EXTREME PHOTOS OF THE WEEK XIV

Extreme Photo of the Week
By National Geographic, 8 April 2014.

See new extreme adventure photos each week featuring tips from your favourite athletes and photographers. And get the stories behind the shots.

1. Surfing Peahi, North Shore, Maui, Hawaii

"I try to surf every day," says local surfer Yuri Soledade, seen here on a 40-foot wave at Peahi, or Jaws, on Maui's North Shore. "This particular spot is where some of the biggest and most powerful waves in the world break. It's considered the proving grounds for big-wave surfing." The cliff at Pauwela Lighthouse and the West Maui Mountains rise in the distance.

Soledade has a lot of experience in big waves: He first surfed Peahi in 1999 and first paddled into the powerful break in 2004. "There is a lot of training and preparation before every season and session, but the goal is to push the limits but be safe at the same time," he says.

On this day, the weather was perfect. "Usually there is always wind and cloud cover," Soledade recalls. "But on this day we had no wind and not even one single cloud in the sky."

Getting the Shot

“Jaws is a such a raw place and the waves can get massive. It’s dangerous, even for those who are shooting or watching on the channel. You cannot mess around there,” says photographer Fred Pompermayer. Familiar with shooting at the turbulent break, Pompermayer decided to go outside of the safety channel to photograph.

“On this particular day, everything was perfect. I decided to try to get a different angle. I set myself up on the left side of the channel with the Jet Ski to capture the unique angle, getting close to the impact zone and framing the cliff in the background,” he recalls.

“When I saw Yuri Soledade paddling for that wave, I knew I was in a good spot for an incredible photo," Pompermayer says. "I love the composition of this photo. It’s the perfect big wave, with the surfer going right, and the Peahi cliff showing in the background.”

Pompermayer photographed with a Canon 1Dx and a 70-200mm, f/4 lens.

2. Climbing the Priest, Castle Valley, Utah, USA

Getting the Shot

“The Priest is an amazing formation in a stunning landscape,” says photographer Jeremiah Watt, who took this photo of climber Madaleine Sorkin on the Excommunication route of the Priest, a freestanding tower in Castle Valley, Utah. Watt had climbed in the area previously and was psyched to return to photograph for work. “The most surprising part of the climb is how short the route really is. It’s technically rated one of the hardest towers in the country and is wicked imposing from the base. But in reality it’s only three pitches of hard climbing with a short, moderate pitch to the summit,” recalls Watt.

To get the shot, Watt tied himself into an anchor about 20 feet above Sorkin and rappelled off the top of the route where it leaves the arête and moves right into a crack. “We bivied on the ledge below Castleton that night in horrendous wind, but this shoot went really smooth thanks to the hard work and camaraderie of the crew.”

Watt photographed with a Nikon D800 and f/4,16-35mm lens. Find more of Watt’s photography on Instagram.

3. Kayaking Spirit Falls, Little White Salmon River, Washington, USA

“Snowflakes were sticking to my eyelashes and blurring my vision throughout the day,” recalls kayaker Todd Wells, seen here running Spirit Falls on the Little White Salmon River. “So one final time before the falls, I made sure to clear my face of any accumulated snow. Paddling class V rivers in sub-freezing temperatures is never very comfortable, but as soon as my hands become numb the cold doesn't bother me as much.”

The Washington State native wore two full-body fleece suits to stay extra warm, and an Immersion Research dry suit to keep dry. Having first run this waterfall when he was 14, Wells has now descended its roiling class V rapids about a hundred times. “Paddling these waterfalls is risky and avoiding injuries is always on my mind,” says Wells, who now lives in White Salmon, Washington. “But I think that becoming comfortable on a variety of different smaller waterfalls has been the best way to stay safe on the bigger and more challenging drops.

“Spirit Falls is my favourite backyard waterfall,” he says. “For a solid class V paddler, Spirit is just about an hour's paddle from an easily accessible bridge, but spectators must scurry down a poison oak infested scree field to access the falls.”

