Want to be a reality TV star? This may be your chance. Yesterday an open casting call was put out for season 2 of the show Naked and Afraid, which is a Discovery Channel program although the press release said it will air on the National Geographic Channel.

If you're not familiar with the show, each episode features a man and a woman being dropped off in some wild place completely naked and left with the task of trying to survive for 21 days. Some of the locations from season 1 include the Serengeti, the jungles of Costa Rica and the island of Borneo. Each environment presents unique challenges to the people who are dropped there, including how to find food and water, building a shelter and finding some makeshift clothes.

Metal Flowers Media is handling the casting call and they're looking for men and women over he age of 18 who want to take part in this survival show. They are quick to point out that this is not a realty competition. Those who are selected to appear in an episode will be taken to their destination and dropped there for 21 days, where they must learn to survive off the land. Those who make the cut will be paid for their episode and during the casting process they'll be flying finalists to Los Angeles to meet with the producers.

If you have any interest in being on the show contact Naela Duarrani-Linday at naela@metalflowersmedia.com. Who knows, you might become the next Les Stroud or Bear Grylls, although I don't recall either of them doing a nude scene. I'd have to demand a stunt butt.

Here's an example of what the show is like for those who haven't seen it.

Alex Honnold just might be the best rock climber in the world. Over the past few years he has earned himself a reputation for free climbing some incredibly tough routes and doing so in record time. Now, National Geographic has announced that Alex will turn his considerable skills on a new challenge later this fall when he will attempt to free solo a building on live television.

For safety reasons, exactly which building Honnold will be climbing remains a mystery at this time. But what we do know is that the climb will air live on the Nat Geo Channel later this year. Much of the camera work for that event will be handled by Sender Films, who have worked closely with Alex on several climbing films in the past.

The announcement of the event that I linked to above comes with a brief interview with Honnold, who says that he is very much looking forward to the challenge. He says he hasn't climbed a building since he was a kid but feels that it is very much like climbing a rock face in Yosemite with the same movements involved. When asked if he thought doing the climb on live television would change anything for him, Alex said that it wouldn't. He'd simply be focused in as on any other climb, without even really noticing that it was being broadcasted for the world to see.

Personally, I'm not sure what to make of this event. On the one hand, it is an opportunity for a non-climbing audience to see what Alex can do, but then again I feel that would be better served with a straight climbing film on his achievements. Climbing a building feels like a bit of a gimmick to me and watching the entire thing live lends it a voyeuristic quality that seems a bit unsettling as well. There will obviously be a lot of people tuning in just to see if he will fall and that seems just wrong. I'll wait to learn more about the details of the event before I pass too much judgement, but so far I don't think this is something I'd go out of my way to tune into.

Last night the National Geographic Society's 125th Anniversary Gala took place at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The event continued the year-long celebration of the "New Age of Exploration" by honoring some very distinguished guests for their contributions to science, the expansion of knowledge and pushing the boundaries of exploration in the 21st century.

Nat Geo CEO and Chairman John Fahey was on hand to hand out the Hubbard Medal, which is the Society's highest honor. This year's recipients included filmmaker James Cameron and oceanographer Sylvia Earl, both of whom were honored for their work in exploring and protecting the seas. Cameron was also named Explorer of the Year for 2012 dive into the Mariana Trench. The medal was also given to author Edward O. Wilson for a lifetime of writing about the diversity of life on our planet. BASE Jumper Felix Baumgartner was on hand to collect his award as the Adventurer of the Year, which he earned with his record setting leap from the edge of space, while Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebeck was given the Alexander Graham Bell Medal for his 25 years of service as the host of the National Geographic Bee. The Chairman's Award went to philanthropist Howard G. Buffett for his leadership in conservation efforts around the globe.

Congratulations to all of the winners. Each is more than deserving for their in their own field. Some for their amazing achievements over the past year and others for a lifelong contribution to the ideals that the National Geographic Society has espoused since it's inception 125 years ago. These fine individuals are certainly representative of exploration in a new age.

You can read a complete rundown of the evening here.

Yesterday, the National Geographic Society announced its 2013 class of Emerging Explorers, once again turning the spotlight on some of the brightest young minds who are working in a wide variety of fields today. In fact, this year's recipients are helping to redefine exactly what the term "explorer" means in the 21st century as the group includes a roboticist, an entrepreneur and a couple of artists, along with the more traditional biologists, geologists and conservationists. It safe to say that the world of exploration has opened up in some new and very interesting ways.

