A rock climber using the freestyle technique called bouldering takes on a sheer rock wall in Argentine Patagonia's Paso Superior. Patagonia's thousands of breathtaking Andean peaks attract mountaineers from novice to world class.
Stark, cold, wet, and windy, Patagonia is home to unique creatures with adaptations that help them thrive in an unforgiving region of climatic extremes.
Get a glimpse of paradise with this gallery of photographs taken on assignment for the National Geographic magazine article "French Polynesia: Charting a New Course."