Dominick Arduin (1961–2004) was a Frenchwoman who disappeared in her attempt to ski to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

. In 1988 Arduin moved to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. For 15 years she worked as a guide in Finnish Lapland and received dual citizenship. She said that she had grown up in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, that she had been orphaned at an early age, had recovered from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and had been the only child aside from a dead sister. This backstory of hers was discovered to be fabricated after her disappearance. Arduin reached the

Magnetic North Pole The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed t ...

in the spring 2001. She was rescued after the first failed attempt to reach the geographic

in 2003. Most of her toes had to be amputated due to

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...

. On 5 March 2004 Arduin began her second attempt to become the first woman to ski alone to the North Pole. She set out from

Cape Arctichesky The Arctic Cape (russian: Мыс Арктический, ''Mys Arkticheskiy'') is a headland in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. With a distance of 990.8 km to the North Pole, the Arctic Cape is sometimes used as starting point for expeditions to ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. She lost contact after one day of travel. A helicopter search failed to find any trace of her though they recovered another traveler, Frédéric Chamard-Boudet. The search ended on 21 March. After her disappearance the Finnish author Sven Pahajoki decided to write a book about her life and while researching her background, realized she'd been lying all along about her accomplishments and life. Her sister and uncle were found and it was found out she'd done disappearances earlier as well and that they did not believe she had died, but just done another disappearance to start anew yet another time due to financial reasons and getting caught of lying. She was born and grew up in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, she never had cancer, her sister never died. Her father died when she was 19, her mother a few years later. ''Dominick Arduin, Seikkailijan salaisuus'' (Revontuli 2004, )

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arduin, Dominick 1961 births 2004 deaths French explorers Female polar explorers