In all, there are 17 individuals who have been named to the Emerging Explorers Program this year. Each of them is recognized for having accomplished important things in their particular area of expertise during the early part of their career and their work shows significant promise for future breakthroughs as well. To aid them in their research, Nat Geo awards each Emerging Explorer $10,000 as well.

Amongst this year's class of Emerging Explorers are Bethany Ehlmann who is a planetary geologist on NASA's Rover Curiosity team. She is focused on exploring our solar system to see how planets formed over time. She is joined by Sandesh Kadur, a wildlife photographer and filmmaker who focuses on creating documentaries about endangered species and threatened habitats. Conservation Biologist Andrea Marshall earned a place amongst the Emerging Explorers for her research with threatened marine megafauna such as the stingray while adventurer Gregg Treinish is recognized for his efforts in founding the non-profit Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

This is just a sampling of the amazing men and women make up this year's class of Emerging Explorers. Each of them is a fascinating personality in their own right and they are all doing interesting work in an incredibly diverse number of fields. You can take a look at the entire class by clicking here.

Congratulations to the entire 2013 class. This honor is well deserved all around.

As I mentioned yesterday, 2013 is an important year on Everest. Not only does it mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, but it also is the 50th anniversary of the first ascent by an American and the first ascent along the difficult West Ridge.

While surfing through YouTube I came across this great classic climbing film that chronicled that 1963 American expedition. The footage is classic in every sense of the word and I'm sure this short film will bring back memories of watching these kinds of National Geographic movies in our classrooms while growing up. This is a real hidden gem and definitely one that fans of Everest will not want to miss.

In the market for some great new gear for your upcoming Spring and Summer adventures? Okay, I know! That's a silly question. We're always in the market for new gear right? Just in time to kick off a new season of outdoor run, National Geographic Adventure is presenting their picks for the best new gear for warm weather fun.

All told, there are 29 items that are given the nod for Gear of the Year, including tents, sleeping bags, packs, shells and more. In fact, no matter what you're outdoor passion is, there is likely to be something on this list that you can not only use but will probably want to add to your gear closet. For instance, the new Ultimate Direction PB Adventure Vest is perfect for long trail runs in warmer weather while the Big Agnes Fishhook UL2 tent will provide plenty of shelter for those camping excursions. The GoPro Hero3 Black Edition gets a mention as well, but considering how ubiquitous that device is these days, it's no surprise it showed up here as well. Columbia's Omni-Freeze Zero line of apparel sounds like it is just the thing for keeping us cool on a warm summer day and the new Patagonia Encapsil Down Belay Parka promises to take down jackets to a new level for any upcoming mountaineering adventures.

This is just a taste of some of the great gear that is finding its way into our favorite gear shops at the moment. There are a host of other great products on the list as well. Spring is the perfect time to head back outdoors and new gear is always a good incentive to do just that.

Now if I could just get my hands on one of everything!

National Geographic is casting for a new television show and they're looking for the best expeditions of 2013 to film while in progress. The new show, which hasn't been named, is already in production but the creators are looking for new adventures to include in the inaugural season.

The complete casting call reads as follows:

Calling all Adventurers and Explorers! National Geographic is searching for the most incredible expeditions of 2013 to film and feature in a dynamic new blue chip adventure series that will take viewers to the edge of the world… and back. Every riveting episode will feature a new explorer, a new territory, and a new adventure, which will redefine the limits of possibility. Production has begun, but if you have an expedition happening this year, we would love to hear from you and potentially feature you in the series. Missions will ideally combine risk-taking adventure with mind-blowing science. 

If you’re planning to break records, conquer the impossible and redefine the limits of human potential, we want to hear from you. Email us at NGExpedition@gmail.com. Tell us about you, your upcoming mission, and how far along you are in the planning stage. Make sure to include your name, contact information and photos and/or video links. (Submissions without photos and/or video WILL NOT be considered.) Expeditions that combine adventure and science especially wanted. Be prepared to inspire a new generation.

 So, if you're looking to get some exposure for a planned expedition later this year, drop Nat Geo a line. Who knows, you just might be the next reality TV star!

Thanks to my friend Rick McCharles for sharing this.

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner, aka The Man Who Fell To Earth, has been named the winner of the National Geographic 2013 People's Choice Adventurer of the Year. The award is given as a result of an online poll conducted of visitors to the National Geographic website over a two-month period running from November to January. Baumgartner edged out nine other very worthy candidates to earn this distinction after making a historic skydive last fall.

