STALKED: 3 Days With a Polar Bear - Ann Daniels

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What happens when a single mother with zero outdoor experience decides to walk to the North Pole? Ann Daniels didn't just reach the pole; she became a world-record-breaking explorer and one of the few people to lead all-male teams through the most hostile environments on Earth. This is a story about northern grit, survival at -56°C, and the mental shift required to face down a predatory polar bear.

In this episode, Ann recounts the harrowing reality of the high Arctic—a dynamic, shifting landscape of open water and towering pressure ridges. She describes the brutal physical toll of pulling 100kg sledges and the heartbreaking moment a teammate had to be evacuated due to severe gangrene. Beyond the physical feat, Ann explains why she transitioned into polar science, working with NASA and the European Space Agency to document the vanishing ice.

You will hear the chilling details of being stalked for three days by a male polar bear and how that encounter changed Ann’s perspective on fear and spirituality. From the selection trials on Dartmoor to the political "bullshit" that cut her solo journey short, this conversation explores what it truly means to be "ordinary" and achieve the extraordinary.

What You'll Learn:
* How to survive a three-day stalking encounter with a male polar bear
* The minimalist kit required to survive 80 days on the moving Arctic ice
* Why the Arctic is significantly more dangerous than the Antarctic landmass
* How a single mother of triplets trained for the world's toughest selection process
* The reality of collecting climate data for NASA in -50°C conditions

GUEST/RESOURCES
Ann Daniels: anndaniels.com
Instagram: @AnnDanielsGB
Charity: SSAFA (The Armed Forces Charity)
Community: Explorers Connect (explorersconnect.com)

00:00 Introducing Ann Daniels
02:20 The Accidental Explorer — why an advert changed everything
04:30 Selection Trials on Dartmoor — from G.I. Jane to map reading
06:47 Crossing Antarctica — the first 60-day journey
08:03 Survival at Minus 56 Celsius — the brutal reality of frostbite
09:39 Logistics of the High Arctic — Twin Otters and sea ice
11:39 Life on Moving Ice — why the North Pole is a predator's playground
15:49 Precautions and Polar Bears — guns, spray, and perimeters
18:20 Minimalist Expedition Gear — eating with one spoon and snow wedges
30:00 Stalked by a Solo Predator — 72 hours with a polar bear
44:20 Scientific Research — why records don't matter as much as data
51:20 Working with NASA — the IceBridge program and infrared poos
55:30 Pulling Women Up — the legacy of female exploration
57:11 Call to Adventure — Explorers Connect and getting started
58:25 Paying it Forward — supporting SSAFA and the London Marathon

For full show notes and links, visit: adventurediaries.com/go

Transcript

CHRIS: And that should be as live as it is now. So, Ann Daniels, welcome to the Adventure Diaries. How are you?

ANN DANIELS: I'm alright actually, I'm glad to be here. Just finished my first half-marathon training session, so it's good to sit and chat.

CHRIS: Excellent, yeah, thank you. We'll come on to that then. Thanks for your time. It's a bit of a privilege and honour to have you here. I've got some stuff I want to dive into in terms of your polar exploits, expeditions and all the great stuff that you've done, but just as a, maybe as always a quick introduction. You're a record-breaking polar explorer, aren't you? You've world record firsts as part of the all-women team to go to both poles.

ANN DANIELS: See you!

CHRIS: And I think for me, being recognised as the top 20 Great British explorers of all time, how does that feel when you hear that?

ANN DANIELS: I hear it a lot because I get introduced a lot but I almost feel like they're talking about somebody else, it's not really me even though my brain says it is. It's been a great honour but I've just done some stuff. And it happens that I'm a true believer that right now as women, we were born at the best part of history and, and for me, geography as well, where I am, because my parents, grandparents would never have been able to do what I did as women. And actually when we started, there were very few women doing it. It's not that there were hundreds and we happened to be the first women's team. So it's been a great honour to be able to do that.

CHRIS: Yeah, and you've gone on to do some solo expeditions as well, haven't you? And you've had some crazy encounters with polar bears, I think, that will come on to—being stopped by polar bears.

