Outside's Top 10 Adventures of 2015

Our end of the year review and wrap-up continues today, this time with a list from Outside magazine of the 10 most badass adventures of 2015. As you can tell from the title, the list is made up of some of the most daring and audacious expeditions from the past 12 months, some of which you may have forgotten about, or slipped under your radar altogether.

The first entry should come as no surprise to anyone. It is Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson's ascent of the Dawn Wall, which tops my list of the best adventures of 2015 for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it was an incredible climb up one of the hardest routes on the planet, but going beyond that it also managed to captivate an audience that went well beyond the normal climbing crowd. It will be difficult for anyone to match this climb in 2016, or for years to come.

Other expeditions that got the nod from Outside include an attempt at the first ski descent of Makalu, Lonnie Dupre's solo summit of Denali in January, and Will Gadd's climb of the frozen Niagara Falls, which was also a first.

I won't spoil the entire list, as obviously part of the fun is finding out what Outside deemed worthy of sharing, as well as being reminded of the interesting adventures from the year that has passed. But it is safe to say however, that each of the entries in the article are certainly deserving of the "badass" label, and will inspire you to think about some of your own adventures for 2016.

Start the slideshow by clicking here.

Video: Climbing Castles in the Sky

Rock climber Sonnie Trotter recently put up a stunning new route in the Canadian Rockies near Banff. Climbing on Castle Mountain, he completed a five-pitch, 5.14-rated climb that he named Castles in the Sky. In this fantastic video, we join Sonnie on the wall, as he goes up this tough, but beautiful route for the first time. And when you've finished watching the video, head on over to National Geographic Adventure to read a recent interview with Trotter about the climb as well.

Castles In The Sky from MOONHOUSE on Vimeo.

Nat Geo Picks the Best Adventure Films of 2015

2015 was a good year for adventure filmmakers. Over the course of the past 12 months we've seen some of the best outdoor and travel focused films ever, and thanks to a proliferation of excellent tools – such as low-cost, high-quality cameras and affordable drones – it looks like this trend of fantastic guerrilla filmmaking won't end anytime soon. With that in mind, National Geographic Adventure took a look back at the very best adventure films from the past year, and revealed their picks for the seven best.

The subjects of these films vary wildly, with some focusing on climbing and mountaineering, while others are all about exploration, skiing, dogsled racing, and even our complex relationships with our canine friends. Some of the short films that earned a spot on Nat Geo's list include A Line Across the Sky, which documented Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold's historic climb of the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia, as well as The Great Alone, which takes us into the Alaskan wilderness with Iditarod champ Lancey Makey, and Unbranded which features an epic journey across the U.S. with wild mustangs.

Of course, one of the most high profile adventure films of the year was Meru. This stunning mountaineering film follows Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk as they climb the Shark's Fin on Mt. Meru in India. This is one of the few movies of this type that actually had a theatrical run, which makes it stand out all the more. Check out the trailer below, and try to catch it on DVD or iTunes if you can.

I'm sure 2016 will bring even more interesting adventure films. I can't wait to see what is in store for us.

Video: The Year in Review with GoPro

It was another good year for GoPro. Not only did the company release a series of excellent new cameras, the footage that was captured on those devices continued to improve and become more refined. This video takes us on a 4+ minute look review of the year as seen through the lens of a GoPro camera, with some fantastic shots of some amazing places to remind us of all that took place in 2015.

Video: Climbing in Angola with Alex Honnold

This video comes our way courtesy of Vice Sports. It is a 27-minute short documentary that follows the amazing Alex Honnold as he travels to the African country of Angola in search of new climbing challenges. As usual, Alex can find things to climb just about anywhere, including in the middle of a busy city. As usual, it is impressive to watch Alex go to work, particularly in an environment where climbing is not a common activity.

Men's Journal Looks at the 24 Greatest Feats of 2015

As the final days of the year slip off the calendar, it is a good time to look back and reflect on some of the things that happened in 2015. As usual, it was a busy year, filled with great stories of exploration and adventure. So many in fact, that you sometimes forget everything that happened. Fortunately for us, Men's Journal has put together a great little slideshow highlighting the 24 Greatest Feats of the past year.

Some of the amazing accomplishments that earned a spot on this list include the first winter crossing of the PCT, the longest time spent in space by an American, and Freya Hoffmeister's circumnavigation of South America in a kayak. Scott Jurek's speed record on the Appalachian Trail gets a nod as well, as does Dani Arnold's new speed record on the Matterhorn.

I won't spoil all of the entires on the list, but I will say paging through the MJ slideshow is a bit like taking a walk down memory lane. It reminded me of so many great things that happened this year, a lot off which we covered right here on The Adventure Blog.

For my money, the greatest feat of 2015 occurred all the way back in January. That's when Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the first free climb of the Dawn Wall in Yosemite. For a brief time, the world was transfixed by a pair of rock climbers taking on the hardest big wall on the planet, and they did not disappoint. It was an amazing way to start the year, and it still stands as one of the most impressive climbing accomplishments ever.

With 2015 quickly fading away, now is a good time to look back on these great adventures, before e start looking ahead to those that will come in 2016. It was a great year. Here's to many more!

Video Game Company CryTek Creating Virtual Reality Climbing Game

Many tech experts believe that the next big boom in the industry will come in the way of virtual reality. 2016 is shaping up to be a big year for VR with the release of the Oculus Rift and Sony's Playstation VR headsets. This hardware, coupled with some state of the art videos, movies, and games, promises to revolutionize the way we experience entertainment and virtual environments. Now, a major video game company has announced that it is preparing to release a new game alongside the Oculus Rift this spring that will give players a lifelike climbing experience unlike anything they've ever seen before.

CryTek is probably best known for its Far Cry and Crysis series of action games. Both use a sophisticated 3D game engine called the CryEngine to render their virtual environments. But the company has taken that same technology and applied it to virtual reality, and is currently putting the final touches on a game called The Climb, which will drop players into "hyper-realistic climbing locations from around the world" which they'll be able to explore completely on their own.

Beyond that, not a whole lot is known about the game, although you can get a brief teaser of what to expect in the video below. It takes us to what appears to be a region of China, where you can attempt to climb some of the Karst Towers that are so famous from that country.

Obviously a VR experience will never replace going out and actually climbing yourself. But, this does look fun and interesting none the less. Not all of us get the chance to visit some of the remote locations that the game will depict, and even if we did, we probably wouldn't have the skill set necessary to climb there. Through this game, and a VR headset, we might get at least an idea of what that is like. I know I for one, would love to at least give it a try.

Take a look at the video, and tell me what you think.

Video: First Ascent of High Times in Tuolumne Meadows

Everyone know that Yosemite National Park is one of the greatest rock climbing destinations in the entire world, but we're reminded of that fact in this five minute video which follows climber/photographer Ben Ditto as he completes the first ascent of a route called High Times (5.13b) in Tuolumne Meadows. The climb took place on Drug Dome and required ten days to complete, and as you'll see, it was no walk in the park. Of course, the epic Yosemite scenery is also on display with some great shots of region.

First Ascent of High Times in Tuolumne from Eddie Bauer on Vimeo.