Suunto Blog

In this article by Suunto athlete, ultra-runner and diversity champion Ryan Montgomery, he explains allyship and how we can all be good allies in the outdoors. Click here to read Ryan’s previous article on the importance of diversity in the outdoors scene.   By Ryan Montgomery Not everyone feels welcome, nor safe, in the outdoors. Diverse communities—our queer, LGBT, people of color, and peers with disabilities—often experience limitations that prevent them from getting outdoors. Each of us plays a role in eliminating barriers to outdoor spaces for others; being an ally is what will make outdoor recreation safe and accessible for all people.   Photo by Brave Trails, taken at Camp Brave Trails. What is allyship? Allyship: We all have heard this word at work, on social media, and in conversation. Perhaps it seems daunting or even time-consuming. However, when I think of allyship, I think of it as a process over time—a process of learning, action, more learning, and more action. Simply put, becoming an ally for others in the outdoors requires us take an action, using our own varying levels of privilege (which I define as money, knowledge, influence, tools, etc.) to amplify the work and voices of people who historically haven’t had a visible presence in outdoor spaces. When you can start to think of all the tools you have that can be leveraged for allyship, you will begin to realize you have many ways to make an impact right now.   Photo by Latinos Outdoors. What is allyship important? We want everyone to enjoy the experience of the outdoors. With this goal in mind, it’s important to remember that we all experience the outdoors differently. Think about when you pass others on a trail . . . do they smile, make eye contact, or say “hello!” back? Don’t assume these are universal experiences among everyone—they are not. While a lot of us enjoy spending time in nature, it often comes at a price, such as stares and unwanted comments about body weight, skin color, queerness and gender expression, or perceived ability. In more serious situations, the cost of being in outdoor places comes in the form of hostile encounters, racial slurs, or other forms of bullying and acts of discrimination. Allyship is important because it helps stop these negative outdoor experiences becoming a reality among marginalized communities.   Photo by Brave Trails, taken at Camp Brave Trails. How can I be an ally to others? Allyship is action. Yes, there are a lot of different actions you can take to start or develop your allyship. When people ask me how they can start or be a better ally, I suggest these 4 specific ally-building actions: 1 - Speak Up See something, say something. Don’t be afraid to share and talk about allyship. Have the courage to provide others with learning opportunities about diversity in the outdoors and how to be an ally. Speak about the problem at hand and share what you’re learning. This is a low-hanging action that’s simple, yet highly impactful. 2 – Pass the Microphone Highlight or elevate the voices of people who don’t act or look like you, including diverse athletes and outdoor leaders and organizations. Part of allyship is creating more access for marginalized people. If you don’t have a “microphone” to hand over, bring an extra chair, expand the table, or physically give your seat to a marginalized person.   3 – Learn, Don’t Assume You Know Everything: Probably the most important, is to focus on learning. Ask questions. Lead with curiosity. Listen to others’ stories. Learning about others is the foundational block to allyship. There are plenty of learning opportunities online. The Safe Zone Project provided self-guided LGBT ally training as a resource. In addition to The Safe Zone Project, I have enjoyed learning from the following guides, books, and creators: Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney (Book) Whiteness in the Outdoors Guide (Guide) Being an LGBT+ Ally Guide by the Human Rights Campaign (Guide) Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer (Book) Alison Desir, black runner and equity advocate (Creator to follow) 4 - Donate to Support Community Groups If you are privileged financially, consider supporting outdoor affinity or community groups. These groups span across a broad spectrum of non-profits that get communities outside, perform learning and development, or provide education in the outdoor industry and more. Some of my favorite affinity groups and programs that you can support are Brave Trails, Outdoor Afro, and Latino Outdoors. Photo by Brave Trails, taken at Camp Brave Trails. Together, we can make the outdoors thrive Remember that the outdoors teaches us that diversity is necessary for survival—to thrive. If we each do our part, leveraging our own unique privileges to make the outdoors more inclusive for our marginalized communities, then our human ecosystem can truly thrive.   Inspiring organizations and affinity groups to follow and to donate to: Brave Trails Latinos Outdoors Outdoor Afro Melanin Base Camp Brown Girls Climb Natives Outdoors Indigenous Geotags Brown People Camping Unlikely Hikers Fatgirls Hiking Indigenous Women Hike Boccrew Outthereadventures   Lead images by: Latinos Outdoors

Starting this Earth Day, we have partnered with Hammerhead and Komoot to challenge you to #SeeTheAdventureAhead and share your natural wonder, however you explore. Use the hashtag #SeeTheAdventureAhead when you share on Instagram, Facebook, and/or Komoot* before May 11th and we’ll plant a tree for every post, with the goal of planting 10,000 trees with Tree Nation. Trees are key pillars of the world for both humans and the environment. They benefit us by purifying water, air and creating better social conditions. They benefit the environment by providing homes for various forms of life, cooling our climate and improving our soil. To celebrate the wonders of our natural world, get out there and share your natural wonder. We'll plant trees through the VCS certified Eden project in Mozambique for each share! *tag Suunto and Hammerhead when you share on Komoot Find places to explore with Suunto heatmaps Learn more about Tree Nation Learn more about Suunto compatible cycling computer Hammerhead Karoo 2 Main image: @runningphotograph