ANN DANIELS: Yeah, not sure I'd recommend that, I have to say right now, but you know, we'll talk about that.

[CHAPTER: The Accidental Explorer — 02:20]

CHRIS: Yeah. So, rolling back then, where did the life of adventuring start? What led you into that and in particular the polar regions?

ANN DANIELS: Well, the polar regions were, it just happened that that's where I saw the opportunity. Actually, I didn't do any adventuring and I never had a dream to adventure. I didn't go out the backyard and I had triplets for my first lot of children, which was a challenge in its own itself. Things went a little bit wrong in my own life and my marriage was breaking down and I lost a lot of self-confidence if the truth be known. It just so happened that at that point when I had lost confidence and the point when I'm the busiest in the world looking after three babies pretty much on my own that I was shown an advert asking for ordinary women to apply to be part of the first women's team to go to the North Pole. And for sure, if I had have been in a really good place, which I've had a lot of years like that, I would never have applied. I had no dreams of that, but it was a vehicle to start getting some self-worth and never imagined I'd get on the team, but as it happened I did. And it was pure chance, nothing else. And the advert happened to be the polar regions. It would have been the Serengeti had it been there as well. You know, it's funny how sliding doors and all that.

CHRIS: Where was the advert? Was it in a magazine or TV?

ANN DANIELS: It was in The Telegraph. Well, there were two, it was in The Telegraph and it was also on the radio. I can't remember which station. I can't remember whether it was local or I think it wasn't because people came from all over the UK. So it was an advert. And the advert was probably why I felt comfortable because there were six women and they had sandals and skis. And I'd never skied before, ever, ever. They just didn't look professional so I kind of felt well I'll give it a go then.

[CHAPTER: Selection Trials on Dartmoor — 04:30]

CHRIS: Did you have to go through any trials to get onto the team?

ANN DANIELS: Oh yeah, oh gosh. Well, so the first, they had two selection weekends, both on Dartmoor. I'd never, as I said, been outdoors, so I borrowed all my kit from the military. I looked amazing, looked like G.I. Jane, but didn't know what the hell I was doing. And I turned up on Dartmoor and I just would never, if it'd been one weekend, I would never have been chosen. There were over 250 women that were all out with instructors. They were just people that you would expect to do expeditions and adventures. And they surely had. And I hadn't. Didn't know how to do anything and couldn't read a map. You know, it was rubbish. But they had the full selection nine months later. And that was four days. And that was tough. And so I had nine months and I have such a gratitude to the military because they helped me, they taught me how to read a map. I didn't have the finances to go on courses. I did circuits on the local military camp, I joined a gym with a crèche. They were only 18 months when they slept. I was training. By doing that, because we can all have a dream, but if you don't put the work in and take the steps and make it happen, it is just that—a dream, which is lovely. But to make it happen, it requires a lot of strategy, hard work. And for me, it was either fully with the children or I was training. That was my life. And it meant both meant enough to just not do anything else. And that's how I got on the team. I went back in nine months' time and I think two things: I'd stood out so much on the first weekend that they remembered me and then I started to perform in the second. So, I wasn't the best. It was 20 women that were chosen, it was a relay the first one. I have done an all-the-way expedition but that was a relay and I probably wasn't the best 20 but something about me was what they were looking for and it changed my life forever.

[CHAPTER: Crossing Antarctica to the South Pole — 06:47]

CHRIS: Was it 60 days you spent on that? Was it the M.E.G. that both poles you? Was it 60 days on ice or something like that?

ANN DANIELS: So that was a relay. So I actually was only on the ice 17 days and I never went to the North Pole. I only did the first leg and then we passed over to the next team. I then went on where it wasn't put together with other people that also had guides because we didn't have the skills, but that was my starting point. And from then five of us put together our own expedition without guides and trained. And we crossed Antarctica to the South Pole. That was 60 days. Then I wanted to go—I started to guide and began to get a real skill set. And so I asked Caroline and Pom if they wanted to join me to do the whole thing from land to the North Pole. Not a last degree, not a relay. And that was 80 days. That hasn't been repeated by a female team. It still holds.

