"In a world surrounded by glaciers, a drop of water or a piece of ice can make me feel the pulsation of the earth, but the melting of the glacier makes me feel that the breathing of the earth is getting heavier..."
Wen Xu on Muztag Peak
Wen Xu on the other side of the phone is now in Yunnan, preparing for the environmental experience event to be held in October. This event was originally scheduled to be held in the near future, but because of the continuous flooding in the south, Wen Xu and his team had to postpone the event. Rear……
Wen Xu in Yunnan
"Flood disasters are also related to climate warming to a certain extent, making everyone realize that the severe situation of climate warming is imminent, not only for our own decades, but also for the future of mankind..."
Wen Xu is a glacier researcher, a member of the national mountaineering team, and a master of quaternary geology. Born in 1987, he started climbing at the age of 16, and has set many records of scientific expeditions in Mount Everest, the North and South Poles. He is one of the few scientific explorers in China with a scientific background and top expedition capabilities.
Wen Xu trekking in Antarctica
Origin: "Vertical Limit"
Fate began in one summer. A movie ignited Wen Xu’s youth. “The movie’s name is "Vertical Limit". When I watch it, I can’t help but wonder if I can take risks and do different things like the protagonist... …"
Teenagers are when they are rebellious and want to be recognized. Who doesn't want to be cool? "Vertical Limit" successfully ignited the "fire" in Wen Xu's heart.
At the age of 15, he used his savings to sign up for mountaineering training. After the training, Wen Xu signed up for the Jade Everest climbing activity through the forum. This is Wen Xu's first high-altitude climb in his life. In the end, he was only 16 years old at a distance of 50 meters from the summit and decided to give up the summit for safety reasons.
2018 Wen Xu summited Mount Everest Wen Xu Yunnan training
This experience of not climbing to the top allowed Wen Xu to gain the absolute support of his parents for his climbing. “They think I have sufficient safety awareness and the ability to judge and control risks.” In Wen Xuri’s subsequent mountaineering and expedition activities, This experience of "safety is better than summit" also continues to affect him.
Wen Xu has a clear goal orientation. The moment he decided to mountaineering as his dream, he began preparations. "At that time, I collected relevant information and learned that mountaineering requires a very strong physical fitness, so I started to exercise." He never stopped running, cycling, swimming, etc., from junior high school to high school to university.
Wen Xu Yunnan Training
In college, Wen Xu was specially recruited to the University of Geosciences because of his rock climbing skills.
He learned that there is a long history of mountaineering at the University of Geosciences. The first batch of senior mountaineering seniors in China was selected from the University of Geosciences, but there was an interval of 20 or 30 years after that batch, and there were basically no mountaineering teams at the University of Geosciences. "I hope to continue to pass on the mountaineering spirit of the University of Earth." In this way, he formed a mountaineering club.
Keep climbing, then?
Once Wen Xu also imagined his own future. As an ordinary white-collar worker, climbing is a hobby, but an experience disrupted his plan.
A scientific expedition team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a scientific investigation on Muztag Peak. The task was to build a weather station about 6000 meters from Muztag Peak. The task was completed smoothly, but an accident occurred during the descent, requiring coordinated rescue.
Wen Xu collects snow samples during his expedition
At that time, Wen Xu had just graduated from the Department of Business Administration of the University of Geosciences and was recommended to the graduate school of the school. He was using his vacation to lead the team on Muztag Peak. He still didn't know that this peaceful encounter with the Chinese Academy of Sciences could completely change his life trajectory. In the process of participating in the rescue, Wen Xu established contact with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In Wen Xu's words, "opened up a new path."
Afterwards, the teacher of the Chinese Academy of Sciences talked a lot with him and encouraged Wen Xu to apply to study and work at the Qinghai-Tibet Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Combining his mountaineering skills, he went to high altitude to do glacier research projects.
