After a very complicated and challenging year, 2021 was perhaps one of Suunto’s most special editions of World Vertical Week. The results show how much athletes from every corner of the globe want to push themselves in the outdoors – the number of participants more than tripled to over 48,000 athletes joining the challenge in search of vertical glory this year.   The reigning champ Austria has done it again: it’s the country with the highest average climb per activity, 421 m. The country of music and mountains has again retained the position that it’s accustomed to, number one, which it has held in four of the last five years. It only lost its crown in 2019, falling to fifth place. Austria is followed by Slovenia (2nd, 401 m), Italy (3rd, 378 m), Switzerland (4th, 348 m), and France (5th, 292 m). These nations have regularly featured in the World Vertical Week top 10. Special mention goes to Hong Kong athletes, with their 254 m average, taking eighth place. Austria 421 m Slovenia 401 m Italy 378 m Switzerland 348 m France 292 m Slovakia 280 m Spain 275 m Hong Kong 254 m Norway 239 m Canada 233 m   Spain, France and Italy always consistent Add, add, add. Based on many diverse efforts, Spanish athletes made Spain the nation with the most climbed meters overall. Spain has snatched back the title, which landed in French hands last year. Italy comes in as third again. Suunto has been providing total data by country for three years, and these three countries have had a place on the podium each time. Spain France Italy Austria Germany   Don't say vertical climb, say skimo Once again, ski touring looms large as the sport with the most vertical meters clocked: up to 960 m on average per activity. And its companions also repeated on the podium: mountaineering (628 m) and trail running (434 m). The average accumulated climb in each sport increases year after year, but these three disciplines remain top dogs. Ski touring 960 m Mountaineering 628 m Mountain biking 378 m Trekking and hiking 241 m Cycling 198 m Nordic skiing 173 m Running 92 m   10,000 m... in one week! Each year, Suunto World Vertical Week generates unique stories of athletes who go above and beyond, surprising and inspiring the entire community. This time, the efforts of nine athletes stands out. Faced with an invitation to tally vertical meters, they managed to accumulate more than 10,000 meters in one week. That’s brutal! In addition, 89 were able to tally 10,000 feet – or 3,500 meters – during a single activity! 1,000 meters of total ascent during an activity was broken 4,240 times during the week. Respect!   Top nations by sport Italy is multiskilled The transalpine country is ranked in third place for collecting the most average and overall vertical climb meters, and in addition it leads the mountain biking ranking and is among the top three countries in three more categories: ski touring, mountaineering and cycling. Italy is present in six of the seven classifications by discipline. Bravo! Ski touring (avg. ascent by country) Over 1,000 meters on average? Why not? The first four countries in the ranking, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria, are all above the 1000 meter mark this year. The ranking offers surprises and changes compared to 2020, perhaps due to the constraints and limitations arising from the pandemic. Germany deserves special mention; last year it didn't make the top 5 and in 2021 it is on top! Spain, on the other hand, was first in 2020, but has disappeared from the 2021 top 10. Germany 1076 m Italy 1050 m Switzerland 1043.3 m Austria 1042.9 m United States 957 m France 940 m Slovakia 927 m Slovenia 926 m Poland 876 m Japan 844 m   Trail running (avg. ascent by country) For years, Japan and Hong Kong have reflected the passion trail running inspires in Asia: they captured the top positions here once again, accompanied this time by Slovenia. Japan 839 m Hong Kong 628 m Slovenia 626 m Italy 594 m Norway 502 m Hungary 486 m Portugal 485 m Spain 476 m Switzerland 472 m Greece 464 m    Mountaineering / avg. ascent by country Switzerland returns to the top five and comes out on top, showing that it is passionate about seeing the world from way up high. It is accompanied by Italy, France, Germany and Austria... forming a classification dominated by Central Europe, the territory of the Alps and high mountains. Switzerland 1019 m Italy 993 m France 856 m Germany 755 m Austria 688 m   Mountain biking (avg. ascent by country) Italy is synonymous with variety, but according to data from the Suunto World Vertical Week it tallied the most vertical meters of all on two wheels. There are few changes from 2020, with the main one being that Slovenia has entered the top 5. Italy 547 m Spain 475 m Austria 473 m Slovenia 471 m Switzerland 440 m   Trekking and hiking (avg. ascent by country) Thai athletes racked up the most vertical meters in trail running last year. This time, it would seem they have chosen to continue, only at a different pace. Thailand 567 m Japan 503 m Slovenia 411 m Italy 399 m Slovakia 396 m   Cycling (avg. ascent by country) It seems like climbing mountain passes by road bike in Portugal is close to becoming a tradition. The country won top position once again, and Colombia returns to the ranking after last year’s absence. Portugal 432 m Colombia 383 m Italy 382 m Spain 340 m Greece 271 m   Running (avg. ascent by country) Traditionally this is one of the closest categories, with just a few meters of difference separating countries. This time Slovenia, which regained the top position that it had back in 2018, has pulled away a little. Slovenia 196 m Norway 164 m Switzerland 150 m Hungary 143 m France 129 m   Thank you to everyone for participating in Suunto World Vertical Week 2021. We’ll be back with another edition of Vertical Week!    READ ALSO Three inspiring World Vertical Week moments

