The conditions have been atrocious. Mr Smith and some of his team, him grey with fatigue and his hands still not fully functioning, ponder at how she could have lasted so long.

Beyond its urban attractions and historical draws, England's Lake District offers natural beauty to rival even the joys of home, writes Nic Hamilton.

A New Zealand climber has broken a women's speed record for free climbing a world-famous US peak.

A top female New Zealand rock climber is gearing up to attempt a daring world- record free climb - and beat her male rivals on the way.

A Search and Rescue team made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to save a man who plunged 200m down an icy Mt Cook slope.

On a Himalayan journey, Winston Aldworth has his breath taken away by the scale of Everest.

This is the story of New Zealanders Marty Schmidt and his son Denali, who died trying to summit the world's most dangerous mountain.

Images from Marty and Delani Schmidt's attempted climb of K2.

Since the birth of his first child this year Jamie Vinton-Boot had toned down his risky mountain climbing. He was killed yesterday by an avalanche.

Europe's most affordable ski slopes are in Poland, as Jared Savage discovers

A 3D depiction of Sir Edmund Hillary conquering Mt Everest will premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The world's most perilous peak will be the final resting place for a New Zealand father and son who were attempting to scale it.

A man believed to have died with his son while climbing the world's second highest mountain, K2 inspired a generation of Hawke's Bay people to embrace the outdoors.

A NZ father and son's tent has been found wrecked and vital climbing tools left abandoned, confirming fears they have been swept away and killed in an avalanche.

As more Kiwis look to South America for adventure, Karen Phelps compiles a bucket list for the continent.

Don Kavanagh falls in love with cross-country travel the way people used to do it.

Thoughts of cycling in India probably conjure up images of intensely congested streets, teeming with all modes of traffic and sharing limited space with free range animals- a reasonable or enjoyable holiday activity?

Increasing commercialisation of the trek up Mt Everest is seen as having contributed to a breakdown in the 'brotherhood of the rope' since Edmund Hillary's climb.

"I am the last man standing," mountaineer George Lowe wrote in his extraordinary collection of images from the first ascent of Everest.

A Queenstown climber's heroic actions are being hailed after he saved a climbing companion knocked unconscious by an avalanche high up a Himalayan mountain.

A running regime that would defy most of us is soul food to Malcolm Law, writes Andy Kenworthy.

If Niseko is the crown jewel of Japanese skiing, then Rusutsu is one of its most lustrous, and least known, diamond clusters.

There's plenty to do in this landlocked nation - even if you don't pack crampons.

The Pinnacles walk is the perfect way to introduce family and friends to the fun of tramping, writes Katie Furze.

Te Ika a Maui and Te Waipounamu are not names that trip off the tongue for most. But that is no reason to prevent them following the example set by Aoraki/Mt Cook and Taranaki/Mt Egmont.

The melodic Irish brogue is the soundtrack to Geraldine O'Sullivan Beere's visit to Avoca County, Ireland.

Mountaineers on Mt Cook have told rescuers of the moment a rock slide came surging towards them and described it as both terrifying and "pretty amazing".