CHRIS: Congratulations, that's phenomenal, that's very phenomenal. What was the—so who did you—was it two colleagues, two friends that you done that with, or was it just Caroline?

[CHAPTER: Survival at Minus 56 Celsius — 08:03]

ANN DANIELS: That one was, well, it was two, so that one was Caroline Hamilton and Pom Oliver, two I could never have done it without, two extraordinary women. They just kept going when it was hopeless. That was when it was minus—the coldest was minus 56 Celsius. And to say it was unpleasant isn't true. It was survival in horrific pain, but we all had each other. And unfortunately, when it's those temperatures and you cannot get into a hotel or take any break, and we had a storm so bad we had to lie under tent material which meant that we couldn't cook and you know we were experts at putting tents up, it wasn't that we couldn't do it, the weather was—we were lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, that set frostbite in and Pom's was so horrific. We had a resupply plane, day 47, and Pom had to leave or else she would have, well, the expedition would never have been a success. She would for sure have lost her toes, if not her feet. And so in the end, it was just me and Caroline that finished it off, but it was all three of us because we could never have done it if Pom hadn't kept going to that resupply plane. And we took her with us. We spoke to her even in our heads. So I always think it was—it was only Caroline and I that got to the end but it actually was the three of us that did it.

[CHAPTER: Logistics of the High Arctic — 09:39]

CHRIS: Was she evacuated then by plane? How did that come about?

ANN DANIELS: Yeah, we had a resupply. So the people that operate there are the real heroes. They fly Twin Otters. They don't, they actually don't anymore take expeditions out onto the sea ice because there's not enough ice around. It really has disappeared. And so you have to find a flat pan of ice and they come in and they had given—we had 47 days then a resupply where they bring in new food and fuel. And then out they went. So for her it was really, or for us, it was really important she waited till the resupply because we didn't have the funding to just get a rescue plane and something else and we were not going to be pulling international rescue or anything. And the planes are stationed two days away as well. You can't just call them in. They can only land on a flat piece of ice. Logistics are tough out there. And she kept going in so much pain so that she could be taken out on the resupply plane, which was superhuman. She's a ninja, an amazing woman. Never given the credit that she deserves.

CHRIS: Yeah, did she recover from that?

ANN DANIELS: She did, but she didn't, cause she had wet gangrene as well, so it took away the top bit of her toes. They didn't regrow, but she lost the infection. She didn't lose her toes, but they hurt now. I mean, that was 2002. We're talking 24 years ago. They still hurt in the cold and she feels it. I've got photographs of them. It just is the most awful and appalling vision.

CHRIS: Yeah, Christ. What was it—so I mean that must have been difficult, you're three down to two, but how did you motor on after that then? How far did you have to go from that point on the journey?

[CHAPTER: Life on the Moving Ice — 11:39]

ANN DANIELS: It was still hard around—there's 300 miles to go. And of course, so how it works just to kind of explain it because it's not similarised from the beginning to the end. So at the beginning of an expedition, it's really cold. It's after winter and you have ridge upon ridge where the ice has gone towards the land. So it's very difficult terrain. As you get further into the ocean, you're getting warmer, you're coming in spring and also the ice is flatter so you don't have the 30-40 foot ridges. You still get some but they're definitely not as high mostly and you get a lot more moving ice and open water. So whilst we still had 300 miles to go it was quicker, our sledges were lighter and they run quicker on the warmer weather—they stick at stupid temperatures. So we were lucky to do it. Well, I say we were lucky, obviously. We were up for hours and skiing hours and it wasn't easy and nobody thought we'd do it. We just kept going. Even we didn't know what the result would be. Over 300 miles or thereabouts. And we got there. Bit of luck. And obviously the work we put in, but a bit of luck because the planes are stationed two days away and they have to have good weather where they leave in Resolute, Eureka where they fill in fuel and then good weather where we are at the pole or wherever they're coming. So there's a real logistical plan and we got two extra days because the weather and the ice wasn't good enough. And so we got there. If it had been two days earlier that they had to come and get us, we would never have made it. And we made it with a couple of hours to spare. That was it. But we did, we made it.

CHRIS: Yeah, great. Was that in the Arctic or Antarctic? What pole were you on?

