Outside Magazine Picks 2013 Adventurers Of The Year

Outside magazine has selected their choices for the 2013 Adventurers of the Year, giving that honor to nine people that they feel are "changing the face of global adventure." Their selections are diverse, deserving and most of all very inspiring.

Amongst those earning a spot on the list are ultrarunner Kilian Jornet, who has been a fixture in endurance and mountain sports for some time, but has recently become a darling of the mainstream media. He's joined by director James Cameron, who plumbed the depths of the ocean and Eruc Erden, who circumnavigated the planet completely under his own power. Of course Felix Baumgartner makes the list, as does Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, even though it has been nearly two years since she completed her quest to climb all 14 8000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.

All in all, this is another solid list of outdoor personalities who deserve plenty of recognition, although I can think of a few more that I would either add to the list or substitute for a few that received recognition. I realize that these lists are always subjective, but they also tend to lean towards picking people who are especially easy to market. Gerlinde's story is a good one for example and it would certainly earn her Adventurer of the Year honors for 2012, but I'm not sure I'd have her on my 2013 list.

That said, I have major respect for everyone of these men and women and I like that Outside is recognizing them for the things they have accomplished.