Jillian Brady, Into thin air (PEOPLE WILDERNESS)

While preparing for a week of walking around the base of Mt Blanc in the Alps, I take the cable car to 3842m on the Aiguille du Midi where I see a line of people on the ice-covered ridge. The climbers will ascend a further 1000 metres across a glacial cirque to the summit of Mt Blanc, highest mountain in the Alps. The base jumpers and paragliders will leap into the thin air, to fall thousands of metres down to the valley floor. I can only watch as the altitude is making me queasy, light-headed and heavy-limbed, but I am floating in awe at the spectacle, the wonder, the grandeur, the wildness – all the quiches apply.

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