Going crazy Every year we receive feedback that vertical challenges are hard in flat countries. We can fully relate to that as here in Southern Finland the hills are also small. But every year there are also impressive and inspiring performances that show how creativity and determination can take you a long way also when you want to gain vertical meters. One of these people was Adrien from Grenoble, France. He decided to climb up and down a staircase to reach 1000 vertical meters. After running 79 times up and down the staircase – that’s 316 floors all together – he reached his goal. “Next time I’ll do something smarter – and outdoors that time,” Adrien commented in his post. Keeping it consistent Paulina from Finland proved that consistency is the key to success: she headed out every day during the Vertical Week and was very committed. The result was seven back-to-back 1000 m days, a great training block and certainly some unforgettable memories. ”A friend of mine has challenged me to join monthly “Thousand Meter Tuesdays” and Vertical Week was perfect for that!”, says Paulina who ran up and down Puijo in Kuopio, Finland, while her fiancée joined the challenge on skis. “I knew I would be able collect the needed vertical meters even though there certainly were some challenging moments, too.” Soaking up the views The Vertical Week is not only about the hard, physical efforts and hill repeats. When you reach the summit, ridge or a col there’s often the reward of wide-open views. That’s what inspired us with Ben’s Vertical Week shot from the Nelson Lakes National Park in New Zealand. “This was one of those days where all you need to do is soak up the views and appreciate what's in front of you,” Ben says. We couldn’t agree more!   Thank you to all of you for sharing your World Vertical Week experience on Instagram and inspiring us all. Congratulations Adrien, Paulina and Ben. You are the winners of the World Vertical Week contest in 2021. All three of you will receive Suunto 9 Baro watches to join you on your future adventures!   READ ALSO More desire than ever to tally up vertical meters: World Vertical Week 2021 big data is here 

We are talking about you, and your stories. We feel as though we have gotten to know our community better than we ever have before. We read about how you are managing through the past year with a world turned upside down and trying to maintain your health (and sanity). You told us about your achievements and your future dreams of adventure. We are inspired by what you have accomplished and the resolve in your path ahead whether to better health, faster races or new heights of exploration. You took time to share with us your past experiences, and the joy found in peaceful treks through the wilderness and stressful, challenging summit pushes. Some of you shared very personal moments, experiences that have shaped your lives, both heart wrenching and hopeful. We are honoured to have been there with you for some of those memorable moments, even at times providing critical information to get you home safely, or to help keep you motivated and pushing towards a personal goal, or a personal mission. These stories are why we exist, and reading them reaffirms our mission and commitment to enabling them. Thank you for sharing them with us, we are grateful and inspired. – Your fellow adventurers at Suunto Next Steps in the application process and program: We wanted to share that we are reading them (all) and due to the sheer amount we are going to take the following steps to ensure we a). Can kick-off the program in good time and get a first group of selected ambassadors going, b). Ensure we communicate in the most timely manner possible. So this is how we will roll from here: We have begun to communicate to our first selected brand ambassadors and as well as those applications we’ve read through that are not a match at this time. If you have not been communicated with, your application is still being reviewed. We are closing the application page for now effective March 11 to ensure we can handle all the applications with care. We will inform all applicants until this point by April of their status. A couple of notes to help you application in the future. Please create a ‘creator’ or ‘business’ account on Instagram (if you are on the platform), it helps us get to know you better, faster. We will inform you about the next application round on suunto.com, our newsletters and our social channels. Stay tuned! Tell us about you and your adventures with your Suunto! Your stories are a key reason we have made the selections we have, so keep them coming!