Felix gained worldwide attention last October when he rode a specially designed high altitude balloon up to the edge of space. When his capsule was approximately 39 km (24 miles) above the Earth, he stepped out and proceeded to free fall through the atmosphere. On the way down, he managed to become the first person to break the sound barrier with out an aircraft, reaching speeds in excess of 1357 km/h (843 mph) in the process. He also set a record for the highest ever skydive with his jump starting at an impressive 38,969 meters (127,853 ft).

As impressive as this feat was, Baumgartner did have some good competition for the title of People's Choice Adventurer of the Year. Some of the other candidates included kayaker Steve Fisher, who completed the first descent of the world's largest rapids on the Congo River and climber David Lama, who free climbed Cerro Torre along the 1097 meter (3600 ft) Southeast Ridge. Ultrarunner Lizzy Hawker was also amongst the finalist for her fifth win at the famed Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc and explorer Mike Libecki received the nod for this efforts to continually fill in blank spots on the map.

I have to say that I'm not surprised that it was Felix that went home with the title. After all, he probably received the most press of any of the candidates. His skydive, which was broadcast live over the Internet, held us all spellbound and it was amazing to watch him fall from such great heights. Congratulations to him and his entire support team for earning this honor. Definitely well deserved.

Remember earlier today when I mentioned that we tend to see a lot of ski videos this time of year? Here's a case in point. This video is the first in a new series of road trips to visit some of the top ski resorts in the western part of North America. The series was launched today by our friends over at National Geographic Adventure and it features skier Zach Crist and friends looking for perfect powder where ever they can find it.

Powder Highway Dispatch # 1 Sun Valley from Stellar Media on Vimeo.

Earlier this week one of my favorite organizations, the National Geographic Society, celebrated its 125th anniversary, an amazing milestone to say the least. Over the course of all of those years, I think it is safe to say that Nat Geo has stood as one of the enduring symbols of both exploration and adventure, and in the process it has become one of the most recognizable and iconic brands on the planet. Its founders couldn't have envisioned where the Society would go so far in the future, but the organization continues to follow the path they charted even in the 21st century.

The National Geographic Society can trace its origins back to a meeting of 33 explorers and scientists who gathered together for the first time on January 13, 1888. They came up with the idea of creating a club of sorts whose expressed goal was to "for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge." It took them a couple of weeks to come up with a constitution and a set of guidelines to govern this new organization and on January 27, the National Geographic Society was officially born. Nine months later, in October of that year, the first issue of National Geographic Magazine would be published, bringing one of the most well known elements of the Society to the public for the first time. That magazine remains a popular periodical to this day, releasing 12 issues each year and continuing to be published in 32 different languages. 

From the beginning, National Geographic's mission has always been "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources." That sentiment remains at the heart of the Society to this day and while the tools with which they conduct that mission may have changed over the years, the organization continues to be focused on that goal. That focus is a big part of why Nat Geo remains just as relevant and important today as it was 125 years ago.

Throughout the year, NG will be celebrating its 125th year of existence in a number of ways. For example, the January issue of the magazine was dedicated to 125 years of exploration and helped usher in a new era as well. The Nat Geo website is also sharing some of the more memorable moments from its history, while also dedicating an entire microsite just to the year-long celebration. 

Congratulations to everyone at Nat Geo for continuing the legacy of the organization and shepherding exploration and adventure along to a new generation of explorers yet to come. 

In early November, National Geographic announced their selections for the 2012 Adventurer of the Year, bestowing that honor on ten outdoor athletes and explorers who pushed boundaries in the past year. At the same time, they also opened voting to the general public, allowing us to weigh in on who should win the People's Choice Adventurer of the Year. Now, the time is running short to cast your votes, with the deadline coming next week on January 16.

There are a number of worthy candidates to choose from when selecting who should win this honor. Some of the options include BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from the edge of space a few months back, and kayaker Steve Fisher, who ran some of the toughest rapids in the world on the Congo River. They're joined on the list by explorer Mike Libecki, who traveled the globe in pursuit of his adventures, and ultrarunner Lizzy Hawker, who won the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc an impressive fifth straight time.

To cast your vote for your favorite adventurer, click here. You can vote once day, every day until the competition ends next  Wednesday.

Looking for some suggestions on where to go and what to do on your next escape? Then check out the Ultimate Adventure Bucket List courtesy of National Geographic Adventure. The list was compiled by Nat Geo editors who asked past Adventurer of the Year winners to share their biggest, best and most outrageous expeditions from the past. The result is 20 great stories that will have you plotting your next excursion as well.

