By National Geographic Staff

PUBLISHED 

Every year National Geographic publishes thousands of adventure-focused photographs. We share images of bold athletes testing their limits, beautiful landscapes ripe for exploration, and striking scenes of discovery with our readers—all meant to provide a unique perspective on the world and inspire personal adventure. We’ve searched back through the many images we published in the last year and pulled together the best of the best. Check out our 22 favorite photos from 2017, and 30 favorite photos from 2016.

VATNAJÖKULL GLACIER, ICELANDA hiker stands inside a glacial cave in Vatnajökull, Iceland.

 

KRIŽNA JAMA, SLOVENIAAt 27,142 feet, Križna jama, aka the “Cross Cave,” is nearly as long as Mount Everest is tall—yet it’s still considered a moderately sized cave for Slovenia. Križna jama is a beautiful and heavily protected cave system (fewer than 1,000 permitted entries per year) filled with interconnected emerald green pools that are mainly fed by the Bloke plateau. Križna hosts a rich biodiversity that makes it one of the largest single ecosystems in the world.

 

SVALBARD, NORWAYA sailboat floats through the ice in Svalbard, Norway.

 

CARBONDALE, COLORADO”I was speechless and overwhelmed by the beauty of my hometown and how we were able to show it in such a unique way,” says photographer Catherine Aeppel, who took this photo of highliner Pete Thompson setting a line over Mushroom Rock in Carbondale, Colorado. “The location is special because it is the ultimate lookout point for the town of Carbondale, with Mount Sopris majestically rising in the background.”

 

AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES, FRANCECampers sleep under the stars in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, along the GR5. The Grande Randonnée, or “great trek,” runs through the Alps and is roughly 1,500 miles long, traversing from the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg into France, ending in Nice. The route from Switzerland into the French Alps is particularly popular—and beautiful.

 

JASPER NATIONAL PARK, CANADAA hiker treks down an icy slope outside an ice cave on the Athabasca Glacier inside Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.

 

MATTERHORN, ITALY AND SWITZERLANDMatterhorn mountain is illuminated for the 150th anniversary of the peak’s first ascent. The path was gradually lit to mark the trail of the first climbers to reach to the top.

 

MAUNA KEA, HAWAIIA man stands on a fallen tree under the stars on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

 

MOUNT BROMO, INDONESIAA horse trainer holds the rope of his steed near the crater of Indonesia’s Mount Bromo.

 

NAY YAH CENOTE, MEXICOA freediver floats inside Nay Yah Cenote, an underwater sinkhole on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

 

VATNAJÖKULL GLACIER, ICELANDLight reflects off the ice inside Crystal Cave on Iceland’s Vatnajokull glacier as a man leaps off a snowy hill at an entry point.

 

POSTOJNA JAMA, SLOVENIAWhile Postojna is the most heavily touristed cave in Slovenia, photographer Robbie Shone and his team gained permission to visit locations off the beaten path. Here, in a spot deeper in the cave, one of Shone’s assistants swims while holding a single-use magnesium flash bulb that emits five times the light output as a standard battery-operated camera strobe—power that’s needed to showcase the emerald-green color of the pool. Shone says his decision to include figures in his cave landscapes adds a sense of scale for the viewer, while here it also has the benefit of blocking the blinding, white flash bulb.

 

HIGH TATRAS, SLOVAKIAA climber pulls himself up the ice on the High Tatra mountains in Slovakia.

 

TEAHUPOO, TAHITI“Shooting in water is always challenging, especially for a guy like me who didn’t grow up around the ocean,” says photographer Jussi Grznar, who took this photo of surfer Blake Thornton duck diving under a wave in Teahupoo, Tahiti. “To be able to read how the waves break can take a lifetime of experience. Shooting at Teahupoo can get extra challenging as it gets really shallow when the sets come in.”

 

SIBERIA, RUSSIAA skier hikes through the Siberian mountains.

 

ATHABASCA CAVE, CANADAAthabasca cave is located on the edge of Canada’s Athabasca Glacier, near the Columbia Icefield. During the day, visitors experience sculptural, blue-hued ice formations. Those who brave the cold night can sometimes see auroras above the sprawling ice.

 

SAN JUAN NATIONAL FOREST, COLORADOA skier climbs a steep slope above Ophir Pass in Colorado’s San Juan National Forest.

 

GHAJN TUTA CAVE, MALTAThe moon and a roaring campfire light the way for climbers at Malta’s Ghajn Tuta Cave.

 

BANFF NATIONAL PARK, CANADAA snowboarder carves through the snow above Canada’s Peyto Lake in Banff National Park.

