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One writer takes a trip to one of the most remote islands in the world.

Welcome to One of the Most Remote Islands on Earth

Alison Van Houten

In the spring of 2015, National Geographic Resident Explorer and my good friend, Mike Libecki, called me and said he had an idea to climb a remote tower in the jungle of Ua Pou Island, French Polynesia. “There will be moments that you wish you never came,” he said. Oddly enough, that was exactly what my filming partner Keith Ladzinski and I wanted to hear, as the best expeditions usually hold a good bit of struggle. Plus, Libecki has a knack for finding the most unexplored and uncharted climbing locations on the planet and being the first to summit.

For this expedition, Libecki enlisted Angie Payne to be his climbing partner. Payne, after a successful trip to Greenland with Libecki in 2012, made the mistake of telling Libecki she would go on any “crackpot” mission he ever conjured up. The only issue was that Payne had never climbed a big wall before. But Libecki wasn’t looking for climbers as much as he was looking for people that could take the suffering. In that way, we were all a perfect fit.

We set out on the 21-day mission this March, and after 16 days of debris-filled climbing in horrible conditions, Libecki led us to the summit of Poumaka in a tropical storm.

Photo: Libecki and Payne with unknown pitches and struggle above them.

A 16-Day First Ascent Sufferfest

Andy Mann

Eight Islands on the Half Shell

Unadulterated escapes to turn you on to the South Pacific

Dina Mishev

H. Thayer Walker

Margie Goldsmith

Tim Neville

Published: Aug 23, 2006 Updated: Jun 29, 2021

Destinations

All it takes is one trip to change your life - and we've got 40 of 'em. Dreaming of close encounters with cheetahs or penguins? Want to climb a mountain in Peru? Experience an epic trek in China? One trip, one world - that's all it takes.

Published: Mar 1, 2006 Updated: Jun 29, 2021

Destinations

The High Road

What do you want—a printed invitation? OK, here it is: We’ve scouted the year’s coolest travel offerings—from new classics like cruising the Arctic, exploring the wild Caribbean, and journeying across Russia’s heartland to bold new frontiers like trekking Libya and tracking wildlife (and luxury lodges) in Sri Lanka. Going somewhere?…

Published: Feb 1, 2005 Updated: Jun 29, 2021