For ordinary mortals, completing the Hoch Tyrol ski route – with 10,000 m of ascent over 100 km – usually takes six days. The alpine route runs from Kasern, South Tyrol and proceeds from hut to hut, crossing Grossglockner ( 3798 m), Austria’s highest mountain, before finishing in Kals am Grossglockner. Often exposed, with steep climbs, and technical skills required, it’s not for the faint hearted. Suunto ambassadors and mountain athletes Francois D’Haene and Philipp Reiter didn’t have six days. So they decided to complete the epic alpine crossing in one push, on one day. This is what having vertical power provides – epic adventures in a single day. Click here to learn how to improve your vertical speed! © Martina Valmassoi Setting out, the weather didn’t play nice, and they found themselves skiing down a couloir in poor visibility. Their Suunto 9 watches allowed them to safely navigate the white out. The crossing demanded more calories than they anticipated so they ordered big plates of pasta at one of the huts. As they continued, the weather cleared, and they enjoyed some stunning descents. By the time night fell, their tanks were nearly empty, but somehow they reached the end. "I was never as destroyed as when I was fighting my way up to the final peak, Grossglockner," Philipp Reiter says. "I tried to convince my body to keep walking but every 30 steps it just stopped for a few moments before I could push on again. It was a mix of all the pre-planning stress, not enough sleep and physical exhaustion from almost 10.000m+. When we finally reached the summit it was just overwhelming feelings - so happy to have completed our project!" Hit play below to watch their big day out! Lead images: © Philipp Reiter

Sports scientist, coach and blogger Susi Kraft grew up in the Austrian Alps and fell in love with ski mountaineering early. Her dad was her first skiing coach, and since studying sports science at university she’s been fascinated by how to train to get faster. “Being faster makes it more fun, means you can climb more mountains, and gives you more options,” Susi says. “It also means you have safer conditions, lower avalanche risk, if you head out in the early morning and are fast enough to get back before midday when it usually gets warmer and changes the snowpack. Being faster also makes it possible to climb high mountains in one push – without the need to sleep in a hut.” Every opportunity, Susi is out in the mountains around Salzburg. The most beautiful and demanding Susi is one half of the popular German language skimo blog Berghasen, which covers gear, training to tips, and awesome tours in the Alps. She coaches everything from trail runners and triathletes through to ski mountaineers. Getting faster at skimo is one of the most challenging things to achieve because it’s such a demanding sport. “There are so many factors,” she says. “Endurance, technique for uphill and downhill, the environment, snow, mountains, cold, avalanche risk, fuelling, what to drink, and safety. The sport demands a lot of experience in advance. There are a lot of factors to staying safe and getting better. That’s why for me it’s the most beautiful sport, but one of the hardest to achieve the next level.” Read on for Susi’s six tips to improve your uphill skimo speed. Follow the 80/20 rule “With skimo it’s really hard to train carefully because as soon as you go uphill your heart rate peaks,” Susi says. “It’s easy to slip into high intensity training and then over time your improvements will start to plateau. Also, having to carry much more gear in comparison to other sports such as trail running makes it really hard to train at lower intensity.” Skiing and avalanche equipment, a backpack with food and drink, ski clothing and helmet all add up the weight to make the sport demand more strength and power, and to make it tough, especially for beginners, to keep the heart rate down. Susi recommends following the polarised training model propounded by sports scientist Dr. Stephen Seiler. This is based on Seiler’s research that found the best endurance athletes do most of their training at low intensity. It suggests 80 % of training should be done at low intensity, and only 20 % at high intensity. A key factor in getting a feeling about your training intensity is knowing your maximum heart rate. It can be determined by doing a lactate performance diagnostic test on a treadmill or bicycle ergometer. Your heart rate is the easiest way to monitor your training intensity and can be used in most sports. If you already know your maximum heart rate you can follow these training suggestions: Train at least 80 % of the training at low intensity – about 70 % of your maximum heart rateMaximum 20 % of your training volume should be high intensity – about 80 to 100 % of your maximum heart rate To sum it up, follow this rule: do a lot of training in your comfort zone with low heart rate and a little bit of your training at really high intensity with your heart rate close