Rock formations too fragile to stand, yet too ancient to fall, point heavenwards from a desert immortalised on screen as the classic American landscape. Monument Valley IS the West, the Frontier, truly a final, unflown outpost. Othar Lawrence leads the Red Bull Air Force Huckspedition across the border

The Annapurna range in Nepal had taunted Scottish instructor Zabdi Keen just once too often, capping her climbs towards it from the lower slopes with heavy inversions. Trekking towards a higher launch seemed the only option – one that needed proper preparation, not an overnight decision

In his everydaylife, French pilot Pierre Bouilloux designs harnesses and accessories for paragliding.Occasionally, when the weather looks particularly good, he nips out and has a crack at the FAI triangle or some other record which he breaks fairly regularly. Once a year though, he puts work aside for longer, takes a minimum amount of equipment and heads off for a vol bivouac through the Alps: completely alone – tout seul – in flight over the mountains. Pierre speaks about his love of bivouac flying to Carla Beekman