Adam Gearing, Subterranean (PEOPLE WILDERNESS 2026)

At the top end of the South Island of New Zealand there is a 350 m deep sinkhole, requiring a 170 m abseil to enter from above. It is the beginning of an amazing caving system that is more like a canyon than a typical cave. This image shows only the bottom third of the abseil, it is very challenging to show the actual scale of how deep this cave really goes; it is like a portal into a subterranean world.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.