Polar expeditions once called to mind grizzled men with ice clinging to their beards. Recent decades have witnessed women take up skis and march through minus 35-degree weather. No Horizon Is So Far is the memoir by the first women to cross Antarctica, Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft. The new paperback edition calls attention to their ongoing work in raising awareness of water pollution and scarcity, but the core text is a testimonial to the resilience of the explorers in vividly descriptive prose. Trekking across the Antarctic isn’t a hike down the nature trail but a test of preparation and endurance. As they write, “The true journey of any expedition is the journey of the mind.”
