Leading the First All Black Team to the North Pole with Jeska Clark

0:03Jeska Clark:While some people chase adventures for the thrill or the story, explore Jeska Clark's Caesar Expeditions through a different lens. I like doing things that have a purpose, not just to visit. So if we're outdoors, it'll be like, okay, I'm going to hike this peak because, one, it'll be really fun, but also to improve on my technical skills. so I can teach other people how to handle this environment, essentially. Jessica is a human performance specialist who studies what happens when people push themselves in the world's most unforgiving places. Her research focuses on how our bodies and minds adapt in extreme environments, like high altitude peaks, sub-zero temperatures, and the intense pressure of deep ocean diving.

0:52Jeska Clark:Beyond sitting at a desk and studying the data, Jessica is also a skilled outdoors woman herself. She applies findings from her academic work to her own adventures in the wilderness. After going on several ambitious treks, Jessica is now preparing for her biggest expedition yet, leading the first all-Black team to the North Pole. Along the way, Jessica's team will also gather data on how humans perform in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op MasterCard.

1:32Jessica Clark, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living all the way from Bend, Oregon. Really excited to meet you and have you on the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me here. It's a pleasure. Yeah, you're like so many things. Mountaineer, you're interested in performance. How did your relationships with the outdoors look growing up? Did you know you wanted to be an explorer when you were a kid? Yes, actually, I did. My parents made fun of me quite a lot when they asked me, what do you want to be when you grow up? And I said, I want to be an explorer. And like, well, that doesn't really pay the bills.

2:08But and we didn't know anybody who were explorers. But I was really inspired as a kid reading encyclopedias and looking at atlases. You know, when they had the paper atlases, you had to go to the library to look at them. So it was always a big treat going to the library or going to a bookstore just to look at maps. And I would look at different parts of the world and say, man, that'd be cool to go there. I wonder what they eat here or I wonder what the mountains look like here. And when I was younger, I had asthma. So I didn't I wasn't able to move as well as most people when I was younger. So for me running 100 meters would be extremely hard for me to do.

2:53I would at the end, I would just be pretty much passing out. And every night I had to be on one of those respirators for a very long time. And while I was like on like the respirators, like I would watch movies and I would always watch Jackie Chan or like all the movies about traveling and adventure. and I was like, you know what, one day I'm not going to, asthma's not going to hold me back and I'm just going to keep going. So that's kind of something that's really been my, I call it my wall, to really move me forward to do these activities.

3:30Jeska Clark:There were two things that helped Jessica overcome her asthma. First, she noticed that the more she engaged in cardiovascular activities, the more her breathing improved. She took up softball and fencing, and it made a big difference for her health. Second, Jessica learned that she was allergic to dissinuous trees. Luckily, she moved to Arizona for college, and the dry desert air was a much better environment for her. At school, she also dipped her toe into the world of outdoor adventure, and she started to realize that her childhood dream of becoming an explorer might actually be possible.

4:10So you always had this, there was like the seed of wanting to be an explorer in you since you were a child. But then it wasn't until college where you started watering this seed. What did that look like? Like, what college did you go to? Yeah, I went to Arizona State University and decided to go there because they had a good Arabic program and they had a fencing program. So I was a fencer in high school, and that's one of the schools that had a great fencing program. So I went over there and then while I was fencing at ASU, I joined an outdoor club and I met some amazing people and I just delved first into climbing and then I grew to cycling.

4:51So then I would switch between fencing, rock climbing and then cycling and then later on backpacking. Wow. Okay. Do you remember your first time climbing? Because fencing is pretty closed off. It's like you and another person in a room. and then you go rock climbing. Do you remember that first experience and what that was like? There's definitely a lot of contrast between fencing and rock climbing, but there's also a lot of similarities. So with fencing, you have to focus on your opponent, but then, you know, rock climbing, you have to focus on yourself and nature. It's just a different shift in focus, essentially.

5:31The similarities are more on the technical side, That technical aspect of ropes or getting up to the top of the mountain. But my first time rock climbing, I remember it was very exhilarating. It was very fun. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. But it was definitely worth it when I reached the top. I was looking around, but then I was also very anxious about going back down. But it was very rewarding and beautiful at the same time.

