climbing2
I spent a good portion of my life just down the road from this world famous icefall. It’s known as “The Fang” and at one point was considered a test piece. Climbing ice is not at all like climbing rock, at least not to me. It’s more about your ability to judge the quality of the ice, and to stay calm. Mistakes are not an option I shot this on a job for Outdoor Research.
Editor’s Note: Ben Horton has gotten around. As a National Geographic photographer he’s covered every sort of adventure from diving with sharks off the Costa Rican coastline to dogsledding on Ellesmere Island. And he wants you to go, too. And if you don’t go to the arctic, or the Brazilian rainforest, maybe his imagery will inspire you to go somewhere you’ve been meaning to for a long time. Even if it’s just to the other side of the state you’re living in. Horton gives us the story behind nine of his favorite images from the last half decade or so. Images that represent a deep love of our planet, and protecting it.