 

GUILIN, CHINAShining waters inside Reed Flute Cave in Guilin, China, reflect images of the cave’s eerie rock formations.

 

COLORADO RIVER, UTAHRafters pause along the Colorado River to see dazzling stars in the night sky.

 

LOFOTEN ISLANDS, NORWAYVisitors soak in the night sky and views of the northern lights in Norway.

 

ITALY, Mauro Morandi has lived alone on Budelli Island for 28 years.

 

MEXICO, A lightning bolt pierces the night sky over Mount Colima as a column of swirling ash erases the stars in its path.

 

INDIA, A food vendor squeezes through the congested second class compartment on the Vivek train.

 

KOREA, The DMZ Peace Train carries South Korean soldiers and tourists from Seoul to train terminals closest to the DMZ.

 

SPAIN, A man slides on tomatoes as he celebrates La Tomatina in Buñol, Spain

 

UNITED STATES, A sculpted supercell thunderstorm churns over the dusty farmlands near Lamesa, Texas.

 

IRAN, Uncommon in mosques, the stained glass windows of Iran’s Nasir al Molk in Shiraz illuminate its Persian carpets with a kaleidoscope of patterned flecks of light.

 

SLOVENIA, The sun sets over the Košuta ridge with Veliki Vrh mountain in the distance. The mountain pass offers a lovely, hidden way to cross the border to Austria.

 

ICELAND, The northern lights stream down above Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula.

 

CARIBBEAN, The Harmony of the Seas features several multistory waterslides, including the tallest one at sea.

 

MOROCCO, Paragliders, surfers, fishermen, and a handful of in-the-know visitors who frequented Legzira Beach outside the city of Sidi Ifni in Morocco mourned when its twin red sea arch succumbed to the weight of the massive cliff above it in 2016.

 

ETHIOPIA, Harar’s old town is a maze of alleys lined with colorful walls.

 

JAPAN, A security guard crosses brisk in front of the first fallen petals in Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

 

CROATIA, This large winged sculpture in Podgarić holds a crypt with the remains of hundreds of Partisan soldiers who died while being treated at nearby hospitals.

 

VARIOUS, Most global fashions are not fads.

 

UNITED STATES, A hiker looks over the Ko’olau Range in Oahu, Hawaii.

 

ALBANIA, On the edge of Lake Ohrid, a Greek Orthodox shrine hides inside a bunker in Lin.

 

UNITED STATES, A Burning Man attendee walks on stilts across the desert, leaving tall art structures behind him.

 

ITALY, The Duomo, or cathedral, is one Milan’s most iconic monuments. It is one of the largest churches in modern Europe, able to accommodate more than 20,000 people.

 

MOZAMBIQUE, The sun sets over the beach near the Fort of São Sebastião, the oldest standing fort in sub-Saharan Africa. Locals take advantage of the waning heat and swim in the rose gold ocean.

 

YEMEN, Yemen’s Old Walled City of Shibam is the oldest metropolis in the world to use vertical construction.

 

MEXICO, A calenda to celebrate a wedding in Oaxaca City unfolds on the street.

 

GERMANY, Long before it helped to inspire Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, Neuschwanstein was a refuge for Germany’s King Ludwig II of Bavaria who spent much of his kingdom’s fortune building castles.

 

UNITED STATES, Cathalina Liebel, descendant of a 16th-century circus family, dangles from the mouth of her family’s African elephant, Nosey, during a performance at the Great American Family Circus in Mattoon, Illinois. Nosey is at the center of a growing campaign against the Liebels’ circus, at which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found numerous animal welfare violations. Many of those violations relate to poor treatment of Nosey, including a lack of veterinary care, tight confines, and poor feeding.

 

TUNISIA, A young girl peeks through the stained glass windows which adorn the Ghriba synagogue, believed to be built around 500 B.C.

 

CHILE, Chilean cowboys known as baqueanos have a deep connection to nature and treat their horses with a parental tenderness.

 

IRELAND, Two men work hard on a fishing boat docked in the village of Howth, a penninsula east of Dublin.

 

ISRAEL, The Mea She’arim and Damascus Gate areas of Jerusalem offer tourists a lot of insight into the city’s multiculturalism.

 

UNITED KINGDOM, Black-clad festivalgoers stroll outside of Whitby Abbey during Whitby Goth Weekend, the United Kingdom’s largest goth event.

Forrás: https://www.nationalgeographic.com

Eredeti link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/best-pictures-photos-adventure-2017/

 

Kapcsolódó híreinkTöbb ettől a szerzőtől