Some of the epic adventures include surfer Maya Gabeira traveling to Alaska to ride big waves off the coast of that state. If that doesn't get your adrenaline flowing that perhaps Dean Potter's account of Free climbing the Eiger in Switzerland or Trip Jenning's paddle down the Pandi River in Papua New Guinea is more your speed. For polar explorer Borge Ousland the dream trip was a solo expedition to the North Pole and for climber Cory Richards it was a trek to the top of Gasherbrum II in Pakistan.

Each of the Dream Trip listings also includes a bio of each of the Adventurers as well as their pick for a single piece of gear that they take with them on their expeditions. Those gear items include everything from GoPro cameras to sunglasses and backpacks and so much more. I found the gear picks to be particularly interesting as it gives you some insight into what these daring men and women value while they're out on the their adventures.

Now obviously these dream trips are beyond the means for many of us, but they can also serve as a source of inspiration. For instance, you may not be ready to try to take on an 8000 meter Himalayan peak, but perhaps Kilimanjaro is the mountaineering adventure you crave. Similarly, you may not have the means to go hiking trails in Iceland, but there are probably some excellent backpacking trails within driving distance that might prove interesting as well. The point is, we can all gain inspiration from this "bucket list" even if we don't have the opportunity to do the same journeys ourselves.

They offer all sorts of other trips too, with "teams of experts" --
Like this new 10-day expedition to Cuba, already "waitlist only" for all the currently announced dates (through May)

FROM THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS WEBSITE

For more than a century, people have thumbed through the pages of our magazines and felt inspired by some of the best photography in the world. Now we’d like to invite you to travel to incredible places with some of the best photographers in the world. Our Photography Expeditions are designed for photographers of all levels. You’ll learn tips and techniques while exploring fascinating places with one of our renowned photographers. Our Photography Workshops, also led by a top National Geographic photographer, cater to those who seek more intensive instruction, and build photo editing, instruction, and critique sessions as well as photo assignments into each day’s schedule.

-- from the Photo Workshops & Expeditions page

by Ken

Let's be clear that I am not a photographer. Anyone foolhardy enough to shove a camera in my hand with those famous last words "You just press this button" deserves the heartbreak that inevitably follows. But if I were a photographer, I would at least want to gather more information about these National Geographic trips I just got an e-mail about, planned with and/or around a bunch of their photographers, who -- let it be remembered -- are a posse of the world's best.

Normally I hate this business of theme-packaged tours which organizations peddle to their captive mailing lists. But this kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

Travel with National Geographic Photographers
Photography workshops and expeditions featuring in-depth instruction

Head into the field to hone your photography skills with National Geographic! Learn tips and techniques from some of our top photographers while exploring vast landscapes, iconic landmarks, or hidden corners of a city.

Camera in hand, venture among Alaska’s dramatic glaciers to snap images of orcas and humpback whales with guidance from Flip Nicklin. Spend a week capturing the eclectic architecture and effortless romance of Paris as you embark upon daily field assignments with Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson. Or enjoy a weekend with Ira Block photographing New York City‘s top spots including the Brooklyn Bridge, Battery Park, and Fifth Avenue. Below, discover many more National Geographic photography workshops and expeditions in some of the world’s most inspiring, photogenic places.

First off, there's at least a chance that these trips are taking you to places that real, live photographers might actually want to go, and if I was serious about shutterbugging, those are places I might want to add to my "to visit" list. Then, presumably, at the destinations, tour members are going to prowl when and where you might if you were someone who takes pictures for a living for one of the world's most prestigious outlets for them. And then, allowing for the decencies of a group travel situation, you've got that poor sucker at your mercy, to observe how he/she approaches locations and thinks, well, photographically -- not to mention the opportunity to pick his/her photographic brain clean.

There are 4-day weekend workshops in New York (six scheduled between May and October, led by National Geographic photographer Bob Sacha, Ira Block, or Joe McNally) and San Francisco (five scheduled, with Catherine Karnow or Macduff Eveton); 7-day international workshops in Paris (May 2 and Oct. 24, with Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson) and Rome (Mar. 28, Apr. 20, Oct. 31, and Nov. 14, with Massimo Bassano or Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Coulson); and full-fledged expeditions to Morocco (11 days, May 2 and Oct. 31, with Massimo Bassano), the Galápagos (10 days, two in May and two in November, with Mark Thiessen or Kevin Schafer), Mongolia (14 days, July 21, with Chris Rainier), and Alaska's Inside Passage (8 days, Aug. 25 and Aug. 26, with Flip Nicklin or Michael Melford).