6:06Jeska Clark:After college, Jessica prioritized adventure over a traditional career path, taking jobs that let her travel and explore the world. She went hiking in the Himalayas, scuba diving in Thailand, and learned to ski in Tahoe. With each new adventure, Jessica became fascinated by how people thrive in extreme, high-stress environments. She wondered what differentiates those who succeed from those who break under pressure. That curiosity led her back to school to study human performance. Jessica's studies use psychology, physiology, and engineering to look at what happens when we hit our limits and how we can push past them.

6:49As a human performance specialist, they take the psychological and physiological constraints that are in a given situation. So for me, it's extreme environments, polar, arctic desert, underwater, and then designing a program to help people in that environment to overcome their limitations.

7:14Jeska Clark:Here's a more tangible example. Let's say Jessica is working with a scuba diver who has severe claustrophobia or anxiety in confined spaces. She creates a controlled simulation, like a Minecraft environment or a virtual reality, where they can learn to recognize that rising panic and respond to the warning signs right away. By using breathing techniques and grounding exercises, Jessica can help the participant either stop the anxiety before it begins or move through it faster. Jessica has experimented with some of these techniques on her own adventures too. Several years ago, she started going on more technical mountaineering expeditions.

7:56What was your first major expedition? My first one was Mount Baker in 2020. It's a mixture of backpacking, and then all of a sudden you're above the tree line, and that's when you have to go up and start doing the technical rope climbing. At first, I was unsure about how it would feel going up a lot of elevation in a very short amount of time. But my body was able to handle it pretty well. And then I did Chachikamani and Ilimani. Those two mountains are in Bolivia, in South America. And with Chachikamani, when we were there, it snowed the first day we went there, which is not ideal for mountaineering because the snow is very deep.

8:46And it's all the way to your, I'm not very tall, but it was all the way up to my waist. And you just trudging through and it felt very miserable.

9:01And very exhausting. So Chachikomani is above 17 ,000 feet. Holy cow. And that was one step in front of the other, being very careful with your breathing. I think one time I wasn't sure if I was going to make it up there because every time you go to elevation, it's not necessarily the same. So sometimes you might go up to 20 ,000 feet and be okay, but then you might go to 14 ,000 and not be okay. It just really depends on your hydration levels and it depends on what you did the last day or how much sleep you got. But Chajakumani was definitely a struggle. But we made it. What did you learn from your expeditions that made you want to just keep going?

9:50I think one thing I loved was the technical aspect of it. So from my fancy background and from other activities I've done, I've really honed in doing technical activities. And I liked going up the mountain, roped up to everyone and using crampons and having ice axes. I thought that it was very exhilarating. And then being in higher altitude and moving as a team. And of course, the views were beautiful as well. Is there anything memorable you saw or just remember from one of your expeditions that just kind of kept you going? It's really being in that flow state, honestly. Being in that flow state and being outside and having great companionship is something that really keeps me going.

10:43I love inspiring other women and other African-Americans to be able to go outside as well because there's not that many women doing a lot of the things that I'm doing.

10:56Jeska Clark:Jessica's experience in the mountains and her studies in human performance prepared her for her next wild idea. to lead the first all-Black team of explorers to the North Pole.

11:14Jeska Clark:Every year, Capital One and the REI Co-op MasterCard program proudly donate$2 million to the REI Cooperative Action Fund. The fund supports hundreds of nonprofit partners that are creating a more equitable outdoors for everyone. You've even heard some of their stories on the podcast. In addition to supporting the REI Cooperative Action Fund, Capital One and REI have partnered on the REI Co-op MasterCard, bringing card members excellent card benefits that inspire more outdoor adventures. Find out if you're pre-approved for the REI Co-op MasterCard with no risk to your credit score. Go to rei.com slash MasterCard dash podcast to learn more.

11:56Jeska Clark:That's rei.com slash MasterCard dash podcast. Terms apply.

