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CNN Live Today

Interview With Ann Bancroft, Liv Arnesan

Aired September 22, 2003 - 10:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to say hello once again to some old friends of this program. Two years ago, polar explorers Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesan became the first women in history to sail and ski across Antarctica. I had an opportunity to check in with them During their historic journey. Here just a reminder of one of those great phone calls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN BANCROFT, POLAR EXPLORER: We're going to go through the night if this small breeze holds. We're going to keep going.

KAGAN: Now you say through the night, remind us it is 24-hour sun where you are, right?

BANCROFT: We were very deliberate to point our faces at the sun to speak with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That was a chance to talk with Ann Bancroft from the bottom of the world. Now after their long journey and a short break the women are back with a new book and also a new adventure. Ann Bancroft and Live Arnesan joining us from New York to talk about that. Ladies, a pleasure to have you with us here yet again.

Ann, let's go ahead and start with you. It's almost two years later. Does the journey seem like a dream? How did it change you as a person?

BANCROFT: You get right into the hard stuff. It does feel like a dream. And you know it changes you in a lot of ways because of the struggles that you endured on the ice and most importantly the friendship that you forged out on the ice with Liv.

KAGAN: Liv, how did it change you?

LIV ARNESAN, POLAR EXPLORER: I can't hear anything.

KAGAN: OK. We'll work on getting Liv, and her audio fixed.

Ann, let's go ahead and continue the conversation with you right now. Now one thing about this journey, it did make history and you did have an incredible journey. It did not end like you had originally hoped, however.

BANCROFT: That's right. We were about a little over 400 miles shy of what Liv and I had hoped would be our finishing spot. We had crossed the continent of Antarctica, but there was an ice shell, the Ross (ph) ice shell attached to Antarctica of that was our hope to also go across that and then end where our small ship was waiting.

KAGAN: As you and Liv sat down to write this book, how did that play into getting a perspective about the whole adventure?

BANCROFT: Oh, you know, the biggest struggle about the book is to figure out which stories to tell because in a 97-day journey with a few years of preparation, you know, there's a lot of stories embedded in there. Also to find our two voices and allow the reader to have a fluid experience.

KAGAN: And can Liv hear us now? Is that working?

ARNESAN: Yes.

KAGAN: Liv, you can here us?

ARNESAN: Yes.

KAGAN: OK, great. Welcome. And I'm so happy to have you here with us. We were talking about looking back two years later, almost two years later. How did this change you as a person?

ARNESAN: Oh, I don't think it changed that much. Because I've been into this expedition life for many, many years. But it's definitely a good hard to find a expedition partner and that we are still wanting to do new things together.

KAGAN: That's the perfect jumping off point. People are going to be just astounded that even after you accomplished all this you ladies are not done. This has only inspired you to go yet another journey coming up here in, I think, going to be a couple years.

Ann, why don't you announce to the world what the next project is you two are going to take on.

BANCROFT: It's so nice to have a book as a punctuation to looking to a new horizon. That is that we're going to cross the Arctic Ocean from Russia, the most northern piece of land, work our way to the north poll and then on to Canada. We'll take a little bit of a dogleg and again it will be a 100-day journey. Probably the hardest thing we've ever taken on.

KAGAN: So you've done the bottom of the world, now it's time to do the top of the word.

Liv, tell us a little bit more what it is going to entail. I understand in some parts of it you're going to have to swim, just get in the water. That's the only way to get from certain parts to another part?

ARNESAN: That's, right. Arctic Ocean is water and the ice up there has been thinner and thinner the last ten years. So we will encounter open legs and probably make swimming 30, 40 times to make (UNINTELLIGIBLE) over to Canada.

KAGAN: And, Ann, just tell us real quickly when the journey will take place.

BANCROFT: The journey will start at the end of the February of 2005, so for us right around the corner.

KAGAN: In your kind of time. It's about a year and a half away. When both of you go you will be 50 years old. And incredible undertaking very dangerous. And a little bit later we will talk logistics, how we're going to keep in touch just like we did in the previous journey. We look forward to that.

Congratulations to both of you. Good luck getting ready.

