There is no question that Ueli Steck's solo ascent of Annapurna is the boldest climb of the year. News of his amazing feat has captivated the mountaineering community for the past few weeks as we've all waited to hear more about the expedition. Now that he is back home, Ueli sat down with the folks from EpicTV for an interview to discuss his latest adventure in the Himalaya. Part 1 of that interview can be found below, where you'll learn – amongst other things – that Steck feels a bit "empty" following his return from Annapurna.

Here in the States we're still a couple of weeks away from the Summer Outdoor Retailer show, which will unveil all of the great new gear we can expect to see on store shelves in the months ahead. But across the pond in Europe their big gear show, known as OutDoor Friedrichshafen, just wrapped up with plenty of new products making their debut. Our friends over at EpicTV were on hand to check out the latest gear and they've been posting videos to a YouTube playlist for all of us to enjoy. If you're a gear hound of any kind, you'll probably want to check out some of the videos for yourself. Here's an example of what EpicTV has put together. It's a sneak peak at the new ultralight Exos backpacks coming from Osprey, something I'm looking forward to seeing for myself in a few weeks.

I guess BASE jumping from impossibly high places isn't enough of a challenge any more. The guy in the video below – one Sam "I'm Crazy" Hardy – decided a moving van would make a better launching pad for his leap off of a 460-foot tall bridge. He was certainly successful in making an already scary activity even scarier.

This video kicks off a new series from EpicTV called eleMENTAL, which seems aptly fitting. Episode 2 promises more craziness, so stay tuned.

With 2012 behind us, it's time to reflect on another great year in the adventure community. To help us do just that, our friends at EpicTV have put together a list of their favorite outdoor personalities from last year and are allowing us to weigh in on which one deserves to be crowned the Adventurer of the Year.

Many of the nominees are definitely names that you will be well known to readers of the Adventure Blog. You'll find climbers Alex Honnold and Kyle Dempster on the list, as well as Felix Baumgartner and Benedikt Böhm. Each of those men achieved some pretty outstanding things last year and certainly deserve some recognition. They're joined on the list by a number of others, including Steve Fisher and his team of paddlers who took on the Inga Rapids in the Congo, and Gary Connery who managed to make the first wingsuit landing without the use of a parachute.

Voting is open to the public through January 24 and we are all encouraged to vote for our favorite outdoor athlete once per day between now and then. After that, the person who received the most votes will not only be named the EpicTV Adventurer of the Year but they'll also be awarded €5000 (About $6500) towards their next project.

Vote early, vote often!