Getting the Shot

“I get anxious when I know there is an opportunity to capture something amazing,” says photographer Eric Parker. Parker has run and photographed the rapids on Little White Salmon River for years, but typically, the scene is not snow covered.

“Generally you feel as if you are paddling through a green tunnel among the lush forest. That day, temperatures dropped and eight inches of fresh snow fell along the banks of the river," he says. "We put on the water and I was immediately overwhelmed by the beauty of the winter wonderland."

As the team headed down the river, Parker kept in mind not only his framing, but his gear, too. “The cloud cover was very thick this day, the light was soft, and it was incredibly wet. I knew that I had to be very careful with my exposure and my equipment. My lens cloth was already drenched at this point in the day, and I resorted to using a backup cotton t-shirt that I keep in my dry bag to clean my lens," he says. "Thankfully, I was able to dry the lens off in time and set my exposure as Todd paddled into the waterfall. And, in the back of my mind, there was some nervousness knowing that I was going to pack my camera up and run the falls next!”

Parker photographed with a Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 16-35mm, f/2.8L lens.

4. Bouldering on Oahu, Hawaii

“We found this boulder after being tipped off by a local hiker,” recalls Justin Ridgely, owner of the Volcanic Climbing Gym in Honolulu, Hawaii. “It's a short scramble through the jungle up a pig trail. The boulder is about 14 feet tall, and the problem [the path that a climber takes] is called ‘All Boars Go to Heaven.’” This spot, which is known as Boarlomana, is canopied by a large banyan tree and surrounded by bamboo. “We shot this in the afternoon…the jungle is thicker there, which gives it that eerie light,” Ridgely says.

“I spend a lot of time climbing and exploring Oahu and the outer islands,” he says. “I've spent the past four years here developing the bouldering with the rest of the local climbing community. We've gone from two areas to about 44 in that time. The bouldering scene here is amazing, and the aloha spirit is very present in the climbing community.”

Getting the Shot

“I was standing on a tree with angry ants crawling all over me and was about 50 feet up in the air,” recalls photographer Ryan Moss. Moss found himself balanced precariously in the tree above the Boars Nest bouldering area, after Ridgely convinced him to take a break from editing for some climbing and photographing.

“There was a tree next to the boulder, and I was trying to get some new perspectives and angles,” Moss says. “I climbed the tree, but as I was doing so, realized I was walking through six major ants’ nests as I was climbing up the branches. The actual spot where I shot this photo from had the biggest ant nest of the six.”

The boulder is situated in a dark location in the bamboo forest, so Moss added light to make sure his fight with the ants was worth it. “I used an on-board flash in order to help with the lighting. All the other photos I shot that day turned out pretty average because of all the light being filtered through the forest. I was happy that this one turned out.”

Moss photographed with a Canon 7D and a 10-17mm lens.

5. Skiing Jackson Hole's Sidecountry, Wyoming, USA

“Once I popped the take-off, I remember thinking ‘knuckles to buckles’ and then my mind went blank,” recalls local skier Hadley Hammer of this cliff most commonly called Smart Bastard in the Jackson Hole Ski Resort sidecountry. “Athletes always talk about the flow, or that moment when everything is still…and that was certainly one of those moments. The three seconds or so that I was in the air felt like three minutes.”

A trio of skiers, including Hammer, Jess McMillan, and Bryce Newcomb, was exploring the Tetons backcountry when they decided to scout the snowpack on this line. “The area above was littered with sharky rocks and sugary snow, which made it less conducive to skiing fluidly into the air.” Fortunately, the area had received nearly daily snowfall for a month. “I volunteered to go first,” Hammer recalls. “I went in with more speed than I needed and passed the ideal transition spot, but the snow was soft and the landing gentle."

Getting the Shot

“When Hadley dropped the line, I believe there was a four-letter expletive shouted amongst the whole group that had gathered,” recalls photographer Jay Goodrich. “It was the biggest air that I have personally photographed. Hadley is one of only six women to ever ski this line.”

