On a dark, stormy December night in 1944 a fleet of five German warships was cruising the labyrinthine waters of the Gulf of Finland. Due to navigation error two of the ships ran into their own German minefield between Porkkala and Naissaari and were lost. Badewanne, a Finnish, non-profit organization representing a group of voluntary divers that have been documenting shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland for more than 15 years, recently dove down to one of the destroyers, the Z36. Juha Flinkman, one of the Badewanne divers, gives us a guided tour: “Diving to the wreck of Zerstörer (Destroyer) Z36 is a unique and eerie experience. As you glide down the shotline into the darkness, the beam of your light first picks up a scary mess of mast, radar aerials and – trawl, lots of it! Carefully avoiding the trawl you descend towards the superstructure past a quadruple 20 mm flak gun wrapped in netting, barrels sticking through the mesh. Passing over the port side of the bridge wing, you suddenly stare at the muzzles of a twin 20 mm Flak gun mounted on the fo’csle deck. The barrels vainly aim at the unreachable sky far above. This flak gun is situated a little aft of “Bertha Geschütz”, that is B-gun of the main armament of 127 mm guns. These Mob 36b type destroyers weren’t supposed to have any such armament here, but what the heck, maybe the Skipper just wanted some extra anti-aircraft hardware installed! Later, swimming from the gracefully arching bows towards midships, your lights pick up mighty Rheinmetall-Borsig barrels of Anton and Bertha Geschütze still defiantly pointing forwards, but never to be fired again. Even the riflings inside the barrels are clearly visible. Even when diving in the clear parts of the wreck, the ever-present trawl netting looms, if not in your vision, then in your mind. You must always be aware of this danger – there is no room for carelessness. This wreck is very big. It was distinctly once a very powerful warship, but now lays with her back broken on the seafloor, wrapped in trawl, and her payload of death strewn all around. A dark and a lonely place.” All images: © Badewanne

In the space of 31 days he skied to the equivalent of space and back. Last month Greg Hill clocked an incredible 100,628m – more than 10 times the height of Mt Everest. For anyone curious to see how Canadian ski mountaineer achieved the feat, below we show his daily gain, which reveal his super-human performance. Day after day, Greg skied for up to 10 hours to cover between 3,000m and 4,000m of vertical. Of course this doesn't answer the bigger question of how he was physically able to do it and for that only Greg can provide the answer. “It was a big mission,” says the 38-year-old Suunto ambassador, recovering at his home in Revelstoke, British Columbia. “It was as hard as anything I've done, waking up every morning and getting out there.” But he says the knowledge that at the top of every climb lay an awesome descent kept him going. “It was the best human powered powder month ever! It was ridiculous. This was 97% great skiing!”Check out where he went, his daily climbs the full stats of Greg's March Madness project on the links below. Looking for a highlight? Greg says his best day was March 11th. “I climbed three different summits and five different great lines,” he says. And the worst? March 6th when warm weather conspired to create nightmare ski-touring conditions. “My skis were weighing probably 20kg there was so much snow stuck to them,” says Greg. “That was as bad as it was.” March 1st: 4,255m March 2nd: 4,648m March 3rd: 4,087m March 4th: 4,125m March 5th: rest day March 6th: 3,950m March 7th: 4,141m March 8th: 2,943m March 9th: rest day March 10th: 4,264m March 11th: 4,340m March 12th: 3,957m March 13th: 4,518m March 14th: rest day March 15th: 4,186m March 16th: 3,970m March 17th: 4,127m March 18th: 2,287m March 19th: rest day March 20th: 4,398m March 21st: 3,793m March 22nd: 3,812m March 24th: 3,843m March 25th: 3,050m March 26th: 3,048m March 27th: 4,290m March 28th: 3,869m March 29th: 3,973m March 30th: 3,421m March 31st: 3,167m Image: ©Bruno Long

