Here's a fun video of skydiver jumping out of a helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef, only to plunge into the water and switch into his scuba gear. I got a chuckle out of him sailing through the air with a snorkel and scuba mask on, but he gets the last laugh as he swims off into one of the best dive locations anywhere in the world. Fun stuff.

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.

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.

What does it look like when 138 skydivers take the plunge at the same time? Our friends over at GoPro found out, then released the video for the rest of us to enjoy as well. All I can tell from this clip is that there are a lot of people in the sky at once and they look like they're having a great time! The snowflake design that they form is pretty impressive too!

GoPro: Vertical Skydiving World Record 2012 from GoPro on Vimeo.