Like I said, it's something I'd at least want to know more about -- that is, if a camera in my hands wasn't something close to a lethal weapon. The jumping-off point for all the information is the nationalgeographicexpeditions.com website, or specifically the Photo Workshops & Expeditions page, which has links for expeditions -- in addition to the above -- to Alaska, British Columbia, and San Juan Islands (12 days), Bhutan (12 days), Costa Rica and the Panama Canal (8 days), Santa Fe (7 days), and Barcelona (7 days); and for additional 4-day weekend workshops in Boston, New Orleans, Toronto, Tucson, Washington DC, and Amelia Island. There are also links for all the photog/tour leaders.

OF COURSE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITIONS
OFFERS ALL SORTS OF OTHER TRIPS AS WELL

For starters, there's a new Cuba expedition, under "special license issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury" (10 days, already "waitlist only" for the so-far-announced dates through May). The listing of just the new trips for 2012-13 is pretty saliva-inducing.

#

© Carsten Peter/National Geographic. Cascades of mammoth ferns flourish in the humid air trapped between the narrow walls of Claustral Canyon.

Tuesday the new issue of National Georgaphic comes out with a fascinating essay by one of my favorite adventure travel writers, Mark Jenkins. His 1997 book, To Timbuktu was one of the inspirations for my own trip there two years ago. I doubt however, I'm up to following his trail into Australia's Blue Mountains. "The Swiss," he writes, "have mountains, so they climb. Canadians have lakes, so they canoe. The Australians have canyons, so they go canyoneering, a hybrid form of madness halfway between mountaineering and caving in which you go down instead of up, often through wet tunnels and narrow passageways."

Unlike other places with slot canyons, such as Utah, Jordan, or Corsica, Australia has a rich, deep heritage of canyoneering. In a way, it's an extreme form of bushwalking, something Aborigines were doing tens of thousands of years before Europeans arrived. But without ropes and technical equipment, Aborigines couldn't explore the deepest slots.

Today perhaps thousands of Aussies hike canyons, hundreds descend into them by ropes, but only a handful explore new ones. These driven individuals tend to have a rugby player's legs, knees crosshatched with scar tissue from all the scratches, a penguin's tolerance for frigid water, a wallaby's rock-hopping agility, and a caver's mole-like willingness to crawl into damp, dark holes. They prefer to wear Volleys-- canvas, rubber-soled Dunlop tennis shoes-- ragged shorts, ripped gaiters, and thrift-store fleece. They camp beside tiny campfires and make "jaffles" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Jaffles are sandwiches containing all manner of ingredients-- including Vegemite, a nasty-tasting yeast extract-- cooked inside fire irons over the flames. Above all they search for the most remote, difficult to access canyons. "The darker, the narrower, the twistier the better," says Dave Noble, one of the most experienced canyoneers in the country. "People say, What if you get stuck in there? But that's what you are after. To be forced to improvise to get yourself out."

His story in National Geographic is set about 4 hours west of Sydney in Kanangra-Boyd National Park and down the Mount Thurat fire trail and then up to the top of Danae Falls. He and his companion are traveling with wet suits, helmets, a rope, harnesses, and lunch in their packs. "It's like rappelling off the edge of a green-cloaked Grand Canyon," he writes.

The walls are covered with moss. Sliding to the inside of the giant stone turns out to be like squeezing into a narrow, ten-story elevator shaft pouring with water. We're forced to swing into the pounding waterfall, an awkward maneuver that slams us both into the rock. But it's worth it: Standing in a pool at the bottom, we easily pull our rope down.

Below the big boulder the slot closes up, and the silky water flows horizontally along the cavelike chamber back out to the edge of the cliff. We still have a thousand feet of air below us. We rappel directly into the bludgeoning waterfall. Halfway down I make the mistake of looking up, and the blast of water almost tears my head off.

The next three descents are just as extraordinary and drop us into hanging ponds of frigid water, like swimming pools midway up a skyscraper. We backstroke across these ponds, using the dry bags in our backpacks for flotation.

I like adventure travel-- a lot; this however is beyond my capacities these days. I'll stick with the thrill of reading about it in National Geographic... and hoping they filmed it and it winds up on TV. Canyoneering is popular in Tasmania too. Looks easy, doesn't it?