to your maximum. Reduce weight As we mentioned before, skimo involves a lot of gear, and the weight of all that gear and provisions slows you down or increases your heart rate. Looking for ways to cut that down is essential. Susi recommends investing in lighter skis and ski boots as a start, and then looking into what other lighter weight gear you can find. “If you really reduce weight you will notice your heart rate doesn’t get as high,” Susi says. “You will be able to do longer and more demanding climbs and you won’t get fatigued so quickly. Your recovery time after a long skimo day will also be less if your training session isn’t that intense.” Embrace the flat To help avoid slipping into high intensity training tours, look for maps and routes that don’t have so much elevation gain and avoid steep uphills. “Look for terrain with just moderate steepness,” Susi says. “It will help to keep your heart rate down. Try to keep the inclination as low as possible, and use it as a warm up. Then keep some capacity for the last part of the mountain.” Another option for low intensity training is doing some of your sessions on the bike outdoors or indoors on a bicycle ergometer. With biking it’s easier keeping the intensity low and the heart rate down than while running or ski mountaineering, Susi says. Mix it up If you’re having trouble keeping your heart rate in a low intensity zone on your tours, then mix it up and improve your base fitness by doing low intensity running in flat terrain and cycling. Remember, elite athletes like Kilian Jornet spent years working on their base. There are no shortcuts. Take your time and enjoy the process. Build strength Strength and core training are important for any sports, as they improve physical performance and are a key factor in preventing injuries like ruptures of ligaments in your knee. “With more strength in your legs and core, uphill climbing will get easier,” Susi says. “Do two strength sessions a week with higher loads and don’t forget about core training!” For building up muscles in your legs Susi recommends doing at least three sets of eight to 12 repetitions of: box jumps squats lunges leg press deadlifts hip thrusters Beginners should do these exercises without additional weight. “The more experienced in strength training you get, the more additional weight you may use”, Susi says. Use barbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, weights plates or sandbags to intensify your strength training. If you want to work on your core-stability and upper body d o exercises like push-ups, planking (frontal and side), good mornings, bridging or sit-ups. Check out Susi’s blog for more inspiration on core exercises. The articles are in German, but you can see the images here. Do HIIT training As mentioned, at least 80 % of your endurance training should be done at low intensity at around 70 % of your maximum heart rate. So what about the remaining 20 % of your training volume? For athletes with a long history in low intensity training and for people with an excellent endurance base, high intensity interval training (HIIT) may improve your endurance even more. “Just use a little bit to spice up your long and low intensity sessions, but don’t push it”, Susi cautions. “One or two sessions per week during the preparation for your competition or season highlight are totally fine.” High intensity interval training is characterised by short and intense periods of exercise followed by less intense recovery periods where you continue the exercise with lower intensity. For example, running at maximum speed for one minute followed by easy running for one minute, and repeating this 15 times. “As high intensity interval training is really intense the sessions usually have a shorter duration compared to ordinary and low intensity endurance training,” Susi says. “Keeping it to 25 to 40 minutes of hard intervals is totally fine.” Follow one these HIIT regimens for skimo: 30 x 30 seconds at maximum intensity followed by 30 seconds of active rest at low intensity15 x 1 minutes intervals at maximum intensity followed by 1 minute of active rest8 x 3 minutes intervals at high intensity followed by 3 minutes of active rest (low intensity)5 x 4 minutes intervals at high intensity followed by 3 minutes of active rest4 x 5 minutes at high intensity followed by 5 minutes at low intensity3 x 8 minutes at high intensity followed by 5 minutes at low intensity Note: start your HIIT with a 10 minutes warm-up and a 10 minutes cool down at low intensity. The day after a high intensity session you should schedule a rest day or an easy recovery session. All images: © www.berhasen.com

