Helen was the first woman to solo any of the world's Poles when she walked alone with her Inuit dog Charlie to the magnetic North Pole in 1988 at age 50. She traveled unresupplied without dog teams or snowmobiles. She was also the first to circumnavigate the magnetic North Pole area.
      In 1992 she returned to the magnetic North Pole, this time with her husband Bill, to celebrate 30 years of marriage. They traveled on foot unresupplied to become the first married couple to trek to any of the world's Poles.
      In 1994 Helen and Bill were the first non Indians to explore a remote area of the Amazon rain forest by kayak. They each paddled a kayak 1,200 miles.
      In 1994 they walked 600 miles across the Canadian Yukon to live with and study a wild family of wolves above the Arctic Circle.
      In 1996 Helen made the first documented crossing by a woman on foot across the Sahara Desert. She and Bill followed an ancient trade route for 2000 miles.
      In 1997 Helen celebrated her 60th birthday with a solo 200 mile expedition in Antarctica.
      Helen is the author of the best selling book POLAR DREAM (Simon & Schuster) which also appeared in Reader's Digest book section.
      She has represented 3 countries ( New Zealand the country of her birth, Guatemala and the USA) in international track and field.
      In 1975 Helen won the USA national luge championship and won All American Honors. She was also a member of the USA national luge team.
      She is a technical mountain climber and has climbed to the summits of the highest mountains in North America..Mt McKinley, South America..Aconcagua, New Zealand..Mt Cook, Tajikistan...Mt.Lenin & Mt.Communism, attaining an altitude of 24,590 feet. She has also summited mountains in China and several other countries.
      Helen is a cross country ski and mountain climbing instructor and an Emergency Medical Technician.
      She was the American leader of the first USA/Soviet Women's Arctic Expedition, 1990
      Helen is a National Geographic Expert and lecturer and has received many awards. A few are listed here:

• American Mountain Foundation Outstanding Achievement Award, 1988
• Sports Legend Award Washington State, 1997
• Helen Thayer Award, named in Helen's honor, awarded annually for community service
• Robert Henning Award, from the Alaskan Geographic Alliance 1999 for work in presenting Geography in educational projects to students nationwide.