Video: The North Face - Your Land

This video is a promo clip from The North Face, with a number of scenes of outdoor athletes doing their favorite activities, while strains of the song This Land is Your Land plays in the background. While that song has a decidedly American slant to it, the theme of the video is universal, as are the images that it evokes with outdoor lovers. This land belongs to you and me.

Video: Our Conquest - Inspiration for Exploration

Here's an inspiring short video that uses clips from a variety of sources, overlaid with John F. Kennedy's famous speech on why we must go into space, to inspire exploration. Many of the clips are from the early days of the space program itself, but some even include images of George Mallory on Everest as well. It is a good reminder of the importance of exploration, even in this day and age.

Our Conquest from we are gods on Vimeo.

Sponsored Video: The North Face - The Explorer

We humans are explorers. There is no denying that. There is something innate in our make-up that spurs us to push on into the unknown. We want to see what is over the next horizon, and want to fill in the blank spots on the map. It is what has driven us forward as a species, and I believe it is that same spirit that will carry us forward into the future, as we continue to explore the depths of the oceans, and push further into outer space.

This point is hammered home very eloquently by the video below, thanks to some very eloquent and inspiring narration from astronaut Buzz Aldrin. On July 20, 1969, Aldrin joined Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon, as they became the first human beings to walk on Earth's satellite. It was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a seminal moment in human exploration

In this brief, but incredibly inspiring clip, Aldrin talks about man's need to explore is instilled in us at a young age. He says that he was inspired by the explorers that came before him, and that he hoped at some point to plant the flag someplace where no one else had ever been. He got his chance on the historic flight of Apollo 11.

Aldrin's incredibly poignant words apply not only to his mission into space, but for explorers who are pushing boundaries here on our planet as well. Those words are set over some incredibly breathtaking images of adventurers who continue to carry the torch of exploration forward into the mountains, the oceans, and the other remote corners of our planet. The video is brought to us by The North Face, so it is fitting that their motto is "Never Stop Exploring."

This post has been sponsored by The North Face, but the opinions are all my own.

Video: Words of Wilderness

I'm fortunate enough that while writing this blog I come across some truly beautiful and inspiring videos to share with readers. Of all of the clips that I've posted over the years, few can compete with this one however. It deftly mixes some of the most amazing outdoor shots that you've ever seen with the fantastic words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, and others. It is 3-minutes of pure bliss that remind us that "wilderness is not a luxury," a sentiment that I agree with whole heartedly. Watch this video and share it with friends. It is well worth the time, and it will leave you wanting to visit your favorite wilderness again soon. Truly remarkable.

Words of Wilderness: 1836 - Present from Pete McBride on Vimeo.