Few people have ever completed a thru-hike of the Grand Canyon, and now National Geographic explorers Kevin Fedarko and Pete McBride know why: The almost 800-mile hike quickly proved to be the most difficult undertaking of their lives. With no trail to follow, the two found themselves bushwhacking through dense brush and cacti, and moving up and down steep vertical terrain in scorching heat as they navigated their way through the canyon. Though they initially embarked on the hike as a way to...

Few people have ever completed a thru-hike of the Grand Canyon, and now National Geographic explorers Kevin Fedarko and Pete McBride know why: The almost 800-mile hike quickly proved to be the most difficult undertaking of their lives. With no trail to follow, the two found themselves bushwhacking through dense brush and cacti, and moving up and down steep vertical terrain in scorching heat as they navigated their way through the canyon. Though they initially embarked on the hike as a way to...

Few people have ever completed a thru-hike of the Grand Canyon, and now National Geographic explorers Kevin Fedarko and Pete McBride know why: The almost 800-mile hike quickly proved to be the most difficult undertaking of their lives. With no trail to follow, the two found themselves bushwhacking through dense brush and cacti, and moving up and down steep vertical terrain in scorching heat as they navigated their way through the canyon. Though they initially embarked on the hike as a way to...

Sarah Marquis first tasted adventure at the age of eight in her native Switzerland when she left home and spent a night in a cave with her dog. Since then she’s crossed Turkey on horseback and journeyed by foot across Australia, the Americas, and Asia in the face of countless dangers. Join her as she shares stories from her time walking across Australia, foraging for food and connecting with nature.

Sarah Marquis first tasted adventure at the age of eight in her native Switzerland when she left home and spent a night in a cave with her dog. Since then she’s crossed Turkey on horseback, and journeyed by foot across Australia, the Americas, and Asia in the face of countless dangers. Join her as she shares stories about foraging for food, finding water, and evading crocodiles.

Sarah Marquis first tasted adventure at the age of eight in her native Switzerland when she left home and spent a night in a cave with her dog. Since then she’s crossed Turkey on horseback and journeyed by foot across Australia, the Americas, and Asia in the face of countless dangers. Join her as she shares stories of her adventurous life.

The tepuis in South America, often called "islands in the sky" for their sheer cliffs and flat tops towering 10,000 feet above the jungle floor, create isolated environments that make these unique land formations evolutionary islands.There are unique species living on the tops of these mountains that exist nowhere else in the world. Often compared to the Galápagos Islands for being an ancient island chain with a stunning array of biodiversity, the tepuis are actually much older. While the...

During an expedition to explore the Huautla cave system in Mexico, National Geographic Explorer Kenny Broad is confronted with the tragic realities of pursuing a life of adventure. He takes the stage to talk about this perilous trip and the passion that drives him to consistently risk his life for adventure and exploration.

Part 3 of 3: At high camp the team falls apart from the physical, mental, and emotional strain of the expedition. Hilaree O'Neill talks about how, in winds of 75 miles an hour and with only three days of food left, an argument erupts between the team members over who should attempt the summit and who should be left behind. The quest to climb Hkakabo Razi in the remote area of northern Myanmar was conceived by Hilaree O'Neill and Mark Jenkins and their yearning for an "anti-Everest"...

Part 2 of 3: Now at base camp after a challenging trek through the jungle, the team begins to prepare to climb Hkakabo Razi. Hilaree O'Neill talks about how, with only eight to 10 days of food remaining and only one-third of the gear they had at the beginning of the trip, the team starts up the mountain and is faced with constant setbacks. Dead ends and the inability to find a direct path up plague their climb, taking a physical, mental, and emotional toll on the climbers and destroying the...