ANN DANIELS: The Arctic, it was the North Pole. And the Arctic is—I've done both, so I feel happy to say it is the most dangerous and difficult environment because Antarctica is on a landmass. So it moves very slowly and gently, you don't know it's moving, and you are skiing on solid ice. But the North Pole, it's moving all the time, there's open water, there's ridges, there's thin ice, there's cauliflower-shaped bubbles that will suddenly start moving. It's a very dynamic environment and much tougher to pull a sledge across.

CHRIS: What was it like sleeping at night? Because obviously, like you say, it's moving, it's shifting then, you know, the noises...

ANN DANIELS: Well, we worried about that. But actually you are so exhausted. When you're doing something like that, 80 days pulling all your food and equipment. We had a resupply plane, of course, but we had 47 days full of food and fuel and all our equipment. By the time you put the tent up, even at minus 56, you are exhausted. You're climbing into frozen sleeping bags. And you just, for a while you think, "Will I wake up in the morning? It's so cold." The next thing you know, you are fast asleep. Every night, fast asleep. There were seconds between—you know that moment when you close your eyes and just before you go to sleep, you have thought processes? There was maybe about 10 or 20 seconds, because I used to think about the children then. That was when I brought them to me, but it was seconds and then out. So sleeping—24 hours daylight as well, but it was not a problem. And then we'd have to set an alarm in the morning to wake us up because we were absolutely exhausted every day.

[CHAPTER: Precautions and Polar Bears — 15:49]

CHRIS: In terms of... so what's it like in the Arctic then? Did you have to put up precautions for... We'll come on to the polar bear stuff in your solo expedition but did you have to... What was that like in that expedition? Even as a team are you still taking precautions like around your tent perimeters or were you far enough away from dangerous wildlife do you think?

ANN DANIELS: No, so it's a kind of a toss-up one to the other. Everything you are putting in your sledge you have to pull, so you have to think about the weight ratio of—will that mean that we can't get there—and also the risks of polar bears. From Canada all the way up there are polar bears but it's not near community. So they don't necessarily know what humans are. We saw prints for sure. You are not allowed on the ice unless you have a gun. You don't get a permit. You have to take a gun. And it's obviously for precautions. And the trick is if you get an encounter, you fire it. You don't—you're not out there shooting polar bears. And we had bear spray, but we made the decision not to take perimeters. And we all were happy with that decision because the tripwire doesn't always go off and you've got flares, it doesn't always work, it has its own risks that you can rely on it and it just doesn't work. So we kept the gun by the side, well just actually not in the tent because if it gets condensation on it it'll freeze and then you've got a problem but just outside near our head. And then we had the can of bear spray, pepper spray in the tent. And we were very fortunate on that expedition. We saw polar bear prints and we did see an Arctic fox, which is always terrifying because they follow the polar bears, discovering that we were looking at them. So that's almost worse than the polar bear things. But we were lucky we didn't have any encounters at all on that expedition.

CHRIS: You're probably wondering where you are in the food chain when you see an Arctic fox. You know, at what point is the polar bear hiding in the bed?

[CHAPTER: Minimalist Expedition Gear — 18:20]

CHRIS: In terms of your equipment then, obviously you were getting supplies and stuff. I'm assuming that was probably food and things like that. But in terms of tools and the sled and heat, cooking and stuff, were you well prepared there? Anything you should have taken that you wish you had?

ANN DANIELS: There's a lot of things I wish we could have but not what we had. We were in Resolute and we had done the whole South Pole. We knew what we actually needed. We knew what was luxury and what was necessity. Your food and your fuel, obviously that's a given. Your fuel we only took enough for cooking with, not heating, because you have to pull it. So again, we're very aware that we are a team of females that are actually—we have many skills that you guys don't have, but you are physically stronger than we are. And we were very aware that what we put in it, it has to be for the expedition. We can't have luxuries because we have to pull it and we have to pull it for many days and many miles. So we were paired right back. There was food, there was fuel to cook it. You melt the snow so you don't need water or anything of course. The food was the highest calorie for the smallest weight. So if we could get 5,000 calories into one kilogram per person, that was our ideal. Then everything was what we needed. We had a compass which didn't work very well, but you know, it's there. And we navigated by the sun and our watches. But you know, your sleeping bags, your cookers, your tent. We didn't take tent poles. The tent went up with our ski poles and our skis. So we thought about all that. We even, when we got to Resolute, we took one camera because at first we wanted bigger cameras and videos, but we just couldn't pull the sledges. So that's how we had a pen and a pencil. We had one cup which we ate from. We didn't have a bowl, a cup, a knife and a fork and one spoon. So that's kind of what it was. We didn't even take toilet paper because that's an excessive weight. So we were cleaning ourselves with snow wedges. It's fairly dedicated when it's minus stupid, but you know, there you go, whatever it takes.

