an avalanche destroys everything in its path.

In the American Rockies

The red panda, rarely glimpsed in the wild.

This is the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia,

one inhabitant endures the bitter winters out in the open.

Mont Blanc - the highest peak in Western Europe.

Lava rises to the surface through this crack in the crust

of the giant Baltoro glacier in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan.

Here, at the far eastern end of the range in China,

Like the water running through it,

It escapes the touches of one,

and take their first steps in the outside world.

but they're dwarfed by those in the great ranges

is a touching symbol of the precariousness of life in the mountains.

It formed as the floor of the Pacific Ocean

as it plunges into the depths of the glacier.