12:12Jeska Clark:Jessica Clark is an explorer and scientist with a background in human performance and high-altitude adventures. She understands what it takes to push the body and mind in extreme environments. In fact, in 2026, Jessica will lead the first all-black expedition across Greenland. The next year, that same team will attempt to trek to the North Pole. The trip is being organized by Full Circle, the same nonprofit that made history by leading the first all-black team to the summit of Mount Everest.

12:48Okay, so I want to shift gears and talk about Full Circle. We've had a lot of guests from the Full Circle community. Yes, we appreciate it. What drew you to get involved with the Full Circle team? So I've seen a common theme of testing human performance or the human condition in the outdoors. And I really love the message that Full Circle had with having a more inclusive outdoor space. So that's what really drew me to Full Circle expeditions. So I messaged Full Circle and said, hey, you know what, I'm interested in helping the team out. And initially, I wanted to do the Everest expedition, so be on the Everest summit team.

13:32But that was the time where I was in graduate school and I didn't have time to be able to go, but I was on their support team. What year was this? And tell me a little bit more about what you did for them. 2021-2022. Those are the years I was helping out with the Full Circle Everest expedition. And how I helped out was with different debriefs of the team before and after the expedition. So coming down and saying, hey, what are the highs and lows? Also, logistics-wise, making sure that everyone had what they needed before going up to Everest and up to Nepal. So you were instantly welcome on the team, which is really cool.

14:19You DMed, slid in the DMs, and it worked. It worked. Yes. And I've been in the full circle ever since. Okay. Okay, so you started as a volunteer when they did Everest, and now you have an expedition coming up in 2026. Yes, indeed. Tell me about it. I mean, you got to be excited, too. You sound all like nonchalant and humble, but you're allowed to brag on this podcast. You know, I'm working on it. Well, no, for my expedition. So next year, we're planning, in 2026, we're planning to do an Arctic expedition in memory of Matthew Henson.

14:57Jeska Clark:In 1909, Matthew Henson became the first African American to reach the North Pole. He first began exploring in the 1890s, when he was hired as a navigator by Robert Perry, a well-known adventurer. Matthew soon became a skilled sled builder, musher, hunter, and interpreter for local Inuit communities. Due to prejudice at the time, Henson's achievement was largely disregarded. Even today, most people have never heard of him.

15:29How did you find Matthew Henson's story? Like, where did it all of a sudden come across? You know, I was reading a book on polar expeditions, and his name popped up. It was only like one sentence. And I was like, who is that? And I Googled him. And I was like, oh, this is interesting. And so I wonder if anyone else has, any African-American team has gone to the North Pole like that. And I did a search and I didn't see anything. And I was like, I wonder if an African-American team went up to the North Pole in honor of him since he's been such an influential person for polar travel. And I didn't find anything.

16:10I was like, that would be cool if someone did that. I was like, well, why not let someone be me? I'm like, OK, let's see what I can do. And now we're here. That's a wild idea. I love it. That was my wild idea. So tell me some more details. Like, how are you guys getting there? How long? Will you be in the Arctic? And how many miles do you plan to trek? So there's going to be different components to this Arctic expedition. So as of right now, the Norpole component is going to be postponed a little bit because of geopolitical tensions that are going on. So we're going to Greenland first. With Greenland, we're designing a plan to reach certain places that Matthew Henson went to.

16:56To get to the North Pole, it gets a little bit more complicated. So once again, it depends on the geopolitical atmosphere when we're going up to the North Pole. But typically, you fly to the North Pole from Russia, and they go to the last degree, because we're doing the last degree of the North Pole. There's a runway that they put every year near the North Pole. And we would unload our stuff and then we would ski up to the North Pole, which would be about 70 miles or so. And that would take about 10 to 12 days.

17:38Jeska Clark:Because of current geopolitical relations with Russia, it's unclear if the team will be able to use the typical route to get to the Arctic. Either way, they will complete the expedition in two chunks. First, they'll trek across Greenland. Then hopefully not long after, they'll embark for the North Pole. Preparations for the first leg of their journey are well underway. As part of her training, Jessica sought out help from one of the most well-known polar adventurers of our time, Eric Larson. Eric has completed more trips to the North and South Pole than any other American, and and he's attempted many record-breaking expeditions.

18:17Jeska Clark:Beyond his own adventures, Eric also works as a guide and educator.

