What Does It Mean to Be an Explorer Today?
by Nathan Chandler May 21, 2020
 
In December 2018, a team of six volunteer cave explorers mapped the 200th mile in South Dakota's Jewel Cave National Monument for the very first time.

As of May 2020, there are nearly 8 billion human beings on Earth. High-speed jets and vehicles（/ˈviːək(ə)l/车辆，交通工具）） of every kind roam（漫步；遨游） the land, air and sea, sometimes in weather conditions that would've stopped humans in their tracks just a few decades ago. The world is, in essence, getting smaller, leaving few places left unexplored. Given those circumstances, what exactly does it mean to be an explorer today? And why would you even try?

Some people say that exploration is part of human drive, as our curiosity pushes us to seek out new places wherever we live, and even places we don't — like under the oceans' waves, in deep caves and into the depths of the galaxy（进入星系的深处）.

The Call of the Wild

But for others, the call of the unknown is irresistible, regardless of the hardships and lack of creature comforts. And these restless souls find that even in a shrinking world, exploration is very possible — if you know where to look.
You can start by looking up.

"There are a variety of peaks in areas like Nepal, Pakistan and China that have yet to be climbed," says Eric Larsen, a polar explorer and mountain climber, in an email interview. He says untouched peaks also await in Antarctica, Greenland and on Ellesmere Island. "Exploring the depths of the oceans would be one of the larger 'tracts' of undiscovered 'terrain' (if you can call it that). I know there are probably some areas of the Pacific Ocean that remain somewhat untouched and definitely parts of the Amazon rainforest as well."

Larsen has launched some major expeditions（launch an expedition进行一次远征/考察） .
In 2009-10, he journeyed to both the North and South Poles and the top of Mt. Everest, all within 365 days — the only person ever to achieve this feat in under a year.

It was a grueling, though, and took a drastic toll on his mind and body. So, why does he do it?

"I really enjoy the physical and mental aspects of big expeditions. From the planning and preparation to the decision making and stress involved in executing these adventures," he says. "I also really enjoy human powered travel and being along in vast untracked wilderness（广阔的无人类踪迹的原野）. I like blazing my own trail（开辟我自己的路） as well and being in places that I know no one has traveled previously."

These kinds of adventures cost some people their lives. Take Percy Fawcett, who in 1925 disappeared trying to find a legendary （传奇的）city in the Amazon rainforest. Or Sir John Franklin and Francis Crozier, who met the same mysterious fate in the 1840s when they tried to find the fabled Northwest Passage.
Larsen himself has almost died multiple times.

"I've had several very close encounters （have an encounter with ...遭遇）with polar bears. In 2005 off the coast of Siberia (on the Arctic Ocean), we had one jump on our tent while we're sleeping in it," he says. "We also were in some pretty sketchy situations (非常糟糕的情景）in 2015 when trying to climb Jabou Ri [a peak in Nepal]. It took us three different attempts and we were in several situations where a wrong step would have meant death."


Eric Larsen crosses a crevasse on the climb to summit Mt. Everest.
Eric Larsen

The Expense of Exploration
As if near death isn't bad enough, there are expeditions bills to be paid. Those kinds of journeys are expensive, and Larsen searches for sponsors to defray the costs（支出成本）.

"Sponsorship is an ever-evolving process（赞助是一个不断发展的过程）. Back in the day it was more about just getting a logo on a jacket and maybe a newspaper story or two," Larsen says. "Now it has evolved into more of a business with measurable （显著的，明显的）ROI (return on investment) for companies."

That means Larsen is an active part of the business model.

"Today, I have sponsors where I am specifically involved with product development, writing (blogs), photo and video shoots, social media, events and more. Quite honestly, (Ernest) Shackleton had to do (something) very similar to secure sponsors for his expeditions (minus social media)."

But that's not enough to support him. Larsen also does guiding and polar trainings as well as speaking, photography, and some other odds and ends. "It's a crazy puzzle where you don't have a picture to guide you and the shapes of the pieces are undefined," he says.

Financial issues aside, Larsen says that the nature of exploration is changing, and that, yes, as of 2020 most of the Earth has already been witnessed by human eyes.

"However, the leading edge of exploration today is more about pushing personal limits （如今，探险的前沿更多的是挑战个人极限）— trying to do adventures in new, unique and challenging ways. For example, while people have skied to the South Pole many times, in 2012 I tried to bicycle to the South Pole."
He didn't make it.

He calls out another example — the steep pitch of El Capitan's Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park. It's been climbed many times, but Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson were the first to free climb it. Or Alex Honnold, who took things to a nerve-shattering extreme when he climbed the Dawn Wall without any ropes whatsoever. His climb, which is considered as one of the greatest athletic （/æθˈletɪk/ 运动的，体、育的）achievements of all time, was documented by National Geographic in the film, "Free Solo."

Now, you don't have to take on these kinds of extreme adventures if you don't want to. You can leave it to the experts and witness their bravery (and insanity) from afar. But no matter how small the world gets, it's clear that there will always be people willing to push exploration just a little bit further.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING
At a dinner on May 28, 1904, attended by 50 men well-known in the circles of exploration, The Explorers Club was born and soon began inviting explorers and scientists to speak of their adventures and discoveries with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. It is particularly known for its five famous firsts list of places conquered by members: the North Pole (1909), the South Pole (1911), Mt. Everest (1953), the Mariana Trench (1960) and the Moon (1969). In 1981, the Club finally inducted its first female members, including Sylvia Earle, Dian Fossey, Rita Mathews, Anna Roosevelt and Kathryn Sullivan.


关键词汇：

1. in essence 本质上；实质上
2. Given those circumstances，考虑到那些情况
3. regardless of the hardships and lack of creature comforts 不顾艰辛以及缺乏物质享受
4. undiscovered 'terrain'未被发现的领域
5. Larsen has launched some major expeditions.拉尔森进行过几次重要的探险。
6. Grueling 艰辛的；让人精疲力竭的
7. defray the costs支付成本；买单