Antarctic alliance.

From a triumph across Antarctica to a tragedy in the icy waters if the North Atlantic, lesbians this year have gene to extreme yet inspiring lengths to fulfill the aspirations of a lifetime.

Two women--one gay, another straight--go to record-breaking measures to teach other women that "their dreams are possible"

As we sit in the cozy lobby of the Essex House, across the street from New York City's Central Park, it is hard to imagine a more complete contrast to the adventure that Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft have completed--trekking more than 1,700 miles across the ice and fierce weather conditions of Antarctica, with sails attached to their waists and skis to their feet. Dressed in layers of down and wool beneath blue fleece jackets emblazoned with Volvo and Pfizer patches, they are both quiet, unassuming--if wind-burned--presences amid the hotel's faded opulence.

But by February 11--when Arnesen, a 48-year-old straight woman, and Bancroft, a 45-year-old lesbian, completed their trek--they had crossed the landmass portion of Antarctica, which is the coldest and windiest place on earth. They had also skied and sailed into history as the first women to do so.

And as a result, they have become instant celebrities in New York--also no mean feat--where they have stopped on their way back to their respective homes in Norway and Minnesota, causing a little stir wherever they go. "I saw you guys on Letterman last night!" a well-dressed woman at the next table exclaims. Bancroft says people in restaurants also insist on paying for their meals.

It's a simple testament to a heroic journey that beat many odds. And in pursuing a dream that both women have shared since childhood (although they met each other only two years ago), they have defied quite a number of stereotypes that have dogged them through adulthood: that such adventures are solely for men; that women over 40 should not attempt a journey so arduous; and that only lesbians pursue intense physical sports. "We have had this dream since we are kids--Ann in Minnesota, me in Oslo--sitting, reading the same books, and having a fantasy about the same thing," says Arnesen in her soft voice with its Norwegian inflection.

For three months--starting in November, just as the Antarctic was experiencing the beginning of its summer--the two endured frozen fingers, frostbitten faces, and temperatures that were frequently 35 degrees below zero. They tugged sleds laden with about 250 pounds of supplies, slept in a single tent, munched potato chips and chocolate as quick energy food, boiled drinking water from ice, and ate dried cod and potatoes mixed with hot water for dinner. On good days they could travel no more than 15 miles, and they had to be ever vigilant of the deep crevasses opening up beneath their feet when the snow melted. Once, the wind pulled Bancroft and her sail seven feet off the ground and then dropped her. "We became extremely respectful of the power of the wind," she says, adding that she was lucky to escape injury.

And the whole way, they had to be ultraconscious of time. Not only did the adventure cost their sponsors over $100,000 a week, but for nearly a month--on the windiest continent on earth--there was scarcely a breeze for their sails. So they crawled along, facing dwindling supplies, knowing they needed to leave Antarctica by mid February, when the ferocious winter would start again, sealing off the continent.

They call themselves "sister spirits" and "soul mates." Bancroft, who has lived with her partner, Pam, for 13 years, resides on an 80-acre farm in Scandia, Minn. Arnesen, who has been married to her husband, Einar Glestad, for 14 years, lives near Oslo, Norway. Bancroft is small, outgoing, and warm. Arnesen is tall, laconic, and reserved--though she has a sudden, quick smile that could, well, melt ice.

Throughout their lives they have had a great deal in common. As girls who grew up continents apart, they both read and were inspired by the adventures of British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who attempted to cross the South Pole in the early 1900s. Both hoped someday to be like their hero but learned to hide their dreams. "My girlfriends, they were dreaming about meeting a handsome man--and a house and cars and all these traditional things," Arnesen says. "I said I was dreaming about skiing at the South Pole, and they said that was impossible, that was a boy's dream, and then I kept it to myself for years."

Adds Bancroft: "I connected to the stories about Shackleton and others, and I loved the idea of being able to travel in a place that really had never been traveled in before."

And the similarities continue. Though both women are professional adventurers and lecturers now, they started out as schoolteachers, and their passion for teaching children, especially gifts, is still a key motivating factor for them. In fact, 3 million children around the world followed their crossing, via the Internet. "We want kids to keep on dreaming and keep that enthusiasm they have about their dreams--and, in particular, girls, because I think there are some real specific boundaries that we felt with this Antarctic trip when we were young," Bancroft says.

In adulthood these dreams led them to a lifetime of risk-taking adventure, and ultimately the women came to learn of each other's exploits. Arnesen was the first woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole in 1994. She also led a group of women across the Greenland ice cap in 1993, and she has also climbed to the 6,200-foot level of Mount Everest before altitude sickness forced her to turn back. As for Bancroft, she is the first woman to hike the ice to both the North and South poles, the former in 1986 and the latter with a team of women on skis in 1993.

So by the time they met in 1998, they already felt they were kindred spirits. "I had the feeling from the moment we reel, from the very beginning, because we had so many similarities," Arnesen says. "It is a big joy because for me there are very few women who have these interests as well."

Their close relationship has also touched off a lot of speculation and misunderstanding. Bancroft says a Norwegian reporter approached them in Cape Town, South Africa, as they were setting out. "He said, `Are you worried about what people might think?' At first we were a bit thrown, we didn't understand," she says. Arnesen says she thought he was talking about their ages. But the reporter, they say, was talking about the perception that both women are gay. "Men assume, when women come together in the physical arena, for sports or outdoor endeavors, there is pretty strong assumption that we are lesbians," Bancroft says, adding that she told the reporter that only she is a lesbian.

Other male adventurers have teased Arnesen about going off for three months with a gay woman. "They were saying that Ann was a lesbian," Arnesen says, "so they said, `Now don't fall in love,' and I said--because [Bancroft's partner, Pam] is a blond--`Well, she prefers blonds, I don't have to worry.'"

The most important thing for them now, they say, is to keep inspiring women and gills and to teach them that their dreams are possible. "I have talked to women who have changed their jobs or gotten out of a relationship just because they have followed the trip, and they were like, `I have always wanted to do it, I never thought I could do it,'" Bancroft says. Later this year both women will sponsor a 20,000-foot climb in the Peruvian Andes for a group of schoolgirls.

They also intend to continue with their own adventures. The only problem, they say, is there is too much they want to do. "We are talking about going back to the [Antarctic] peninsula in a year and kayaking for two weeks," Bancroft says. Then, smiling mysteriously and possibly remembering the icy snowdrifts of Antarctica, she adds, "We are also talking about a desert trip."

Find out more about Arnesen and Bancroft and their Antarctic adventure at www.advocate.com

Quittner also writes for MSNBC and Business Week.