Kingdoms of the Sky

See the extraordinary wildlife and people of the Andes. Pumas hunt guanaco, shape-shifting frogs hide in remote cloud forests and the descendants of Inca build bridges of grass. The world’s driest desert, huge salt lakes and spectacular peaks are all found in the world’s longest mountain range.

A family of white-winged diuca finches prepare to leave their nest in Peru's Quelccaya glacier before it melts.

In Bolivia, the Salar de Uyuni, the world's biggest salt flat, transforms into a natural wonder during late summer rains.

In the Southern Andes, a puma struggles against a changing climate so that she can feed her three hungry cubs.

On his first day outside, a baby Himalayan marmot must fight other hungry marmots for his grass-eating territory.

Tour the extraordinary wildlife and people of the Himalaya – the highest mountain range on earth. Bizarre snub-nosed monkeys live in frozen forests. Tibetan monks perform ancient rituals high in the mountains whilst snow leopards prowl the mountain sides.

Buddhist monks create a Sand Mandala - a symbolic representation of the universe - using ground-up Himalayan rock. The ritual is carried out while in a complete state of meditation.

In the frozen forest of Yunnan, rare snub-nosed monkeys endure freezing temperatures and in order to survive they must learn to stay together.

The Rockies stretch 3,000 miles up the length of North America, and are one of the great mountain ranges of the world. These mountains are home not just to cougars, wolverines, wolves, and grizzly bears, but also daredevil wingsuit flyers, who jump from high peaks, and Native Americans, competing in breakneck horse races.

In Wyoming, male bighorn sheep fight head-on in order to mate with females. The noise made by clashing horns can be heard for miles around.

Jeff Shapiro takes a wingsuit flight in the Bitterroot Mountains, part of the Rocky Mountains.

Oliver Pakootas participates in the Indian Relay and shares the importance of this Native American tradition.