Scientific research has given new value to mountaineering. "Why don't you give full play to your exploration expertise and complement your scientific research?" Like discovering the new world, Wen Xu felt that he had found the most suitable way for him.
Wen Xu trekking in Antarctica
But 3 years later, when he finally became a glacier researcher from an explorer, Wen Xu gave up when he faced the direct scholarship of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "I was at a loss at the time. I just felt that reading further was not suitable for me, but I didn't know where the future was..."
"At that time I was only one step away from death"
Without waiting for Wen Xu to figure out where the future lies, a scientific expedition almost killed him.
Long Xia slaughtered the Longba Glacier, Wen Xu walked at the forefront of the team, his feet softened and fell into an ice lake. At that time, he was carrying more than 20 kilograms of equipment and equipment. After falling in, his body began to lean back. Wen Xu took advantage of the situation and hit the ice with an ice pick. After breaking the ice that could not bear the weight, he found one. Fulcrum, turn around. The whole journey was fast in less than 30 seconds.
At that time, the instinctive self-help reaction did not make Wen Xu feel scared. Afterwards, he felt scared—"It is difficult for people without self-help awareness and skills to come up. What is frightening is that it was May, and it had not yet entered summer, and it was not at all when the temperature on the glacier was the highest, at an altitude of 5,500 meters. The location, there is such a big glacial lake, this kind of change on the glacier has never been imagined before!"
Wen Xu trekking Antarctic Hengduan Mountains
This incident touched Wen Xu a lot. Reminiscent of his life mentor, the famous polar explorer Borg Osland, said to him: "The thickness of the Arctic ice sheet was 5 meters 5 years ago, but now it is only 3 meters." All night, He couldn’t help thinking about everything about the glacier in his life, Muztag, the snow line has receded nearly 500 meters; the North Pole, the road he had walked, the ice surface has become ice floes, "Now the North Pole is about to be navigable. I didn't dare to think about it before..."
Glaciers are the most sensitive indicator of climate. As the climate warms, Wen Xu once felt very far away. He never thought that one day he would fall into the lake on the mountain... The more he thought about it, the deeper he felt, as if an important discovery, he really wanted to do something about it, but again What can I do?
Wen Xu numbered snow samples in Antarctica
<2℃ plan: I may go to Antarctica again in the future
After returning from that time, he and his partner Hu Jiaojiao discussed repeatedly and decided to launch the "<2°C Project"-the first scientific expedition through the three poles of the earth to call on the public to pay attention to global climate change and jointly pursue a sustainable future.
Wen Xu in Arctic Greenland
In 2018, Wen Xu completed the scientific expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In the same year, he formed China’s first polar expedition, leading Chinese young explorers, entrepreneurs, artists, and college students to travel across the Arctic subcontinent Greenland and collect collections along the way. Important ice and snow samples and biodiversity data; at 14:50 pm on January 9, 2020 in Chile (1:50 am on January 10, Beijing time), Wen Xu and German explorer Anja Blacha arrived at the geographic south pole together.
Wen Xu in the Arctic
In 58 days, Wen Xu used cross-country skiing to pull 185 kilograms of luggage, walked 1,400 kilometers and successfully reached the South Pole. He became the first explorer in the world to set off from the Antarctic coast without assistance and without supplies. , And brought back important scientific research samples.
South Pole
After reaching the extreme, Wen Xu excitedly enjoyed a low-altitude kite skiing with the help of strong wind on the endless white wasteland of Antarctica. "Kite skiing feels like driving a sailboat. The strong wind keeps blowing me away."
Wen Xu builds a camp in Antarctic snowstorm
This time, Wen Xu, who originally planned to cross the Polar Continent of Vietnam, chose to stop at the extreme due to various reasons. "When I am ready, I will try to cross the Polar Continent again in the future." Although he has regrets on the journey, Wen Xu is no longer in the mood. regret. Under frequent disasters, calling for climate change has become his more recognized goal in life.
Author: Liqiu Ying
Image source: Provided by Wen Xu