18:28I had some friends who have done polar research, who've done some polar expeditions, and I said, you know what, I really want to get into this polar expedition life, and I think it would be great to have a team of African Americans to go up to the North Pole in memory of Matthew Henson and like well you should talk to this guy Eric Larson so and I would talk to Eric Larson and then he was like hey you can come to polar training see if you like it I'm like okay so I did the polar training and then I was like you know what I think I can be out here with you for about two months or so amazing so he just like let you come hang out with him.

19:11Yeah, he did. How did you find your team though? So during the polar training, there was a BIPOC scholarship with Eric Larson and people all around the country were able to go to Minnesota to be able to participate in the polar training. So I was helping Eric out with that scholarship program, at least going around. And then I asked some people, okay, hey, I have Matthew Hanson's story. Who's heard of Matthew Hanson? And is anybody interested to eventually to go to the North Pole? And some people said yes, some people said no. I'm like, okay, great. And from there, did a couple of interviews, and then they joined the team.

19:58What has your training and prep looked like? So we've been training in Minnesota. Essentially, the basics of polar travel. So understanding your systems and understanding what it's like to be in extreme cold. So Minnesota in the wintertime, we usually go in January, and it can range between, you know, minus 10 to minus 30, essentially, depending on like what the wind is and whatnot. So what we do is we put, have our skis on. So we're on cross-country skis, and then we have harnesses. If we were pulling a sled. For the training, the sled is about 70 pounds, but when it's in Greenland or the North Pole, it could range anywhere between 100 to 150 pounds.

20:44And so what we do is seeing what it feels like when we're skiing on sea ice, or I guess in Minnesota, it would just be the lake up there. So that's Hudson Bay. So we ski in the Hudson Bay for about a week or a week and a half, and then we come back. What does a typical week of training look like for you right now? Well, for me, it's spring, so I'm skiing a lot. So I would say three to four times a week weight training, two times a week skiing, three times a week cycling for about an hour. One of the best things that you can do to train for cross-country skiing and cycling. So cycling uphill or downhill, hiking, so having a 45-pound pack up a hill and going down.

21:35It's springtime now, so then I end up doing rock climbing and then backpacking two times a week. But the main thing is strength endurance. So that's something that I try to instill with the team is having a quality strength endurance when you're in your training.

22:03What does leading an expedition like this mean to you? It means a lot. Is this something I dreamed of when I was a kid? Maybe not this exact expedition, but definitely being that explorer that my inner child always loved. It means a lot that we can inspire different people to go outside and push their limits. And even though they don't need to go to the Arctic, it's still you can go to your backyard or go to a park and be outside. I love that. What's been the best advice that you've been given so far about leading this big team on such a really unique and fun mission, but important mission? Be patient.

22:49That's probably the best advice that I've gotten. You're managing a lot of people, the documentary and scientific research. It can be a lot. And sometimes you want to get everything done right away. But not everyone is on your timeline. and you're not everyone's number one priority. So being patient and understanding that if someone needs to have a conversation or if someone needs to take a little bit of extra time saying something or doing an activity, it's okay when we're in prep. But when we're on the ice, it is important to be very diligent and be very systematic in the way you move. So patience.

23:38I would say that would be the best advice.

23:47Jeska Clark:To follow Jessica and keep updated on her training and expeditions, follow her on Instagram at Clark underscore Jessica. That's C-L-A-R-K underscore J-E-S-K-A. There are two members of Jessica's North Pole team who have been on the podcast before, Dom Mullins and Eric Cedeno. Earlier this year, we also interviewed the director of Full Circle Expeditions, Philip Henderson. We'll put links to all of their episodes in our show notes.

24:24Jeska Clark:Wild Ideas Worth Living is part of the REI Podcast Network. It's hosted by me, Shelby Stanger Produced by Annie Fassler, Sylvia Thomas and Sam Pierce-Knitsberg of Puddle Creative Our senior producers are Jenny Barber and Hannah Boyd Our executive producers are Paolo Motila and Joe Crosby As always, we love it when you follow the show take time to rate it and write a review wherever you listen And remember, some of the best adventures happen when you follow your wildest ideas Thank you.