[imagesource: Rainer Eder]

The photo you see above is one of the honourable mentions in the International Photography Contest of Mountain Activity (CVCEPHOTO).

The extreme sport of climbing and scaling mountains is a monumental feat on its own, but taking photography up there, too?

Now that’s taking the adventure to a whole new level.

Rainer Eder, the photographer of the incredible snap seen above, is from Austria and says the photo was taken at -14ºC one night.

The goal was “to show what happens if an ice climber hits the ice when falling on the rope.”

I mean icicles like that are supposedly the best weapons for murderers because they’re sharp and leave no traces, so why anyone would want to climb amidst them is just beyond me.

Anyway, moving on to other photos from the competition, which is organised by the Club Vasco de Camping Elkartea, a mountaineering club in the Basque country, reports The Guardian.

The winners of this year’s competition brought together the work of 372 photographers from 58 countries.

And those winners are…

1st Prize, Marcin Ciepielewski, Adršpach, Czech Republic:

“I was fascinated with the geometrical shapes of the great chimney Vraní věže crag in Adršpach, an incredible place full of huge peaks and edges.”

2nd Prize, Alex Buisse, Mer de Glace, France:

Jeff Mercier climbs out of a moulin, a deep crevasse formed by summer melt water, inside Mer de Glace

3rd Prize, Alessandro Cantarelli, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy:

“I wanted to shoot the Three Peaks as they had never been seen before, so we decided to climb the summit of Monte Paterno.”

Honourable mention, Lachlan Gardiner Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia:

Charlotte Blake climbs Maelstrom, a traditionally protected crack climb located on the sea cliffs of Bruny Island off Tasmania

Honourable mention, Javier Urbón, La Pedriza de Manzanares, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park:

La Pedriza del Manzanares is a place with unlikely rock formations

Honourable mention, Piotrek Deska, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy:

Łukasz Dudek prepares for his solo ascent of Pan Aroma 8c on Cima Ovest di Lavaredo, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Dolomites

The awarded photographs will be exhibited in the CVCE club’s showroom from May 27 to July 31, but since we South Africans likely won’t make it, we’ll have to settle for more from The Guardian.

[source:theguardian]