To get the shot, Goodrich positioned himself in a relatively easy-to-access spot. “I chose that area because it allowed me to capture the whole face and illustrate how immense it truly is,” he recalls. Photographing under the first sunny sky in almost a month, Goodrich adjusted for the shadows cast on the line. “I needed an exposure that would allow me to get detail in both the shadows and the highlights once I got the image into Adobe’s Lightroom,” says Goodrich. “I knew from experience that as soon as Hadley left the take-off she was headed into the shade, so capturing shadows that weren’t black was very important. I was lucky in that snow reflects so much sunlight reflecting into the shadows, which helped my exposure.

“Hadley is a very accomplished skier, so I wasn’t surprised at all that she was going for it. Her speed and lack of any hesitation at which she skied the line - it’s not everyday that you see someone step up to something that big and treat it like they own it,” Goodrich says.

Goodrich photographed with a Canon 1DX camera and Canon EF 70-200mm, f/4L IS USM lens, with a 1.4x version III teleconverter.

6. Mixed Climbing a New Route in Helmcken Falls, British Columbia, Canada

“The waterfall is both the reason for the incredible spray ice and the main problem in that it sometimes sprays you,” recalls Will Gadd, the prolific climber, paraglider, and kayaker seen here who is always pushing the boundaries of his sports. Gadd is making the first ascent of Overhead Hazards, which he calls the hardest mixed climbing route in the world, located in the ice-climbing wonderland of Helmcken Falls, British Columbia. “I have never been as cold as I was on this climb,” says the Canadian, who lives in Canmore, Alberta. "It was just brutal."

Learn more about the climb in an interview with Gadd.

Getting the Shot

“All the mist would instantly turn to ice on you, your camera gear, and the ropes,” recalls photographer Christian Pondella. Pondella has photographed many times with Gadd at Helmcken Falls, but this time the conditions were harsh. With temperatures dipping below minus 30ºC at night and only rising to minus 20º during the day, the duo faced extreme cold. “Working in those temperatures was incredibly challenging; just to stay warm, you had to constantly be moving,” says Pondella.

Familiar with the location and route, Pondella knew the shot he wanted, where the route finishes right next to the waterfall. “I knew that the shot was going to be looking down on Will, with a wide-angle lens showing the immense power of the waterfall and the big void below. To get his photo, Pondella rappelled in from the top of the cave about 15 meters. "It put me into the perfect spot to really capture the enormity of the waterfall and location. It also had me hanging pretty far from the edge of the wall because of how overhung the route was.” A seasoned and top industry photographer, even Pondella couldn’t avoid battling the elements while hanging in position. Dangling from his rope, Pondella thought to himself, Please don’t spin in circles! "Plus, I constantly had to keeping wiping the mist off my lens and the eyepiece of my camera so I could get a clean shot.”

Pondella photographed with a Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 24-70mm, f/2.8 USM II lens.

7. Snowboarding in the Himalaya, Nepal

Getting the Shot

"I think this is probably the highest and burliest spine line ever done on a snowboard," says photographer Andrew Miller. Miller had met snowboarder Jeremy Jones, one of our Adventurers of the Year, two weeks earlier while testing snowboards in Chile. Soon after, Miller heard from Jones. "I got a call from Jeremy asking if I had any interest in a trip to Nepal because a spot might open up. A few days later, he called back to see if I was still serious about going. And a few days after that, he called to tell me the spot was mine if I wanted it. I said 'yes.' "

During the 40-day expedition to try to ride two new lines above 20,000 feet in the Everest region of Nepal for his forthcoming film Higher, Jones's production crew mapped out and reconned several different options and angles on the glacier for shooting the wall, as well as the safest spots. "I setup two still cameras for two different options to make sure I nailed the shot and had photos to choose from - we knew this trip would be one, maybe two lines ridden total," recalls Miller. "I was shooting from a barbie angle, adjacent to the spine wall. We had to scramble up a rock face to the toe of the glacier, put our crampons on, and rope up for a three-hour walk across a broken glacier to set up our angle at 18,500 feet."

