Spirit of Hong Kong Awards: explorer inspires youth through glacial field trips

AI Summary

Explorer Wilson Cheung is being recognized for taking Hong Kong students into the Swiss Alps and conducting scientific fieldwork in Greenland. Glacier melt, thawing ground, and rockfalls have made alpine research and educational trips increasingly hazardous, highlighting the effects of climate change on polar and mountain environments.

When Wilson Cheung took Hong Kong secondary school students into the Swiss Alps this summer, terrain he had once been able to reach had become inaccessible. Glacier melt and thawing ground had destabilised parts of the mountain, while rockfall made fieldwork more hazardous. Only weeks earlier, Cheung had completed a roughly 1,700km (1,056-mile) scientific snowkite traverse across Greenland in 2026. The journey took him across the ice sheet while he continued collecting data in one of the world’s...