CHRIS: Yeah, I was going to say, on that, how do you go to the toilet in the Arctic? Do you have to do that in the tent? I can't imagine you're going to bare your skin in the middle of the Arctic, are you?

ANN DANIELS: Well, because you may be skiing 10, 11 hours, you know, you can't do it in the tent, and actually we didn't do it in the tent anyway. It's fairly simple, and I think everything's about how you view things, your mental attitudes, but I think we have it better than you lot. So we had a zip from the navel to the small of our back, which we put toggles on, because you can't take your gloves off in the real cold, so you're just out, and then underneath we then had to wear our next layers, there were no zips in it, they just folded. So when we went to the loo we just unzipped and then went and cleaned ourselves with snow and that's it. But of course, you know we are females, we have different plummings, so we don't have to pull anything out, it's all very well protected, we're all very lucky and then you're off and you just have to do it and not be pragmatic about it and just get on with it. And we did it in front of each other, we didn't care, we're not going off on our own hiding because there are predators about. So you do everything in front of each other. You see each other at the very bare person that you are and there's no hiding. And I loved that about expedition life. It doesn't matter where you come from, what money you've got, what your background is. When you're on that ice, you look the same and it's who you are inside. And it's very rare in our life, because we all wear masks, that you are parted right back to who you are. And I love that about expedition life.

CHRIS: That's really nice to hear. Were you close friends before you went on the expedition?

ANN DANIELS: Well, I met them—it was interesting because I met them at the selection, but I saw Caroline and thought, "I'm keeping away from her because I don't want her to realise how rubbish I am." She saw me and of course I had all the army kit on and thought, "I'm keeping away from her because she's an expert, I don't want her to see that I'm rubbish." And then we really—we saw each other a little bit in the training, but not really. We were on different legs of the relay. We didn't get to know each other until we got together as a group. Just, well, there were six originally to put the South Pole together. And interestingly, I would have thought me and Caroline were so different. But actually we had so much in common. We became a unit and when Pom was with us, equally for Pom. Pom and I, well we're all still really close. Very different human beings, but really close.

CHRIS: That's fantastic. It sounds like you worked well as a unit. Obviously the result speaks for itself.

ANN DANIELS: And I think that's key in us. What I found magical about that team is everybody was working for the other person, they left their egos, so it was very much—we were putting the work in, we were slogging, but we were always helping each other and there for each other. And girls are good at that as well, just caring. If I was having a crap day, I didn't mind if Caroline took some of my weight; if she was the same she didn't mind if I did. We didn't mind sharing when we were having bad days, we didn't feel that you can't carry my weight or you can't do this job for me. We were really happy to give and take help and that, I think, was one of our keys to success.

CHRIS: What sounds like you worked as a team. I wonder how that would be with certain men, certain individuals, where you get into competition.

ANN DANIELS: Well, and interestingly, I know we'll come on to it later, but I've been in all-male teams as well and it's worked together really well. I've never been in one where it didn't possibly work as well as it might, but mostly it's worked and the teams have had that same ethos that they've worked for each other. So, yeah.

CHRIS: Excellent. Brilliant. So in terms of that, when that concluded then, obviously breaking some barriers, all-women, world records—how did that make you feel and how was that received by the public?

