Friday Unbound: 29th March 2019
March 28, 2019#1 An incredible story of human performance and adventure to kick off this week's round-up of outdoor features - in 2019, ex-British Special Forces operative Nirmal Purja will attempt to climb the 14 highest summits on Earth in just seven months. All clock in at over 8,000m and all of them are in the Himalayas. The current record is over seven years - by setting an astonishing new record, Purja will raise funds for the British military and Nepalese charities, as well as highlighting climate change issues.
#2 Staying in the Himalayas, ultra-running champion Kilian Jornet blazed a path to the summit of Everest in 2017, ascending the mountain from Advanced Base Camp in 17 hours without fixed ropes or supplementary oxygen. Although an event of some controversy - Jornet's evidence has been disuputed - his new film, Path to Everest, looks to be a fantastic insight into the extraordinary runner's life.
#3 Not all outdoor adventure stories involve perilous mountain ascents, though - this fantastic interview with US photographer Michelle Craig from Adventure Journal is an inspirational tale hinging on finding adventure in the everyday. Craig and her son live in their 1995 GMC Rally STX, roaming the States while Craig works and Noah is home-schooled. It's a brilliant exploration of lives built around time in the outdoors.
#4 The Camino Pilgrimage leads travellers to Santiago de Compostela, the great cathedral in northern Spain - though even if you're not religious, the experience of a focused journey through incredible scenery is worthwhile in itself. In this captivating photo essay from British brand Millican, Benoit Grogan-Avignon explores minimalist hiking with his mother.
#5 Tuktoyaktuk is a small settlement in the very northern reaches of Canada - an Inuvialuit community living on the shore of the Arctic Ocean. This photo essay from The Narwhal documents the dramatic effects that global warming has had in this extreme environment, eroding the shoreline at a rapid rate and forcing inhabitants to abandon their homes. It's a stark reminder that as well as enjoying the outdoors, we need to protect it.