“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Teacher Mahajera Armani and her class of girls pose for a picture at their study open area, founded by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), outside Jalalabad city, Afghanistan September 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

“The Net thrower”. The fisherman are conducting activities on Situgunung Lake. Photo location: Situgunung lake, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Dody Kusuma/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Miss Fantasy performs on the stage of The Nest club during the Vogue Nights Jozi Ball, an event dedicated to the gender-fluid culture in Marshalltown, Johannesburg on September 24, 2022. (Photo by Luca Sola/AFP Photo)

Assamese girls wearing traditional Mekhela Chadar perform the Bihu folk dance during the Rongali Bihu festival, organized by All Assam Students Union in Guwahati, capital of the north eastern state of Assam, India, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

A man carries his wife on his back as they make their way with their luggage along a flooded tunnel to catch their train, after heavy rainfall hit Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China, July 21, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

People wearing costumes attend the annual water-splashing festival to mark the New Year of the Dai minority in Jinghong, Yunnan province, April 13, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

France's Romane Miradoli competes during the Women's Downhill event of the FIS Alpine Ski World Championship 2023 in Meribel, French Alps, on February 11, 2023. (Photo by Lionel Bonaventure/AFP Photo)