ANN DANIELS: That's an interesting question and I could answer that both ways and both ways would be true. So I did get some backlash. I was a single woman with three children. Definitely got some backlash and from the media. I was asked on a TV programme just to tell me what a terrible human being I was. I got that and it slightly irritated me then. I kind of welcome it now. But equally, the media also really took to me and I had some really heartwarming coverage. And so the media were mainly great, just a few pockets of horror. And some women judged me, particularly mothers, but mostly I got an awful lot of support and an awful lot of women who contacted me and went, "Following you and watching what you've done has made me feel I can do something. I don't have to be a slave to motherhood, I'm a real person, I can achieve things." Even women that weren't mothers were like, "Wow, I come from your background and actually it's what you did from where you came from." And it wasn't all adventures—it might be one woman didn't have any qualifications and she went, "It really inspired me to go and get some qualifications." That was the joy of people that were just... and they took the time to tell me, and that was the joy of it. Thinking, wow, I've made a difference to somebody out there.

CHRIS: Yeah, and I think it is a gift that, you know, through your public speaking and the work that you do on the corporate front as well, I think that still continues to carry that message—the teamwork, the inspirational stories. I think you're still inspiring people, you know, these years later, so I think it's incredible.

ANN DANIELS: And it's nice to be able to... I mean, I earn a living from it, so I'm obviously not doing it for the good of my health. I don't want to be like, "Oh, aren't I so great doing all this for people," because I get paid for it. But, you know, I'm working all over. I'm in America, I'm here, and I get asked back. And sometimes, yeah, I pinch myself. But the things I talk about, it's not me that is the key to it. Of course I'm doing it, but for me, it's whether you're leading a team—I've led teams up there—it's wherever you are, whether it's in the corporate world, in the classroom or in your own home, it's the same skill set. And when we learn to work together and empower other people, it's not about us. For me, there's so much that you can achieve. And it's better and joyful—you know, who wants to go to work and be miserable?

CHRIS: I mean what I like about the story is, I mean I've been on this show speaking to a lot of adventurers, some extreme adventurers, and I'm listening to your story as well—not really coming from a background where you've been brought up in that kind of environment and responding to an advert and getting on with it.

ANN DANIELS: Who would have thought, Chris, that being brought up in some tough areas of Bradford would be the best training ground? Because tough, it appears I can do quite okay!

[CHAPTER: Stalked by a Solo Predator — 30:00]

CHRIS: Excellent. So can I move forward a little bit? So, teamwork, you know, both poles, but then you've done the solo expedition, didn't you? How did that compare? And did you have supply planes coming in to help out?

ANN DANIELS: Well it would have been great if I'd have been on there long enough to get supplied! I didn't get supplied during the time I was there, it was just me. Number one, if you'd have asked me at the time, I would not... I feel different about it in hindsight. And I loved it and it was a great honour to be by myself on the ice and feel nature. Of course, you're also part of a team, you've got a base team. I think it's important to say this: the sponsors that give you the money to go, they're people and I wouldn't be able to do it without them. These people that actually allow us to go out there and you owe them a debt of gratitude. When I'm out there, even though I don't want to take a photograph, they're my team, you have to do it. So I think that's important. I loved being on my own, but afterwards I did think, "God, I'm not doing that again. That was the most ridiculously stupid thing I've ever done in my life. What the hell was I thinking?" I want people with me as it turns out. I'm not being out there with bloody marauding polar bears and God knows what.

CHRIS: So what was that like? I mean, it must have been pretty harrowing being stalked by a polar bear.

ANN DANIELS: Yeah, it was one of those moments. I arrived and it was in a big Mi-8 helicopter. I left from Russia because it was cheap. Getting the money for a single mother of three to go was not an easy thing. So I didn't have enough money to go from Canada. You're in a big Mi-8 helicopter, no seats, you can smell fuel, and then you come on down, and they flung a gun at me. Oh, I'd never used this particular gun before. Never used it. It was a Magnum .44, so it was a handgun—I'd always taken a shotgun. But like I say, you have to have a gun, and I can't take my own gun through Russia. And I was given this big Kalashnikov and I went, "I can't pick that up, for goodness sake." They left me with this gun and they left me. And I was terrified. But I thought, "Well, shoot this gun and see if you can aim with it." This big handgun that you've never been trained to use. I did some ice and as it turned out, it was fine. I could shoot it and I was on target, but the kickback for a Magnum .44 was huge. Once I'd taken that step and just done the shooting, the fear began to subside. But then of course the first thing I see is polar bear prints. Leaving from Russia is different from Canada. The ice goes away from land so you get more areas of open water and thinner ice. Polar bears hunt on open water and thin ice. They were everywhere. I knew I would see them. And then you have to let them get closer because guns aren't good when they're at distance. You have to let them come in so that they know the bang and any flash is coming from you. So it's very counter-intuitive—you hold your ground and they're coming in. I realised there were three around the same size, but as they got closer I realised it was a mother and two cubs. I discharged the weapon, fired at the ice and the polar bears ran away. It was textbook.

