Deportes extremos

Escalando hielo en Eidfjord, Noruega
"Me sentí como si escalase una lámpara de araña", dice el escalador de hielo de renombre mundial Will Gadd tras completar la primera ascensión de 650 metros del Skrikjofossen durante un gélido mes de febrero en Eidfjord, Noruega. "Esta fue, de lejos, la cascada congelada más difícil que había subido nunca." Pero para Gadd, la oportunidad de explorar lascuevas detrás de las cascadas de hielo hace que el riesgo valga la pena. "La combinación de luz, atmósfera y el carácter temporal de estas habitaciones de joyas inspira el temor."
Solo frente al Parque Nacional Yosemite
Fotografía de Schaefer Mikey, National Geographic

Sin cuerda para salvarlo de una caída, el escalador temerario Dean Potter solo en una ruta llamada “El Cielo en la cumbre delGlacier”. La media cúpula por la que es conocida Yosemite aparece tras él en la lejanía.
Surf bahía de Waimea, Hawai
Fotografía de Dave Collyer

El surfista Jamilah Star se cae al intentar surfear esta ola que rompe en toda su longitud a la vez, en Waimea Bay, en la costa norte de Oahu, Hawai. "A medida que la ola iba creciento, la gente se hace más pequeña”, dice el fotógrafo Dave Collyer.
Esquíde travesía, Austria
Fotografía y el título por Amin Zavieh, My Shot

Un esquiador desciende desde un pico en  Saalbach, Austria. Esta región de Salzburgo es un destino popular para los esquiadores, con funcionamientos múltiples y amplias opciones de fuera de pista.
Wingsuit Fly off the Eiger
Switzerland
"Eiger" translates to "ogre" in German, which seems a fitting moniker for the13,000-foot (3,962-meter) beast of limestone, gneiss, shale, and ice that towers over the resort town of Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps. Its unpredictable weather, loose rock, and steep slopes have claimed the lives of more than 60 climbers, and yet its iconic 5,905-foot (1,800-meter) north face still proves irresistible. Now a new set of adventurers, wingsuit fliers, are not only climbing it but launchingoff it. Dean Potter (pictured) clinched the most heralded descent in 2009: After free soloing up the north face, he stepped into thin air for a four-mile, 9,000-vertical-foot (2,743-vertical-meter) flight that took two minutes and 50 seconds. The extreme sport is unquestionably one of the most dangerous on Earth, but perhaps that's the allure: It's the closest humans can get to true unadulteratedflight.
Surf Big Waves at Shipsterns Bluff
Tasmania, Australia
On the far southern coast of Tasmania, jutting into one of the Earth's most unpredictable and tempestuous seas, lies a point break so remote and isolated it's reachable only by boat or an hour-long wilderness trek. This is Shipsterns Bluff, a cold and dangerously unpredictable break where waves start crashing at eight feet (twometers) but can top 20 feet (six meters). The waves' characteristic steps trip even expert surfers–recently such as Kelly Slater and Ryan Hipwood (pictured)–and swing perilously close to rock fields, but the rush of lassoing the goliath of all waves beneath the coast's dwarfing black cliffs keeps surfers returning. "The scariest part is seeing the wave and committing to catching it," says local surferCharles Ward. "But once committed, it all tends to feel surreal and I forget about everything except what's right in front of me."
Ski K2
Karakoram Range, China, Pakistan
In comparison to Everest, K2–the world’s second tallest mountain at 28,251 feet (8,611 meters)–is more remote, has more unpredictable weather, and is statistically more deadly. Naturally that makes it one of the world's mostcoveted prizes for top pro ski mountaineers, who in recent years have raced to tag the summit and jump-turn back down. Still, the hazards are fierce: furious winds, avalanches, and inadvertent falls are just the start. American high-altitude ski guide Dave Watson (pictured) skied from 820 feet (250 meters) below the summit in 2009 and Swedish mountaineer Fredrik Ericsson died trying in 2010. The...