👉🏼 Follow Sierre-Zinal, the fourth race of the GTWS 2022 season, on Saturday 13th of August from 08:30am CET here or at goldentrailseries.com/gttv/ 👉🏼 Follow Stranda Fjord Trail Race, the third race of the GTWS 2022 season, on Saturday 6th of August from 11:00am CET here or at goldentrailseries.com/gttv/ 👉🏼 Follow Marathon du Mont Blanc, the second race of the GTWS 2022 season, on Sunday 26th of June from 7:00am CET here or at goldentrailseries.com/gttv/ 👉🏼 Follow Zegama, the first race of the GTWS 2022 season, on Sunday 29th of May from 8:30am CET here or at goldentrailseries.com/gttv/ Suunto is proud to be an official partner of the Golden World Trail Series 2022 that’s kicking off on May 29 with the legendary Zegama-Aizkorri trail marathon in Spain, and is followed by five more high profile races around Europe and the US that culminate in a grand finale on the island of Madeira. “We are thrilled to partner with the Golden Trail World Series and be part of the most exciting trail races of the summer,” says Antti Laiho, Suunto global brand marketing manager. “With the new SuuntoPlus Race guides we can also support the competitors in a new, helpful way.” What makes it special These iconic races are the ones every runner wants to experience. This, and a clear and simple format where each runner’s best three results from the six races count, make the series easier for the public to follow and get behind. Each year the Golden Trail World Series will choose a very special race for the Grand Final In 2022, the top 30 men and women from the overall ranking after the sixth race will be invited to the Madeira Ocean Trails stage race grand final. This guarantees epic action until the very last finish line. Supported by Salomon, the series is special in many other ways. “In trail running nowadays there are many series, world championships, the European championship and so on so nobody really knows what is going on,” says Philipp Reiter, the Global Community Manager Salomon - Trailrunning. “The Golden Trail World Series is different because it has the best athlete field in the world and supports athletes regardless of brand sponsor to join the competition, it pays travel expenses to get them to the races and there is equality between men and women in terms of prize money, visibility, media coverage, which is pretty unique. And the prize money is really high. The goal of the series is to bring trail running to a larger audience and to grow the sport, not just promoting it to the core community as is the case so often.” The seven races Tune in or sign up for the world’s biggest trail running show! 29th May: Zegama-Aizkorri, Spain 26th June: Marathon du Mont-Blanc, France 6th August: Stranda Fjord Trail Race, Norway 13th August: Sierre-Zinal, Switzerland 17th September: Pikes Peak Ascent, USA 25th September: Flagstaff Sky Peaks, USA 26th to 30 October: Grand Final, Madeira Ocean Trails®, Madeira. Sign up and follow real-time race guidance during the GTWS races! With the help of SuuntoPlus Guides, we will guide you through your Golden Trail World Series race. Before starting a trail running sport mode on the start line of the race, go down to exercise options and select the correct Race Guide in the SuuntoPlus Guides menu. Start the workout and you will see race course information like climbs, feed zones, control points and more in real-time during the race. Swipe left to see the guidance screen. Learn more about SuuntoPlus Guides here. All images: © Jordi Saragossa

Watch how Philipp and Adrian's project unfolded! Reaching the summit of Mont Blanc took everything Philipp and Adrian had in the tank. They began their climb of the highest mountain in the European Alps at 01:30 AM and, even though they had worked on acclimatization, they suffered on their way up and faced icy conditions. The ski down, involving crossing crevasses, took a brutal three hours. “When we arrived back at the car 11 hours and 30 minutes after we had set out we were both super done,” Philipp says. “We both had headaches and had to travel by car for two and a half hours to Zermatt, sleep for two to three hours and get up at 2 AM to start over again to climb Dufourspitze. “It was crazy, because for many mountaineers just doing one of the highest summits in the Alps is a big achievement, but we climbed seven in five days. For me, it’s still unbelievable because it happened so quickly that it hasn’t really sunk in yet.” The 7 summits project They started their adventure on March 26 at 06:00 AM, first climbing Italy’s Gran Paradiso. The goal was to climb the highest summit in each of the seven alpine nations - Italy, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia - in seven days. However, weather forecasts predicted snow and harsh conditions on the last two peaks, leaving Philipp and Adrian no choice but to do all seven summits in five days, in this order: March 26: Gran Paradiso (4061 m), Italy. March 27: Mont Blanc (4807 m), France.March 28: Dufourspitze (4634 m), Switzerland.March 29: Vorder Grauspitz (2599 m), Liechtenstein.March 29: Zugspitze (2962 m), Germany.March 30: Grossglockner (3798 m), Austria.March 30: Triglav (2864 m), Slovenia. The project was a year in the making and originally involved a team of four, but a sickness and a death in one of the team’s families meant two of the four had to withdraw at the last minute, leaving Philipp and Adrian to scramble to keep the project from collapsing. To avoid piling pressure on themselves, they decided to keep their goal quiet until they reached the summit of Liechtenstein’s Vorderer Grauspitz. Battling the conditions and sleep deprivation They realized they needed to climb all seven summits in five days rather than seven after climbing Vorder Grauspitz and seeing a weather forecast predicting snow in the Alps. At that point, it was full steam ahead, with little time for rest and recovery. They only slept 14 hours over the five days, which included napping in the car - with damp clothes and cold bones - while driving from one mountain to the next. “We had to be really focused because of the route navigation,” Philipp says. “We followed the tracks on our Suunto watches. This helped a lot because it gave us confidence and saved time.” The stats 187 km17,001 m 111h40m All images: © Philipp Reiter