CHRIS: Yeah.

ANN DANIELS: And then I just kept going and day by day, again, I was suffering from the cold and pulling my own sled. Exhausting every night again, I just banged asleep. Sometimes I'd get up and there were polar bear prints around my tent, I had no idea. And then it was around day seven. I woke up in the morning and all my clothes are frozen, so it takes a long time to get dressed. I saw a shadow going around the tent. At first I thought, "Who's outside?" Well, you're on your own. Not Santa Claus, is it? And I opened the door and there was a huge male. And he was right at my door. On his hind legs. And I thought, "Ooh." He's curious, again he's wondering what this is. I thought, "Well, I'll use my gun, shoot the ice, he's really close, he'll go." I shot the ice. I promise you, Chris, he looked at it and then looked at me as if to say, "Is that it?" It was like, "Ugh, okay, this is not going to plan." And I had four bullets left. And so I then began to have another fear: I can't discharge all these bullets to frighten him. And so I shot over his head and I thought that has to be the last warning. I shot over his head and he looked up, because you get a crack sound when a bullet goes over the top of your head, and he dropped and he left. And I put my tent down—nothing's quick—and I went North. And he was waiting for me North behind a ridge. So I went East and then he was tracking me. And for three days I would see him, not see him, see him, not see him. I felt his presence, I felt his energy. Sometimes I felt like he was a companion, sometimes I thought I was the next meal. And after three days, he left. But I knew he'd gone. I felt that his energy had gone. Like he'd made the decision. "Nope. I don't know what it is, but she's not for me." And I never had any other encounters. He reminders me to be brave.

CHRIS: Wow.

ANN DANIELS: And then after 21 days, I just kept going. I was doing really well—175 miles in 21 days. I popped my tent up, I ring my base manager and he said, "I don't know how to tell you, Ann." He just was so quiet. I called him on the sat phone and he said, "Every permit has been removed by the Russians on every expedition that year. They are coming to get you. Nothing you can do about it." They went and picked up two women who were behind me first, then they came and got me. And then there were three guys ahead doing an expedition and they picked them up and we were out. That's it, done.

CHRIS: What was that? Some sort of political bullshit?

ANN DANIELS: I believe so. The reasons I was given I have no proof of. What I do know is the year after, there was only one company working out there that happened to be Russian and the prices went up double. That's what I do know. That is a fact.

CHRIS: Well, it sounds like you had an incredible experience regardless.

ANN DANIELS: Well, you know, I took that out of it. Genuinely changed how I felt. First, for the first few hours, it was, "Oh, they've ruined my dreams." Then I thought, "Come on, Ann, you've had 21 days' adventure. You've been with these polar bears. There was a big tsunami in December 2004—people have lost their lives, get a grip." And I thought, actually, what if they saved your life? What if the next time it went badly? They may not have stopped you getting to the pole; they may have saved your life. And just those thoughts made me feel very different. And I'm alright with it. Genuinely, it was a great experience. And part of me, what I admitted after a few months was, part of me was glad. It was bloody awful out there in the cold on my own. I was a bit relieved and I want to be honest about that.

[CHAPTER: Scientific Research and NASA — 44:20]

CHRIS: So what's led you to go back then and do some of the scientific research? Because you've been out doing the Catlin survey work?

