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Wednesday 4 December 2013

National Geographic Announces 2014 Adventurers of the Year


 


Online Voting for People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year Runs through Jan. 31, 2014

The 2014 Adventurers of the Year, naming extraordinary achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation or humanitarianism have distinguished them in the past year was already announced by National Geographic.

Runs through Jan. 31, 2014, the online voting for the People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year has already started.  Fans can go here to vote at any time for their favorite honoree.  In February, the adventurer with the most number of votes at the end of the voting period will be announced as the 2014 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year.

The 13 honorees this year were a long-distance swimmer, to refresh your memory, he was the first to swim from Cuba to Florida without protection from a shark cage; another one was a skier who is re-imagining his sport in urban landscapes; and two veterans dedicated to establishing connections between veterans and the outdoors; lastly a snowboarder committed to helping brain injury survivors.

The 13 Adventurers of the Year for 2014 are:

§  Stacy Bare and Nick Watson — American adventurers and veterans who launched an organization that links veterans to the outdoors and the outdoors community;
§  Greg Long — American big-wave surfer who won the 2012/13 Big-Wave World Tour,  despite nearly losing his life in a massive wipeout a few months earlier;
§  Amy and Dave Freeman — American adventurers and educators who completed a three-year, 11,647-mile journey across North America by kayak, canoe, dogsled and foot, connecting with students and teachers along the way;
§  Diana Nyad — Sixty-four-year-old American long-distance swimmer who recently completed a swim between Cuba and the United States, on her fifth attempt;
§  Kevin Pearce — American snowboarder who, after surviving a traumatic brain injury, launched the “Love Your Brain” campaign to encourage the use of helmets for kids;
§  Kilian Jornet Burgada — Spanish “skyrunning” ultrarunner whose new brand of running involves blazing up technical terrain such as glaciers, rock ridges and steep snowfields;
§  Raphael Slawinski and Ian Welsted — Canadian alpinists who were the first to summit Pakistan’s K6 West, one of the last great unclimbed peaks in the world, despite danger and political turmoil in the region;
§  Adam Ondra — Czech rock climber who takes climbing to new frontiers of difficulty;
§  JP Auclair — Canadian skier who is best known for his special style of urban skiing;
§  Sarah Marquis — Swiss hiker who has just completed a three-year trek from Siberia to Australia.

“This is the ninth year that National Geographic has combed the globe to find people who embody the spirit of adventure in diverse ways. The 2014 Adventurers of the Year are truly inspiring and remind us of the importance to pursue our own passions every day,” said Mary Anne Potts, editor of National Geographic Adventure online.