The Arctic's Grand Dame
September/October 2007

Barbara Hillary is a lot of things—and now she can add to the list first African-American woman to reach the North Pole. Here she talks to Women’s Adventure about her mother’s influence, a woman’s right to adventure, and that epic trip.

In April 23 of this year, Barbara Hillary became the first Black woman to reach the North Pole. Add to this that she’s a woman in her seventies, was born in Harlem into relative poverty, is a lung cancer survivor, and had never been on skis before, and you’ve got one of the most phenomenal and unique sports stories of the year (maybe even the decade). Here, Barbara tells us about her adventure firsthand.

WA: Were you always an adventurer?
BH: Sports weren’t available when I was growing up, but I climbed trees in the park and played stickball in the streets with the handle of a broom. I mostly played with the boys.

WA: So, you were a tough kid.
BH: I could fight. My dad died when I was a year and a half, so my mom raised me. We didn’t have a “woe-is-me” household. If someone kicked your hiney, you could cry all the way down the block home, but when you reached the front step your eyes had better be dry.

WA: You seem to be a person who tells it like it is. Where did you get that?
BH: My mom died when I was 19, so she had plenty of time to raise me as a freethinker. We were taught strong respect for adults, and we knew our place. Punishment would be swift and unyielding. My mom was my greatest influence. She wasn’t wishy-washy. I knew where she stood.

WA: Are you married, and do you have kids?
BH: Why is this important? It’s never the first question a man gets asked when he’s just won the Indy 500 or hit a record number of home runs. Women perpetuate this double standard that they dislike so much. Men shouldn’t have a different standard of behavior, but we’re the ones who allow them that.

WA: But don’t you think it’s even more impressive when you hear that a woman has accomplished some great athletic feat and you find out she’s also got a career and three kids at home?
BH: No. If you use the same yardstick, how does a guy do it with three kids at home? If you position yourself as a domestic slave, your just telling me you weren’t strong enough to demand support from your spouse. Just start holding men to the same standard and come to it from a position of strength.

WA: So, you don’t have kids?
BH: No. I think adventurous people should really figure out what they want to do and know themselves before they make lifetime commitments like marriage and kids. Take the example of a guy stranded up on Everest. The media asks him, “What were you thinking about up there while you were waiting to get rescued?” He answers, “My kids.” Bullshit. If he was thinking about his kids, he wouldn’t have gone in the first place. Did he forget he had kids before he left? You have to find the balance and be honest with yourself. The things WA readers do can impact their health or cause death. You have to evaluate the whole risk and scale it up or down depending on your environment. If I had kids or an older person to care for, I’d think long and hard before doing some of the things I do.

WA: What did you do professionally?
BH: I graduated from the Bellevue Schools of Nursing and earned a bachelor of arts degree at the New School University, where I majored in gerontology and urban affairs. I then earned a master’s of professional studies from the Graduate School of Management and Urban Professions and went on to postgraduate studies at the Graduate Faculty, New School University, in political science and international affairs. I retired as a nursing educator.

WA: What was your first outdoor adventure?
BH: After I retired I couldn’t find anything I wanted to do. I came across a trip photographing polar bears. I had to do it. I went to Churchill and rode around in a tundra buggy. It gave me the opportunity to stare into the eyes of a polar bear.

WA: What did you see in them?
BH: Barbara Hillary on a dinner plate. He wasn’t impressed with Barbara Hillary. His eyes were jet-black and cold, not cuddly. There was no love there. I also started singing “My Melancholy Baby” to him to see what he’d do. He gave me the strangest look. I think he thought all Black people could sing.

WA: Any other adventures prior to Churchill?
BH: I went dogsledding in Ely, Minnesota, but it was short-lived. The sled hit a rock, and the dogs went one way and I went the other. It’s amazing how long you’re airborne before you hit the ground. The vacation was over, but that’s all part of it. I absolutely recommend traveler’s insurance.

WA: When were you diagnosed with lung cancer?
BH: In 1999, I think.