ANN DANIELS: Catlin were our sponsors. It was a scientific expedition that could work with different scientific bodies. I didn't want to go back out there and put myself through that if I couldn't do any good. I wanted to do something, even a small thing, that would make a difference. To go to places and use my skills to collect science and help very clever people understand what's going on in our planet. Thankfully, Pen Haddo put it together. He asked me to lead it—well, he was the leader, but he asked me to physically be at the front, to be the Pathfinder, to handle the logistics. He said, "I need someone I can trust." I said, "Is it because I tick the diversity box?" And he went, "No, I've asked you because you're the best." He gave me that absolute trust. Then the third member was Martin Hartley, who's an amazing photographer. We had to be respectful—the science had to come first. It was so successful that Catlin stayed sponsors. More scientists wanted to be part of it, so the next year was bigger, working on ocean acidification. Then the third year, I wasn't going to do it because I only ever do one every few years, but they were taking a filmmaker and a scientist and they needed two people to do the guiding. I agreed to do that with Tyler. That was about the warmth of the oceans and the thermohaline—how salt fresh water from melting ice is causing problems. It beats the world records, to be able to make a difference.

[CHAPTER: Climate Change on the Front Lines — 51:20]

CHRIS: Yeah, someone has to do it. Did you do some work with NASA and the European Space Agency as well?

ANN DANIELS: It came after. I was asked to be part of another team with Denise Notenboom working with NASA. That was a two-degree expedition—120 miles. We were working with the IceBridge program. NASA were flying over us with their radars and we were measuring snow depths. They took photographs of us as they went over. I've got it on video where they flew over. That was a moment that don't think can ever be surpassed—NASA flying over you in their jet while you're sending information to them. I was chatting to John, the head of the program, afterwards and he went, "We know what you were doing when we flew over... we take infrared photographs." And I went, "Oh no, I've gone for a poo and it's showing up." So I have a photograph of my poo at the North Pole taken by NASA.

CHRIS: That tops the polar bear story!

ANN DANIELS: It is important work. Tracking beacons and climate change. We are wrecking the world and I do an awful lot of work along that. There is so much we can do and I'm a great believer in the collective. Start with us. When we all put our house in order it makes a big difference.

CHRIS: Agreed. wanted to be respectful of your time, but just a couple of things. As you reflect on being a woman doing those world firsts, how would you like that to be remembered?

ANN DANIELS: To be remembered for having the courage to take steps forward. Know your skills. If you don't know them, learn them. You're not in competition. I want to be remembered as one of them—my skills are as important as everybody else's. Particularly for women: if you get there, pull other women up. Empower each other to have the courage to step forward in more places than we might otherwise.

CHRIS: Excellent, very important. So we have two closing traditions: a Call to Adventure and a Paid Forward suggestion.

ANN DANIELS: Call to Adventure: I recommend people go to explorersconnect.com because there are loads of people on there looking for novices and people who haven't got experience to join teams. My daughter is going to Ecuador tomorrow and going into the Amazon because that's what she wants to do. She's only 20. Just get up and go do it.

CHRIS: That's Bel and Dan Fox's thing. Awesome. And then the Pay It Forward?

ANN DANIELS: Right, so yes, climate change, but on a personal level: I have managed to get my place on the London Marathon through a charity. I am raising money for SSAFA, which is the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association. It is about helping people who have given their lives or their physical and mental everything so that we can sleep safe in our beds. If anybody feels they could pay something forward to them, go do that.

CHRIS: Excellent, I will get that listed. I've really enjoyed it. There's a quote on your site: "Dream big, work hard, make it happen." I recommend people check out anddaniels.com. Where else can people find you?

ANN DANIELS: I'm really bad at social media. I'm on there as @AnnDanielsGB, but I'm not great. I do put things up when I'm on expedition, but don't bother finding me—go do your own stuff! Go do it.

CHRIS: We'll get all that listed. Get away from the screen, we're going to go and have some fun.

ANN DANIELS: Yeah, go do something instead.

CHRIS: Yeah, excellent. Well, thank you very much for your time. It's been an absolute privilege and a pleasure. I really enjoyed it and I wish you all the best.

ANN DANIELS: Thank you, Chris, and thanks for having me on your show.

CHRIS: And I'll click stop.