Photo by Cory Richards

Following in the footsteps of legendary adventurers before him, The North Face® athlete Cory Richards has been named an Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic, and is also in the running for the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year People's Choice Award.

For six years National Geographic has awarded Adventurers of the Year recognition to people with extraordinary achievement in exploration, conservation, and adventure sports. Other The North Face® athletes previously honored include Diane Van Deren and Alex Honnold.

Richards made a huge impact in the world of adventuring during 2011 when he accomplished a first-ever winter summit of Pakistan's 8035-meter Gasherbrum II. Battling the cold, blizzards and even a Class 4 avalanche on the world's 13th tallest mountain, Richards and his team were able to reach the peak in a three-day ascent from their base camp. Ascending with Simone Moro and Denis Urubko, Richards filmed the journey to the Gasherbrum summit, and his footage was used in the documentary "Cold," which recently won the Grand Prize, Best Film-Climbing and the Audio Post-Production Scholarship at the 2011 Banff Film Festival. 

Votes for the People's Choice Award will be collected online through Jan. 18, 2012, with the winner announced in February.  To learn more, plus read National Geographic's profile of Richards, please click here.