The Northwest Passage, spanning 3,000km from Pond Inlet, Nunavut, to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, was daunting enough when Roald Amundsen became the first person to unlock its secrets back in 1906.Over a century later, a team of ten women will do it a new way — swimming with snorkels. Named the after the Inuit goddess of the sea, the Sedna Expedition will seek to expand our knowledge of what lies beneath the often sub-zero waters, while reaching out to local Inuit and Inuvialuit women and girls, empowering them to build resilient communities to battle climate change. While the swim won't take place until 2016 (route map, top right) this coming summer will see an exploratory mission as Team Sedna boards a 116 expeditionary trawler for a 15-day trip (route map top left). They'll connect with local communities, build team cohesion, test their gear, and prove they can manage the distance. Suunto ambassador Jill Heinerth gives us the lowdown. Snorkeling across the Arctic? Sounds like a crazy plan! The concept for the expedition was the dream of Susan R. Eaton, a Canadian earth scientist and journalist with a passion for educational awareness of global climate change and a deep connection with the indigenous people of the North. Three years ago, after witnessing another sailboat navigate the Northwest Passage Susan had a 'Eureka!' moment: Wouldn’t it be remarkable to swim the Northwest Passage? Why snorkel? Snorkeling (as opposed to SCUBA diving) gives a swimmer a completely different viewpoint. The loss of sea ice is transforming the Arctic rapidly. We’ll be working in the transition zone between the earth, air, water and ice. Everything is the Arctic is driven by what happens in this snorkel zone. It’s the wheat fields of the North, where feeding, mating, predation and migration all take place. What's the plan? We definitely have to do shifts to make the distance. Assuming success during the proof-of-concept expedition, we'll start our epic three-month journey in the summer of 2016. We’ll follow in the esteemed footsteps of European and Canadian explorers, many of whom perished during their attempts to cross the treacherous Northwest Passage.How many people will take part? We have a team of ten remarkable women, aged 26 to 56, taking part in the project supported by a mother ship equipped with two rigid hull boats. The women hail from Canada, the United States, Mexico and New Zealand. Many are world-class technical divers and underwater scientists.What's your personal motivation? To bring science and conservation messages to people in a fun and exciting way. Last summer, I rode my bicycle across Canada, some 7,000 kilometers, and had a remarkable opportunity to connect with citizens of all backgrounds, while sharing a project called “We Are Water.” When people are inspired, it opens up a dialogue that can be life changing for all.The biggest challenge? The biggest challenge is the environment itself. The brutal cold, transient ice conditions and ferocious animal life (polar bears, walrus, orcas, Greenland sharks) all bring risks. How cold will the water be?The water will be as cold as it can get — minus 2 Celsius. We will need to be in the water many times a day and standing watch, completing science missions, making outreach journeys to Inuit communities and filming the entire mission. It is a lot of work for a small group. I think we’ll crash hard at the end of each day!You'll have some help with propulsion. Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPVs) are also known as “scooters.” A diver or snorkeler can clip herself behind this torpedo-like device and use the motor to help propel her through the water at a faster speed than swimmers could otherwise achieve. This will help us cover ground, battle currents, and get to safety quickly if we encounter a polar bear or other animal that could harm us in the water. Stay tuned for more updates on the Sedna Epic Expedition. For more diving adventures, check out our Facebook fanpage.

The words 'crushed' and 'crashed' may only have a single letter of difference between them, but they have an entirely different meaning. For Greg Hill, 'crushed' is how his body is feeling now that he's over half way to his March Madness goal of 100,000 vertical meters.'Crashed' is what he did to his snowmobile en route to a back country tour last week. Before you worry, the snowmobile prang was a just a small setback on the route to that day's 3,500m of climbing, in which Hill and a few friends toured the Gold Range of Revelstoke, not far from Hill's Canadian home. And while 3,500m of ski touring may seem like a pretty full day to the average backcountry explorer, to Hill, it's just another day in March. Starting March 1st with the highly ambitious goal of a 100k month, Hill has been racking up ascents with the tenacity of a man possessed. Along the way, there have been wicked ski lines – and a few wickedly close calls, such as when Hill set off an avalanche that actually ended up sliding over the same area he'd just skinned up. In hindsight, Hill analyzes the situation and the decision. “I think that part of my goal was clouding my judgement, wanting to set a track that was quicker for me to get vertical, versus harder and more tiring but safely in the rocks,” says Hill. “It was a huge avalanche that swept down 300+ meters. The mountains gave me a stern warning that I should not be too confident out here and be wary. Especially as I push towards my goal,” he tells us.Currently, Hill has accumulated over 60k of his 100k goal, with multiple days of 4,000m+ of vertical, in everything from sunny conditions with fresh powder, to pure, near white-out storm skiing – and while not every day has allowed him to bag a summit, he's scored a few. Overall, the cumulative effort of such an endeavor is starting to catch up with him. “I wondered at what point of this mission that I would wake up completely crushed. Sore, tired and not wanting to get out of bed. Walking down the stairs to let the cat out was painful. I am intimidated by stairs today!”Nevertheless, the crazy Canadian's March Madness is set to continue. After taking the 20th of March to rest, he's already back on the skin trail, going, up, up, up – all the way to 100,000m. Follow Greg Hill's March Madness on his blog. All images ©Bruno Long.

