and coached sports in schools in the Minneapolis area.

In 1986 she was invited to join the Steger International Polar Expedition, an attempt to reach the North Pole by dog sledge without resupply. She was the only woman among the eight team members. Over 56 days on the shifting ice, several of the men had to be evacuated; she stayed, and on 1 May 1986 became the first woman known to have reached the North Pole on foot and sledge.

Seven years later she led the American Women's Expedition, four women who skied 660 miles to the South Pole pulling their own sledges. In 2001, with the Norwegian Liv Arnesen, she crossed the Antarctic land mass on skis and with sails, 1,700 miles in 94 days, the first women to do it. The two had first spoken by telephone and found they had been planning the same thing.

She has spent much of the time since visiting schools, talking to children who struggle as she did, and raising money for their education through her foundation.