National Geographic has announced a revival of their flagship Explorer series with two new specials that will premiere in Winter 2022 with polar opposite agendas, one heading 7,500-feet above sea level and the other descending 8,000 feet below the earth’s surface.
Photo Source: National Geographic
What’s Happening:
- National Geographic is reviving their flagship series Explorer, producing two hour-long specials chronicling expeditions currently under way.
- One special will document National Geographic Explorer ark Synott teaming up with Free Solo climber Alex Honnold to take 79-year-old biologist Bruce Means to the top of a Guyanese tepui to see a mystical “Island in the clouds.”
- The other will find Caver Bill Stone attempting to break a world record by descending to the bottom of Cheve Caves in Mexico.
- National Geographic will also be a multi-platform initiative with magazine articles accompanying new episodes of the series.
- Both specials are being produced in partnership with ABC News’ Lincoln Square Productions.
- More information on each special can be found below.
Explorer: The Last Tepui
- National Geographic Explorer Mark Synnott teams up with climbers Alex Honnold and Fuco Pisani to assist 79-year-old biologist Bruce Means to the top of a Guyanese tepui.
- It has been Bruce Means’ life goal to discover a new species, a dream that may be real at the top of a “Lost world.”
- The first leg of the adventure will include carving a bath through uncharted jungles.
- The tepui they seek is estimated to be 1,300 feet tall with a wall of sheer rock, making it more difficult to climb then Alex Honnold’s free solo ascent up Yosemite’s El Cpitan.
- Explorer: The Last Tepui is directed by National Geographic photographer and climber Renan Ozturk and documentary filmmaker Taylor Rees.
Explorer: The Deepest Cave
- With a dream of going deeper into the Earth than any human before, Dr. Bill Stone leads an expedition to the bottom of the Cheve Cave underneath the Sierra Juarez mountains in Mexico.
- The descent is expected to be over 8,000 feet and is described as climbing Everest in reverse.
- There will be little chance of rescue in the deepest parts of the cave should anything go wrong.
- Part of the expedition includes mapping the caves to create CGI 3D models.