06/27/2020

Article by Claus Lochbihler for Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Photos by Hugh Simpson

The first woman crossing Greenland: the adventurer Myrtle Simpson
“Bad mother who puts her children in danger,” was the headline after Myrtle Simpson’s Greenland crossing
She went on an expedition with her husband and baby. And she was the first woman to cross Greenland. Today Myrtle Simpson is 90. In conversation with Claus Lochbihler, the Scottish woman tells about her adventurous life – and gives tips for staying fit

You were the first woman to cross Greenland on foot and on skis in 1965, followed in 1969 by a large expedition to the North Pole. You were celebrated and at the same time offended as a supposedly bad mother to your four children. Was it important for you to show that women and mothers can also be successful on an expedition?
No. I didn’t climb the mountains and later went to the Arctic to show what women can do that. I went because I liked it.
…(read translation)