Video: For the Love of the Climb

In this video, mountaineers Cory Richards and Mark Jenkins share their passion for climbing in the big mountains and what drives them to take sometimes extreme risks in the high places of our planet. It is an insightful look at why alpinists do the things they do, offering some explanation of what the mountains mean to them. For those who don't understand the mountaineering culture, this might provide a bit of an explanation.

Video: 5 Things to Know Before You Go on an Adventure

Before you set out on your next adventure, you'll want to watch this video. It comes our way from National Geographic, and it shares advice that a team of climbers learned while traveling to Myanmar to climb the highest peak in Southeast Asia. That expedition wasn't an easy one, with lots of challenges to overcome before they ever reached the mountain. But what they learned along the way was invaluable.

Video: Haywire - Making First Ascents on Baffin Island

Remote Baffin Island in Canada is the site for this short documentary, which follows climber Cheyne Lempe as he travels to that wild and rugged place to attempt several first ascents on the difficult rock faces that are found there. Along the way, he was forced to consider the inherent risks that come along with climbing, leaving him to ponder whether or not those risks are worth it. It is a something that most big wall climbers and mountaineers face at some point, but it is handled very well here, wile also giving us a peek at an amazing expedition to a breathtaking place.

Haywire from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Video: Fledglings - Paragliding with Climbers Cedar Wright and Matt Segal

Climbers Cedar Wright and Matt Segal feel right at home scaling a tough route on a challenging rock face. But recently they both have gotten into paragliding as well, which gives them a new avenue for channeling their adventurous spirits. This video, which comes our way courtesy of The North Face, takes us on an incredible journey with Cedar and Matt as they hone their skills as paragliders before traveling to Mexico to climb and fly from the top of Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in that country at 5636 meters (18,491 ft). As you can imagine, the views from the top, and the flight back down are amazing.

Video: Climbing Iceland

We all know that Iceland is a beautiful place. We've seen that demonstrated many times in videos in the past. But in this short film, you'll get to see it from a completely different perspective. This time out, we travel to that spectacular country to join a team of talented climber as they take on some interesting routes located throughout Iceland. This is a beautiful look at an amazing place.

Video: Trippin' - Climbing and Riding the Scottish Highlands in Winter

Here's a pretty cool adventure. The video follows outdoor adventurer Oe Nagan has he heads out to the Scottish Highlands for some winter adventure. He begins by riding his mountain bike to the mountains before climbing up to the top with the bike strapped to his back. Once he reaches the summit, the reassembles it, and provides to ride back down, on snow no less. Quite an amazing way to combine two great activities into one winter escape.

Trippin - Winter Climb Ride from Trippin on Vimeo.

Climbing Prodigy Completes One of the Toughest Bouldering Problem in the World

If you haven't heard the name Ashima Shiraishi, you certainly will know who she is soon. The 14-year old rock climber has just completed one of the toughest bouldering problems in the world, giving the world a glimpse of her amazing talents and what promises to be quite a climbing career ahead.

Ashima lives in New York City, but on a recent spring break trip to Japan she went to a mountainous region near the town of Miyazaki on the southern island of Kyushu. While there, she took on a bouldering problem named Horizon that is rated as a V15 – the second highest rating possible on the bouldering scale. That scale differs from the Yosemite Decimal System by rating climbs on a scale of V0 to V16. Very few V16 boulders have been completed.

Horizon features some real challenges for climbers and includes a minimum of 25 moves to complete. The route goes up a tapered path that splits the ceiling of a tunnel, and includes well-rounded rocks that are often slick with moisture. The climb is far longer than most other bouldering problem, and has only been completed one other time by Japanese climber Dai Koyamada.

With her success on this route, Ashima has become the first woman to complete a V15 bouldering problem, and the youngest person to do so. She has also managed to climb a 5.15a rated rock climbing route as well, making her the first woman to achieve that feat as well.

Obviously this is an impressive accomplishment for any climber – male or female – regardless of age.  As I said, expected to hear Ashima's name more in the future, as she continues to push boundaries in the climbing world. Since she is just about to turn 15, we can expect big things from her in the future.

Find out more about her climb of Horizon in this story from Nat Geo.