Sunniva made history in 1992/93
as one of the four-team members of the American Women's Antarctic
Expedition to the South Pole. They skied for 67 days and hauled
200- pound sleds into headwinds of up to 80 miles per hour to
become the first women's team to reach the South pole on foot.
Sunniva was born in Tonsberg, Norway. Within a year, her family moved to Montreal, Canada where she grew up and later studied at Bishops University with a major in Economics. She then moved to the United States and now resides in San Diego, California. As a consequence of her international studies and experience she is fluent in French and Norwegian.
Sunniva has extensive outdoor experience, teaching back country navigation, winter camping and backpacking. She currently works for Adventure 16 Outdoor and Travel Outfitters as a lead instructor and has developed several programs for them. Sunniva is on the Advisory Board for 'GirlsSports' a program of the Girl Scouts, is a member of the Board of Directors of IAO, a non-profit corporation designed to provide educational opportunities for kids and adults in the outdoors, and is Scholarship chair and President-elect for the Pacific Women's Sports Foundation- a non-profit foundation to help educate and promote women in sports through funding, events and educational programs.
Having run eight marathons, Sunniva's interests also include kayaking, back country skiing, hauling tires, trail running, backpacking and biking.
Sunniva is in demand as a motivational and educational speaker for colleges, universities, middle schools, athletic organizations, corporations, seminars and science conferences in the US and Canada.
She has spent time guiding and lecturing for Marine Expeditions on Russian tourist vessels in the High Arctic of Canada and Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula, Falklands and South Georgia.
