The Explorers Club Edition

Ben Young (BWAGY) is a Kiwi entrepreneur and media thinker. His company, Nudge, helps companies with a simple & easy to use analytics platform for their digital properties.

Ben here. In 1904, a shared passion for exploration, fueled by the ambition to conquer uncharted territories like the North Pole, brought together a band of adventurers. Spearheaded by journalist and explorer Henry Collins Walsh, they established the Explorers Club on New York's Upper East Side. Over time, it evolved into a global hub for explorers, boasting a prestigious roster of members who achieved remarkable "firsts," such as Robert E. Peary (first to reach the North Pole), Sir Edmund Hillary (first to summit Mt. Everest), Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (first on the Moon), and Don Walsh (first to the ocean's deepest point). Among its members are also figures like Amelia Earhart, Jane Goodall, and Jeff Bezos.

Inside the club today, as reported by the BBC, one encounters an eclectic array of artifacts: “trophies from Smithsonian expeditions, a Yeti scalp and Tibetan prayer wheels, a first edition of Napoleon’s writings on Egypt, an Alaskan mammoth tusk alongside moose heads and stuffed penguins, a pelt from a man-eating Nepali tigress, and the ivory of a four-tusked elephant—a rare genetic anomaly from Congo.”

It’s akin to a real-life Night at the Museum.

Why is this interesting?

For those lacking the requisite bona fides to get in the door, some of the best narratives: "As Told at the Explorers Club," are published for all in the journal. What's striking about delving into these accounts is that unlike reading dated classics like "Atlas Shrugged" or "The Wealth of Nations," the narratives feel contemporary, despite revolving around topics seemingly from a bygone era.

Take, for instance, oil scion Thomas Baker Slick Jr., heir to a fortune amassed by his father, the renowned "King of the Wildcatters." Tom Jr., with a penchant for cryptozoology, embarked on expeditions in pursuit of legendary creatures such as Nessie, Bigfoot, and the Yeti. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of swashbuckling billionaire Howard Hughes and Hollywood icon Jimmy Stewart, he even orchestrated the transportation of a purported 'Yeti hand' across international borders. Eventually, Tom contributed his own chapters to the annals of the Explorers Club, including his quest for the elusive Yeti.

One such chapter, "The Yeti Expedition," featured in the December 1958 edition of the Explorers Journal, recounts Tom's firsthand quest to unearth evidence of the Yeti's existence while debunking past sightings attributed to the Red Himalayan Bear or the langur monkey. Venturing into the upper Arun Valley of the Himalayas, Tom and his team interviewed fifteen eyewitnesses, presenting them with images resembling the Yeti. Interestingly, their responses consistently pointed towards depictions of a standing gorilla or similar artistic renditions. However, when shown a picture of a bear, they unequivocally identified it as such, not a Yeti.

Despite being careful not to spoil the intrigue, Tom's expedition did yield tangible evidence—a hair sample and a footprint cast—subsequently entrusted to the Delhi University’s Department of Anthropology for further scrutiny. Reading about this firsthand attempt to track down the elusive Yeti, documented within the lifetimes of many, is a riveting reminder that such exploratory endeavors are not so far in the past. (BWAGY)

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Ben (BWAGY)

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