With Suunto World Vertical Week 2022 around the corner (March 14-20), we reached out to Austrian ski mountaineer, sport scientist and coach Susi Kraft and asked about what goes into getting faster vertically. Susi is one half of the Berghasen, an awesome German-language blog covering everything you need to know about ski touring: training tips, tours, gear and so on. Like many Austrians, Susi grew up in the mountains, began skiing as a child and got into ski touring at university, and more recently trail running. Now the 29-year-old can’t stop. “With sports science I got deep insights into how training really works,” she says. “It made me rethink my own training.” The tendency, Susi says, among endurance athletes is to slip into doing too much high intensity training, even when they know they shouldn’t. And this is further compounded by vertical speed training because climbing steep gradients radically elevates heart rate. Why improving vertical speed is hard “It’s hard to train your aerobic base when you go uphill,” she says. “When your body isn’t used to endurance efforts, your heart rate increases quickly, the intensity gets turned up, your lactate levels start to max, which means the pH value in the body starts to fall. If it gets too low, the muscles and respiration don’t work economically anymore.” On top of this, while doing a lot of high intensity hill training can give short term gains, in the long term it can actually worsen your performance. So how to improve your vertical speed without blowing yourself out? Read on for Susi’s four tips and three training plans below! Susi trains in the mountains around Salzburg. © Berghasen Good things take time Suunto ambassador and mountain athlete Kilian Jornet is the Rolls Royce engine of vertical speed. We’d all like to be able to power uphill like he does. But Susi points something out we easily forget; Kilian got to where he is because he spent a decade or more training his base fitness, and that is achieved through low intensity training, not going overboard on hill repeats. “It takes patience to train your base,” Susi says. “You need a year, five years, or even longer to really accomplish that. The better your training, the better your base, the better your body will be able to handle intense exercise. So take the time to train your body to work economically. When you have a good base, you will be better able to do uphill training!” Embrace the flat This sounds counterintuitive, right? You might be thinking how you’ll ever get better sticking to flat terrain. Susi has a reply: “Flat training is important because it’s not that intense,” she explains. “You should combine terrain – half on flat, half in the hills. World class athletes never stop training their base, they just carefully combine it with more intense sessions.” Build strength If you’re really serious about wanting to improve vertical speed, then there’s no skipping legs day at the gym. Strength training for the lower and upper body are essential to getting faster. “The stronger you are, the easier it becomes,” Susi says. “If you can keep your upper body stable, your legs and arms can work more efficiently. This is really important for pushing uphill for a long time.” Improve your technique “Technique is really important for any sport you’re doing uphill. “You need to find the most economic way to move your body. I suggest practicing your technique on the flat so you can really focus on it without feeling exhausted.” Beginner, advanced and expert training plans Susi suggests following one of these plans for two weeks, then have a rest week with one to two additional rest days. Repeat the plan for several weeks with slowly increasing the length of the sessions after week six. Beginner Monday: Off day Tuesday: Core and mobility training Wednesday: 30 min run before breakfast at low intensity (70 % of your max heart rate). Thursday: Off day Friday: Strength training: legs and upper body Saturday: 30 min running or 40 min cycling at low intensity (70 % of your max heart rate). Sunday: 1,5h biking or 2 h hiking/skimo at low intensity Advanced Monday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Tuesday: Fartlek (interval) workout: 1 km at 60 % of your max heart rate then 1 km at 85 % of your max heart rate. Repeat five times. 10 min easy jog cool down. Wednesday: 45 min run before breakfast at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Thursday: Off day Friday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Saturday: 60 min running or 2 h cycling at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Sunday: 2,5h biking or 3 h hiking/skimo at low intensity Expert Monday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Tuesday: Fartlek (interval) workout: 1 km at 70 % of your max heart rate then 1 km at 85 % of your max heart rate. Repeat five times. 10 min easy jog cool down. Wednesday: 50 min run before breakfast at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Thursday: Off day Friday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Saturday: 80 min running or 2 h cycling at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Sunday: 2,5h biking or 3 h hiking/skimo at low intensity. During the workout: 5x3 min. at 90 % of your maximum heart rate with at least 3 min. of easy jog between the 3 min. intervals Lead images: © Berghasen