In between a super busy race schedule, we managed to catch up with the recently voted National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Kilian Jornet. The Suunto ambassador shares his thoughts on adventure, reveals who his heroes are, and what Apps he never hits the trails without. Congratulations! Thanks! It's great to be an ambassador for running and mountaineering and to see these sports get recognised. And if I can inspire other people to fulfil their dreams, that's really motivating. What are you up to right now? I'm very busy. It's the middle of the ski mountaineering season and I have two world cup races coming up. I'm really doing a lot of meters now for the next month and a half. And then? I go to McKinley (Denali) in June and then Aconcagua in winter to continue my Summits of My Life project. “The summit is just an excuse; it's more about the way, and not the goal.” What is your definition of adventure? Adventure for me is about discovery. It's about going to new places, whether physical places or new sensations that you haven't experienced before. You can go to the high mountains but if you have all the information, it may not be an adventure. Equally, you can go behind your house and if you don't know what's there, then it can turn into an adventure because you're going somewhere unknown. When you want to explore, adventure comes. Do you see yourself as an adventurer? People like to give labels but I don't think like that. I feel like a person who simply loves the mountains.  You have a huge fanbase. But who are your heroes? When I was a kid, I was always looking to the big mountaineers like Walter Bonatti or Reinhold Messner but also people like Ueli Steck are a huge inspiration. Bonatti started the idea of light alpinism and Messner did the same in the Himalayas and Ueli is taking it one step further. The summit is just an excuse; it's more about the way, and not the goal. Favorite App? I use Current Incline for when I'm climbing or skiing, Total Ascent-Descent for counting the meters - I will do up to 700,000 a year - and Vertical Speed. I really like the way I can personalize my Ambit to have just the sports I want.  Next year you plan to climb Mt Everest. After that...? I don't know, I will see what I will do. It's important to have goals but also listen to the feelings of today and stay in the moment. For me, adventure and exploring is more than just achieving a list of things. Get more adventure on our Facebook page. Find out and follow Kilian's next adventures on his website www.kilianjornet.cat.

Greg Hill plans to ascend 100,000m in a month. It's a challenge that will test his mind and body to the absolute limit and demand all his powers of endurance to succeed. As yet, he doesn't know if it's possible. In March Suunto ambassador Greg Hill will attempt to ski 100,000 vertical meters. That's up, as well as down. If he pulls it off, it will be an awe-inspiring achievement. What makes it all the more challenging is that these will not be repeated ascents on well-groomed pistes at his local ski resort. Instead, in true Suunto style, the ascents will be made in the heart of Canada's backcountry wilderness. Greg will be exploring new lines and making first descents. Nothing will be repeated. “I've always been curious about my human potential and to see what I can do,” Greg says in his new video about the project. “I'm a little scared. There are avalanches, there are injuries, there are lots of things that could happen. But I'm going to try.”  But if there's anyone who has a chance of pulling it off it's Greg Hill. In 2010, he skied 610,000m (2 million ft) in a year. He has also skied 15,000m (50,000ft) in a month. He'll use his Suunto Ambit2 to record his ascents. The challenge – in which he’ll struggle to eat enough food to maintain body weight while burning thousands of calories per day – will almost certainly be a first in ski mountaineering. It will require him to spend every waking hour of every day climbing, skiing, eating and traveling and will also involve considerable logistical planning. “It's intimidating,” he acknowledges. The challenge will take place in the 38-year-old's backyard — a remote part of British Columbia, Canada. It's the ideal playground. “There are so many un-skied mountains and lines in the Canadian wilderness around my home. It's just waiting to be explored,” he says. Check out the video and Greg's website for more details on the project. We'll also be sharing updates on our Facebook page.