Available for free on Training Peaks, a Suunto training plan designed by former world champion mountain runner Max King is designed to prepare trail runners for a 20 to 50 km race with 1500 m+ of vertical ascent. Trail runners at any level can benefit from it, but it’s best suited to those with some trail experience who are looking for the next challenge. With the help of SuuntoPlus Guides, you can now follow this training plan on your Suunto watch. When your Suunto app and Training Peaks accounts are connected, the workouts planned in TrainingPeaks will appear automatically in your watch, ready for real-time guidance. This is especially useful with structured workouts, like the hill workout in this program that has uphill intervals of various durations. Learn more about SuuntoPlus Guides here. “A moderate level trail athlete with some base fitness will be able to handle the challenge of the increasing vertical and volume,” says Max, the winner of the 2011 World Mountain Running Championships. “The important thing with this training program, like any program, is to listen to your body. It’s easy to overdo the amount of vertical gain if you’re a fit athlete, but your body isn’t used to how hard it has to work to go uphill or the increased pounding it takes on the downhill. Be careful of small injuries that creep in. Take care of them with self massage and rolling so they don’t become a bigger issue.” Max, 42, is a professional coach and organizes trail running camps in the US. He’s currently preparing for his own busy racing season, including the Breakneck Point Trail Marathon in New York in April to try to qualify for the US National Mountain Running Team. Then he’s heading to Spain to compete in the Zegama Marathon in Spain to kick off the Golden Trail Series. “My philosophy in training is that running is running and as long as you lay a good foundation of base work then you’ll be able to accomplish anything with a little specific work,” Max says. “Hard work and smart decisions result in accomplished goals. This plan is meant to take that good base fitness and apply specific mountain skills to round out an athlete to be able to accomplish a mountain race.” Get going with Max’s training plan here! All images: © Luke Webster Learn how to get started with SuuntoPlus Guides from TrainingPeaks

One of the reasons we’ve continued pushing World Vertical Week every year since its inauguration in 2016 is because it brings out the best in our Suunto community. People get outside more and push themselves, and many do some truly big days. The World Vertical Week competition captures some of the best of it. We look forward to scrolling through all the images the community shares and tags via #verticalweek. Thanks to everyone who participated in this spring 2022 edition. As always, we selected three winners who will each receive a Suunto 9 Peak. Congratulations! And the winners are … Everesting the Bastille in Grenoble You can’t get a much bigger day than what @danielott_atalps pulled off in Grenoble, France. He competed in the second edition of the Everstille 2022 and was one of four people who climbed the Bastille hill above the city 33 times, adding to 8848 m, the height of Mt Everest. “I read about Suunto vertical week last year and was fascinated by the concept of trying to accumulate as much elevation as possible,” Daniel says. “I wanted to participate then, but it always fell on the week of my exams, so I couldn't participate. This year, I was thrilled that the Everstille, the everesting race I did, fell in the time frame of the vertical week, so I signed up immediately. “Everestille is a race organized by Tri-Haut, an association based in Grenoble that aims to improve the waste management in the Khumbu Region below Everest. The goal of the race is to run the Bastille, as many times as possible.” Love in the Swedish mountains Mother Nature turned it on for @josefintrogen on a ski trip in the Sälen ski resort in Sweden. It was the first time she participated in World Vertical Week and probably won’t be her last. “We went cross-country skiing and downhill-skiing and it was a perfect weekend with sunshine, snow and what we call ‘Sweden’s fifth season’ or ‘spring-winter’,” Josefin explains. “It basically means there’s still enough snow to go skiing without problems, but warm enough to ski in a base layer only (this weekend it was about +10°C). Every day we bought soup for lunch and made a couch in the snow to enjoy it out in the sun before continuing our tour.” Passionate mum and daughter skimo team Her first Vertical Week, @monivieregg took her six-year-old daughter out into the Bavarian mountains on a skimo tour. The ascent is always challenging because Monika has a small frame and pulling her 20 kg daughter up the mountain behind takes everything she’s got. “We life very close to the Alps and the tour in the pic was at a former ski slope, called Blickner Alm at the Hochfelln,” Monika says. “My daughter really loves skiing uphill and she did a very, very good job downhill. At every carve she did I could hear a ‘hui’, ‘nice’ and ‘yipee’. She had a few falls, but after every one she got up and told me nothing happened, ‘keep going faster I want to ski on’. We both are really satisfied after a tour and we look forward to the next one.”