National Geographic Announces 04 Adventurers of the Year

WASHINGTON (Nov. 14, 2013)-National Geographic has announced the 2014 Adventurers of the Year, whose extraordinary achievements in exploration, adventure sports, conservation or humanitarianism have distinguished them in the past year.

Online voting for the People's Choice Adventurer of the Year is now open and runs through Jan. 31, 2014. Fans can go to http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2014/vote/to vote every day for their favorite honoree. The adventurer with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be announced in February as the 2014 People's Choice Adventurer of the Year.

This year's 13 honorees include a long-distance swimmer who was the first to swim from Cuba to Florida without protection from a shark cage; a skier who is re-imagining his sport in urban landscapes; two veterans dedicated to establishing connections between veterans and the outdoors; and a snowboarder committed to helping brain injury survivors.

The 13 Adventurers of the Year for 2014 are:

Stacy Bare and Nick Watson - American adventurers and veterans who launched an organization that links veterans to the outdoors and the outdoors community;

Greg Long - American big-wave surfer who won the 2012/13 Big-Wave World Tour, despite nearly losing his life in a massive wipeout a few months earlier;

Amy and Dave Freeman - American adventurers and educators who completed a three-year, 11,647-mile journey across North America by kayak, canoe, dogsled and foot, connecting with students and teachers along the way;

Diana Nyad - Sixty-four-year-old American long-distance swimmer who recently completed a swim between Cuba and the United States, on her fifth attempt;

Kevin Pearce - American snowboarder who, after surviving a traumatic brain injury, launched the Love Your Brain campaign to encourage the use of helmets for kids;

Kilian Jornet Burgada - Spanish skyrunning ultrarunner whose new brand of running involves blazing up technical terrain such as glaciers, rock ridges and steep snowfields;

Raphael Slawinski and Ian Welsted - Canadian alpinists who were the first to summit Pakistan's K6 West, one of the last great unclimbed peaks in the world, despite danger and political turmoil in the region;

Adam Ondra - Czech rock climber who takes climbing to new frontiers of difficulty;

JP Auclair - Canadian skier who is best known for his special style of urban skiing;

Sarah Marquis - Swiss hiker who has just completed a three-year trek from Siberia to Australia.

This is the ninth year that National Geographic has combed the globe to find people who embody the spirit of adventure in diverse ways. The 2014 Adventurers of the Year are truly inspiring and remind us of the importance to pursue our own passions every day, said Mary Anne Potts, editor of National Geographic Adventure online.

To learn more about each adventurer through photos, interviews and a video and to vote every day for the People's Choice Adventurer of the Year, go to http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2014/, or follow @NGadventure on Twitter using #advofyear.

About National Geographic Travel

National Geographic Travel is the travel arm of the National Geographic Society, one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations, founded in 1888. National Geographic Travel creates, discovers and showcases meaningful and engaging travel experiences through National Geographic Traveler magazine; National Geographic Expeditions; travel books; maps; apps; digital travel content; the Adventure website; and travel photography programs. National Geographic Traveler (eight issues per year) is the world's most widely read travel magazine and has 14 international editions. It is available by subscription, on newsstands in the United States and Canada, and digitally for tablets. National Geographic Expeditions, the travel program of the Society, offers a variety of unique travel experiences led by top experts to more than 60 destinations across all seven continents. Travel opportunities include family and student expeditions, active adventures, private jet trips and voyages on the six expedition ships in the National Geographic-Lindblad fleet, as well as photography workshops, expeditions and seminars. The National Geographic Travel digital group offers inspiring and authoritative digital travel and adventure content such as trip ideas, photo galleries, blogs and apps. National Geographic Travel Books bring readers curated travel advice and inspiration. Follow National Geographic Travel on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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