Knowing that the mountains might not be climbable or ridable, Miller and the team weren’t sure what they would encounter. "The snow conditions went from full Alaskan powder spines to rock-hard, sun-baked, barely edgeable snow in two days. This made the final descent pretty tough, and you can see the in the photo that Jeremy is just barely off belay, snowboarding with an ice axe in hand," says Miller.

Miller photographed with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon EF 400mm, f/5.6 lens.

8. Kayaking Waterfalls in Chiapas, Mexico

"This drop is actually tricky, as the entrance is absolutely blind," recalls kayaker Rafael Ortiz of this moment on Bolom Ajau, a series of five drops accessed from Agua Azul, a tourist site in Chiapas, Mexico. "You gotta trust a sequence of waves and finally a last curling one that will put you in the right spot."

Ortiz dropped this 30-foot fall, then had a few seconds to figure out where he was before the next 50-foot drop. "It's of huge importance to be there with someone you trust 100 percent," Ortiz says, and in this case he was with his brother, Isidro, both from Mexico. "This is a special place to kayak because of the adventure it takes, the fact you are in the core of Zapatistan lands, the difficulty and character of the drops and, of course, the turquoise colour of the water," Ortiz says.

9. Climbing Cliffbase, Hvar, Croatia

Getting the Shot

“I knew I had the photo when Kori Maughmer’s arm was out - it was the perfect spot in relation to the pitch of my camera and her position on the rock,” says photographer Emily Polar. Polar joined four friends traveling and climbing in Croatia.

With a local friend and guide, Polar scouted Cliffbase, a climbing centre on the island of Hvar, before the climb. “I knew sunset was the best time to shoot this location, so I scouted and saw that the profile of this particular route would be the best to capture the shape of Kori’s body against the ocean, and in such a stunning environment,” recalls Polar. “When Kori was shaking her arm out, I knew it would define her body and give more energy to the photo, so I was really excited that she took a break for those couple of seconds.”

Polar captured her photo just in time. “Right after I got the shot, the route started to move behind the corner and I lost sight of the climber. So I was really glad that up until that point I could see her profile perfectly.”

Polar photographed with a Canon Mark III and a 16-35mm, f/2.8 lens.

10. Skiing Mount Superior, Utah, USA

Get Wallpaper

“It's always a challenge to wake up and climb in the dark, but the glow of sunrise makes it all worthwhile. These are the moments I live for,” says Utah-based, big-mountain skier Caroline Gleich of this moment on the south ridge of Mount Superior in the Wasatch Mountains. She and her climbing partner, Nate Smith, had boot-packed up the couloir to gain the ridge, then skied down Suicide Chute. “The snow inside the chute was surprisingly smooth, chalky, and carveable,” recalls Gleich, who is building up her ski mountaineering skills. “The wind tends to buff out the snow within the line, keeping it in good shape, while the rest of the south face of Superior was the texture of frozen coral reef.”

“I love the quiet stillness - it's one of the few times in the day I find true mindfulness,” says the skier, who has been seen ripping on the cover of every ski magazine, including Powder. "Of course, I find the same Zen focus and mindfulness on the way down, but there's something special about the way up. It's slower and allows you to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, especially on an exposed ridge line like this one.”

Getting the Shot

“The sunrise was amazing that morning,” says photographer Jay Beyer. After a slow winter in Utah, Beyer headed out with Gleich and Smith to cut fresh tracks and capture this photo. “I had this shot in mind, and that's why we woke up at 4 a.m. to go out on a little adventure," he says. “It hadn’t snowed in the last two weeks, so we were just out looking for some decent snow to ski."

With a brilliant sunrise chasing them, Beyer shot all day, but knew this was his image of the session. “This was the height of the sunrise, and so I had a feeling this would be one of the best photos.”

Beyer photographed with a Canon 1Dx and a Canon 24-70mm, f/2.8 lens.

[Source: National Geographic. Edited.]