The Grand Raid de la Réunion, also known as the Diagonale des Fous (the course of crazies) is considered one of the toughest ultras in the world – with good reason. It's 172 km with 9,000 m of ascent. This year the race was won by Salomon athlete François D’Haene. He recorded the race with his Suunto Ambit3 Peak and the results can be seen via his Suunto Movie, below. Naturally, we think François' movie is so impressive it has to be shared, as it follows his progress for 24 hours as he crosses the island. The result itself is also impressive, being the third major ultra win for François this year after he won the Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji and Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. The Diagonale took place in October in wet conditions. He completed it in just 24:25:02 hours, making it the second year in a row he’s come out top. François D’Haene during the 2014 Diagonale des Fous. The Diagonale des Fous gets its name from the route it takes – roughly diagonally across the island – and is so difficult it’s considered ‘fit for fools’. This year, it had to be re-routed around a landslide making it nine kilometers longer. It’s the final stop of the Ultra-Trail World Tour and attracts top-end runners looking for adventure on a far-off, island. Suunto ambassador Kilian Jornet, who did not take part this year, is a previous winner. All images © Franck Oddoux

On just the first day of Suunto Vertical Blue seven freediving records were set! Here is a peek at the South American record set by Carlos Coste of Venezuela (64m CNF), along with national records by Mateusz Malina of Poland (113m FIM), and Samo Jeranko of Slovenia (102m CWT). Enjoy!

Today is day 1 of Suunto Vertical Blue and it looks like it's going to kick off in style. There will be 11 national record attempts with an average depth of 71 meters!!! The day should end with some huge annoucements, says organizer Will Trubridge. For the latest results, check out the official event Facebook page. In the meantime, enjoy the video below.

Kilian Jornet is well known for his superhuman running and mountaineering achievements. From 100 milers to the vertical kilometer, from World Cup ski-mountaineering races to record ascents of alpine peaks, he blazes a trail wherever he goes. But the Suunto ambassador has just been recognized for something else – his writing skills. Kilian's book, Run or Die was shortlisted for the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year literary prize in the UK. “I never expected this – I'm not a writer,” says Kilian. “I just wrote the book to share what I feel when I'm running but it's so nice to be recognized.” In Run or Die Kilian describes his record-breaking runs at Lake Tahoe, Western States 100, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, and his record ascent of Kilimanjaro. It's not the only prize the athlete has scooped. Déjame Vivir, the film of his speed ascents on Mt Blanc and the Matterhorn has just won ‘Best Adventure & Exploration Film’ at the 2014 Kendal Mountain Festival. The film, which was made by renowned mountain film-maker Sébastien Montaz, follows Kilian during his Summits of My Life project.“I just had my part in that film but credit goes to all the people like Seb who made a really good job on this film. It's nice, the response of the public when we show the film,” he adds. “They are inspired and motivated and that's the most important thing.”Run or Die is available in English, French, Spanish and Catalan. Go to Kilian's website for more details.

Freediving is a sport that pushes the limits of human possibility. Divers descend to incredible depths of the ocean – all in a single breath. From November 27th to December 5th, the world’s top freedivers will gather in the Bahamas for one of the largest freediving competitions – the Suunto Vertical Blue. Founded and organized by record-breaking freediver William Trubridge, the invitational competition will see 35 divers from 19 countries compete at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Plunging to a depth of more than 200 meters, Dean’s Blue Hole has a reputation for being one of the greatest freediving locations on the planet. Its deep, warm and calm waters provide freedivers with the perfect environment to attempt to break national and world records, or exceed their own personal bests. This year, Alexey Molchanov and William Trubridge will renew a rivalry that has intensified over the last couple of years. Between them they hold the current world records in the sport’s most popular depth disciplines. Trubridge is looking to improve on his world record 2010 CNF dive to 101 m. “It's the purest discipline,” he says.As for the ladies, the competition between Misuzu "Mimi" Okamoto and Tomoka Fukuda will be one to watch – they were both on the Japanese national team along with Hanako Rose – who took gold at this year's World Championships in Italy. Says organizer William Trubridge: “This year's Suunto Vertical Blue promises to be another gripping event. The beauty of the event is that every athlete gets up to six attempts, so they can build up to huge performances and record attempts, or try to consolidate across all three disciplines for the overall prize. This is a recipe for nail-biting finishes and monster performances in the world's best freediving location.”Says Joan Sola, global sports and community marketing manager for Suunto: “We are pleased once again to be a partner of Suunto Vertical Blue, which brings together the world's top freedivers. Whether pushing the boundaries of human possibility or their own potential, it is an amazing festival of freediving. Suunto has worked with William for a number of years and we are proud to support him in his many record-breaking dives.” We will be updating these pages regularly with the latest news from Dean's Blue Hole. You can also follow live on the official Vertical Blue Facebook page.

Mountain guide Fabien Meyer offers some tips on how you can use the altimeter function to better understand the weather and how to use the compass to navigate. Don't become fixated by knowing your exact altitude and re-calibrating every ten minutes. “Don't be obsessed about it,” says Meyer. “It's more important to understand what's going on with the pressure.”“If you get an altimetric increase of altitude while you're at the same height, the atmospheric pressure is going down,” he says. “A big advantage is the new Fused Alti technology: it calibrates your altimeter with GPS, so you can follow the evolution of the pressure even as you move vertically, so long as the sky is clear,” he adds.  Click here to find out how the Track back feature can help you navigate safely Understand how pressure works: “When you're at sea level a difference of 1hPa is equal to approximately 7m. At the summit of Everest it's about 10m. For example, say you calibrate at 2,000m and climb to a 4,000m peak but your Ambit says 4,200 m, you know there's been a drop of approx 20hPa. That's a big drop and you should turn around. Especially if you notice humidity in the air.”Use the compass“It's very important to have a compass especially when you still do not need it ;-).” says Meyer. “The Ambit compass is very accurate and you won't leave it at home because it is on your wrist. It's very quick to orientate yourself and gain the right direction. Check often “There are lots of different configurations, in all of them, I try to minimize my dependence on electronic gear. For me the safest when it is serious (no visibility and dangerous terrain) is to check my position every 1 to 30 minutes (depending how dangerous the terrain is) and to fix a bearing that I follow during each stage. “Even if your watch bearing is accurate and safe you don't need 100% accuracy with bearings. In bad weather, if you're glued to a screen you may end up in a crevasse! It's better to check your position often and do lots of little bearings rather than follow a straight line – you're not a sailor.” Use the bearing lockUsing this, you can take a bearing to the next waypoint and off you follow. The track back is also a very useful feature and when it is turning bad it gives you a solution in any circumstances, serious or not, but don’t forget it doesn't work on steep terrain.Want to go ice-climbing with Fabien Meyer? He will be one of several guides at the Cogne Ice Opening in December. Click here for more details.