WA: Had you ever been a smoker, and, if so, when did you quit?
BH: Yes, and I don’t remember. I’m not in the mood to talk about lung cancer because I’m a few months overdue for my annual MRI. Let’s say if it becomes active again—I’ve got a short time left.

WA: How did you know you could make it to the North Pole?
BH: I didn’t.

WA: What made you decide to go?
BH: I fell in love with arctic travel; and as I started doing more research, I never saw any record of a Black woman going to the North Pole. The first Black man was Matthew Hansen in 1909. The first woman was [author and teacher] Ann Bancroft in 1986. So, no Black woman had reached the North Pole. I figured, Wouldn’t it be great before you leave this earth to do something spectacular. Maybe this is my purpose. I became consumed with it.

WA: How did you train?
BH: It was absolute hell. Not the training itself, but trying to raise the money to go while training. They doubled the rates on me while it was all in process. Every time I sent out a sponsorship packet, I’d think, I should be at the gym. I’m not going to be strong enough to make it. And every time I was at the gym, I’d think, I’m getting in good shape, but how am I going to pay for this? I finally said to myself, You’re going no matter what, and whatever money you don’t raise you’ll pay for it out of your savings.

WA: Did that free you up from all that worry?
BH: No, because it stepped up the intensity. The New Yorker wrote a story about my quest, and people started to donate money. Rolex contributed, too. People were counting on me. It was an emotional shot in the arm.

WA: How long did you train?
BH: About nine months or so.

WA: You mentioned weight training, but what did you do for cardio? BH: We didn’t have any snow that year in New York, but I was close to a beach, so I bought a sled I thought I could pull on the sand to develop my lower legs and lungs. I brought my dog Sugar with me. We were quite a sight: she jumped on the sled while I pulled, and it fell apart.

WA: I heard you’d never been on skis before.
BH: Where I grew up, no one had even heard of skiing, and there wasn’t any television to give you any frame of reference. I first got on skis while training for this expedition. I flew to Canada, stood up on the skis, and promptly fell down. I couldn’t afford to keep flying around looking for snow, so I ended up training at Lapland Lake, New York, and Highpoint in New Jersey. They took me under their wing. I’m sure they thought I was crazy when I told them I was training to ski to the North Pole. My biggest fear was that I’d fall and injure myself and not be able to go.

WA: What was it like to go to the North Pole?
BH: We left on April 14 and made a series of progressions north. When you reach Longyearbyen, you practice pulling sleds with gear and stay in tents so that the guides can determine if you are fit to go. After all of this, they can still deny you an attempt. Once they decide that it’s safe to fly you to base camp, you wait there until a helicopter drops you off close enough to the North Pole to ski there.

WA: What did you think when you stepped off the helicopter and looked around?
BH: I was overwhelmed with the extent of the polar ice cap and the beauty of the pressure ridges. They’re like massive uncut diamonds, jutting up from the ice.

WA: How much weight did you carry?
BH: I had about 40 pounds or so in my backpack.

WA: How long did it take you, and how cold was it?
BH: At times it reached 40 below zero. I’ve no idea how long it took. No idea at all.

WA: Did you ever think about giving up?
BH: I had questions, certainly. Because of my lung cancer, I’d had a lobectomy. I was afraid my lungs wouldn’t hold up. But I’d come so far, I really think if I had had to crawl to the pole, I would have done it.

WA: What was the moment like when you reached the North Pole? BH: On the last leg of the journey, you’re taking things minute by minute. My guide said, “Barbara.” And, I said, “Yes, Eugene.” “You’re now standing on the North Pole.” I went crazy, jumped up and down. Everything came together for me, and I knew I had done it. I pulled off my gloves because I wanted a photograph of myself clearly giving a thumbs-up. That’s how I got frostbite! The fingers of both hands are still discolored, but who cares. Then I verbally dedicated the trip to the memory of my mother.

WA: What’s next for you beyond public speaking? Any more adventures?
BH: Stay tuned to WA and find out.