BANCROFT: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: Thank you so much for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 22, 2003 - 10:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time to say hello once again to some old friends of this program. Two years ago, polar explorers Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesan became the first women in history to sail and ski across Antarctica. I had an opportunity to check in with them During their historic journey. Here just a reminder of one of those great phone calls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN BANCROFT, POLAR EXPLORER: We're going to go through the night if this small breeze holds. We're going to keep going.

KAGAN: Now you say through the night, remind us it is 24-hour sun where you are, right?

BANCROFT: We were very deliberate to point our faces at the sun to speak with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: That was a chance to talk with Ann Bancroft from the bottom of the world. Now after their long journey and a short break the women are back with a new book and also a new adventure. Ann Bancroft and Live Arnesan joining us from New York to talk about that. Ladies, a pleasure to have you with us here yet again.

Ann, let's go ahead and start with you. It's almost two years later. Does the journey seem like a dream? How did it change you as a person?

BANCROFT: You get right into the hard stuff. It does feel like a dream. And you know it changes you in a lot of ways because of the struggles that you endured on the ice and most importantly the friendship that you forged out on the ice with Liv.

KAGAN: Liv, how did it change you?

LIV ARNESAN, POLAR EXPLORER: I can't hear anything.

KAGAN: OK. We'll work on getting Liv, and her audio fixed.

Ann, let's go ahead and continue the conversation with you right now. Now one thing about this journey, it did make history and you did have an incredible journey. It did not end like you had originally hoped, however.

BANCROFT: That's right. We were about a little over 400 miles shy of what Liv and I had hoped would be our finishing spot. We had crossed the continent of Antarctica, but there was an ice shell, the Ross (ph) ice shell attached to Antarctica of that was our hope to also go across that and then end where our small ship was waiting.

KAGAN: As you and Liv sat down to write this book, how did that play into getting a perspective about the whole adventure?

BANCROFT: Oh, you know, the biggest struggle about the book is to figure out which stories to tell because in a 97-day journey with a few years of preparation, you know, there's a lot of stories embedded in there. Also to find our two voices and allow the reader to have a fluid experience.

KAGAN: And can Liv hear us now? Is that working?

ARNESAN: Yes.

KAGAN: Liv, you can here us?

ARNESAN: Yes.

KAGAN: OK, great. Welcome. And I'm so happy to have you here with us. We were talking about looking back two years later, almost two years later. How did this change you as a person?

ARNESAN: Oh, I don't think it changed that much. Because I've been into this expedition life for many, many years. But it's definitely a good hard to find a expedition partner and that we are still wanting to do new things together.

KAGAN: That's the perfect jumping off point. People are going to be just astounded that even after you accomplished all this you ladies are not done. This has only inspired you to go yet another journey coming up here in, I think, going to be a couple years.

Ann, why don't you announce to the world what the next project is you two are going to take on.

BANCROFT: It's so nice to have a book as a punctuation to looking to a new horizon. That is that we're going to cross the Arctic Ocean from Russia, the most northern piece of land, work our way to the north poll and then on to Canada. We'll take a little bit of a dogleg and again it will be a 100-day journey. Probably the hardest thing we've ever taken on.

KAGAN: So you've done the bottom of the world, now it's time to do the top of the word.

Liv, tell us a little bit more what it is going to entail. I understand in some parts of it you're going to have to swim, just get in the water. That's the only way to get from certain parts to another part?

ARNESAN: That's, right. Arctic Ocean is water and the ice up there has been thinner and thinner the last ten years. So we will encounter open legs and probably make swimming 30, 40 times to make (UNINTELLIGIBLE) over to Canada.

KAGAN: And, Ann, just tell us real quickly when the journey will take place.

BANCROFT: The journey will start at the end of the February of 2005, so for us right around the corner.

KAGAN: In your kind of time. It's about a year and a half away. When both of you go you will be 50 years old. And incredible undertaking very dangerous. And a little bit later we will talk logistics, how we're going to keep in touch just like we did in the previous journey. We look forward to that.

Congratulations to both of you. Good luck getting ready.

BANCROFT: Thank you very much.

KAGAN: Thank you so much for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com