The quest to climb Hkakabo Razi in the remote area of northern Myanmar was conceived by Hilaree O'Neill and Mark Jenkins and their yearning for an "anti-Everest" expedition. In the fall of 2014, Hilaree O'Neill, the expedition leader, and Mark Jenkins, Cory Richards, Renan Ozturk, and Emily Harrington set out to climb this formidable peak and determine whether it is the highest peak in Southeast Asia by standing on top with a GPS. What followed was a demanding journey full of setbacks that...

World-renowned climber Jimmy Chin and filmmaker Elizabeth "Chai" Vasarhelyi talk about making "Meru", a documentary about Chin, Conrad Anker, and Renan Ozturk's attempt to make the first successful ascent of the Shark's Fin on Mount Meru—a climb that has thwarted every previous summit attempt by the world's most elite climbers. In making the documentary, Chin was passionate about revealing the friendships and mentorship within the climbing community, an aspect not typically depicted in...

World-renowned climber Jimmy Chin and filmmaker Elizabeth "Chai" Vasarhelyi talk about the challenges of making Meru, a documentary about Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk's attempt to make the first successful ascent of the Shark's Fin on Mount Meru—a climb that has thwarted every previous summit attempt by the world's most elite climbers.

Famed adventurer Mike Libecki has set a goal to do a hundred expeditions by the time he turns 100 years old. With over 65 expeditions and counting Libecki sets his sights on an unclimbed tower in Greenland called the Polar Bear Fang. The adventurer has been trying to reach this tower for the past ten years and has been thwarted three times. As Libecki prepares to make a fourth attempt on the tower, his little brother, an inexperienced climber, asks to come along. With his brother now a part...

A rock climbing trip in Kyrgyzstan takes a turn for the worse when armed rebels take Tommy Caldwell and his friends hostage. Tommy is forced to make a choice between he and his friend's lives and that of his captor's. (The man referenced at the end of the hostage story survives and is later captured by authorities.) To add insult to injury, Tommy loses a finger and is forced to reconsider whether he can continue his profession as a rock climber.

Adventurers Amber Valenti and Krystle Wright are half of the all-women team that traveled 2,700 miles down the Amur River through the wilds of Mongolia and Russia. Along the way, they pushed their minds and bodies to the limit and learned that the journey planned is rarely the journey taken.

National Geographic photographer Carsten Peter joins climbers Matt Segal and Cedar Wright on their journey to climb the ancient limestone karsts of China, an otherworldly dreamscape rarely experienced by Western climbers.

With a death rate statistically higher than soldiers in the Iraq war, why would anyone risk their life to climb Mount Everest? Photographer Aaron Huey points his camera at the unsung heroes of mountaineering—the Sherpas.

In the harsh desert of the American Southwest, famed climbers Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright summited 45 rock towers, biked 700 miles, and pushed their bodies to the limits, all in the name of an adventure they aptly dubbed "Sufferfest."

After seven successful Mount Everest summits, climber Peter Athans, aka Mr. Everest, still seeks out rigorous emotional, mental, and physical adventures in his lifelong quest to never stop challenging himself.

Virologist Victoria Jensen comes face-to-face with the most deadly of viruses, including Ebola, in an effort to better understand them and protect us all from their harmful reach.

Herpetologist and National Geographic 2010 Emerging Explorer Zoltan Takacs is allergic to snake venom and antivenom, but that doesn't stop him from risking his life to capture deadly snakes that may also hold the key to lifesaving medicines.

Space archaeologist and National Geographic Fellow Sarah Parcak is using cutting-edge technology in the sky to unearth underground secrets from ancient Roman civilizations. But it was her initial failures that led to some of Parcak's most remarkable finds.

Extreme kayaker and National Geographic grantee Trip Jennings takes a harrowing journey that almost ends in tragedy during his source-to-sea first descent of the Pandi River in Papua New Guinea.

In 1977, 27-year-old Robyn Davidson, along with her dog and four camels, embarked on a daring expedition across the barren, unforgiving terrain of the outback. Photographer Rick Smolan captured stunning images of the untouched landscape and the young woman's personal adventure.