Austrian adventurer, pilot and athlete Paul Gauschlbauer can’t believe come June 20 he’ll be competing in Red Bull X-Alps for the sixth time, and again chasing the Eagle across the Alps. “It means I’ve experienced more than 50 percent of the race’s history, which seems crazy somehow,” he says. “I have really lived and developed along with that race.” © Nico Holzmeyer   Making a tough race tougher The 37-year-old Suunto athlete landed in third place in the last three editions of the hike and paragliding race that starts in Salzburg and has, until now, ended on the Mediterranean Sea in Monaco. He is continuing to chase the Eagle, aka Chrigel Maurer, the generational paragliding talent that has won every race since 2009, and seems unassailable in his dominance. But perhaps the 10th edition will challenge him in new ways. The race organizers – always looking for fresh ways to make the race tougher – have implemented what Paul says is the biggest change in race history; instead of making their way from alpine peaks to the Mediterranean Sea, the 33 competitors will travel a full circle starting in Salzburg, to Mont Blanc and then ending back in the waters of Zell am See, Austria. “I think it’s tougher to make it to the goal because it’s longer,” Paul says. “We are always staying up in the high mountains. I always had the feeling in previous races that once we made it to Mont Blanc we’d basically already made it to Monaco, because the last stage was usually really fast, no more than a day from Mont Blanc down to the sea. Now we are arriving at Mont Blanc and we have to do the same thing one more time. It’s going to be really challenging.”   © wisthaler.com   The longest Red Bull X-Alps ever At 1,238 km, it’s the longest route in the race’s history, 100km further than 2019. “It’s a new chapter for the Red Bull X-Alps,” says race director Christoph Weber. “The race committee wanted to make the tenth edition of the race one to remember so we decided to break away from the past and design a completely new route; a route where athletes will be geographically closer together. The days when lead athletes enjoyed good conditions at the front while those further back suffered bad weather is less likely as they’ll all be experiencing the same weather. That will add an interesting dynamic to race.” One watch for every kilometer Suunto and Red Bull X-Alps have a long history of working together to help athletes push their limits. To celebrate the 10th and longest edition of the race, we are launching 1238 Suunto 9 Baro Titanium Red Bull X-Alps Limited Edition watches – one for each kilometre of the race. This rare watch has a titanium bezel with Red Bull X-Alps Limited Edition text on both sides and red ink-fill on top. Each one is numbered with a corresponding kilometre of the race. The Special Edition watch has a blue textile quick-release strap in two lengths with a Red Bull X-Alps and Suunto logo. An additional dual color silicone strap is included in the box. Snap one up here!    COVID-19 challenge Paul and his support person are currently training hard to prepare for the race. The COVID-19 pandemic has made preparation more challenging – Paul and his whole family came down with virus and all fortunately recovered. “I've had a hard time preparing because there was really no assurance that we were really going to race at all, he says. “Now I hope it won’t affect the race anymore.”   © Nico Holtzmeyer   Follow the incredible action live With Red Bull X-Alps you can count on every single day involving rocky ascents, dizzying flights and crucial, strategic decisions – a challenge for both body and mind. With a more demanding route than ever before, Red Bull X-Alps 2021 will be full of drama, adventure, and high-alpine action. The winner will need to be smart, strong, a master of both planning and reactivity – and have a little bit of luck. Tune in to the race along with millions of fans via its Live Tracking! Find an athlete from your country and support them from afar!    Lead images: © Nico Holzmeyer

The key aspect of progressing in your fitness is your ability to increase your training load over a longer period of time. The variables you can play with are training frequency, duration and intensity. With long-term analysis tools powered by TrainingPeaks you can now manage your training better than ever. To get started with the graphs it is important to understand the basics: Every workout gets a Training Stress Score (TSS) that is based on the intensity and duration of the workout. That’s the base for calculating training load for both short and long-time averages. Training Stress Score (TSS) is based on your anaerobic threshold power, but it can also be calculated based on your threshold heart rate or your threshold running pace. You can learn more about TSS values here. These single activities with their automatically calculated TSS values are then used to show your long-term training load. This long-term load is called Chronic Training Load (CTL) or simply “Fitness”. It is a 42-day weighted average of your TSS. The more you train – the more TSS you accumulate in your training – the higher your fitness is. While your long-term load is shown as “Fitness”, the short-term training load is called “Fatigue” or Acute Training Load (ATL). Fatigue is a 7-day weighted average of your TSS. When increasing training load your fatigue increases faster than fitness. These two values, fitness and fatigue, are shown in the upper graph in your Suunto app’s Diary’s ‘Progress’ view. The lower graph shows your “Form”, or Training Stress Balance. Form is basically the difference between long-term, chronic training load (CTL) and short-term, acute training load (ATL). This graph helps you understand if you are training in a way that is progressive or not. Too much load and you are too tired, too little and you are not moving forward. In Suunto app the Form graph is divided into four areas: losing fitness, maintaining fitness, productive training and going too hard. When your long-term, chronic training load is quite a bit higher than your acute, short-term load, you will start to lose fitness. Short-term hitting this area is good, for example when you want to be fresh for a race. However, training easier than you are used to for a longer time, will lead you to losing your fitness. When your current training is roughly in balance with what you are used to doing, you’ll be maintaining your fitness. To improve, add variety and load in your training. Adding more load will take you to the productive training phase: your fitness and fatigue are increasing in a manageable way. This means you are adding load but not too much compared to what you are used to doing. If you push too hard and add a lot of training stress compared to your long-term load, your form will drop. This will increase risk of illness and injury and hinder your improvements. Take a step back and allow your body to recover. Adjust the time frame When viewing the long-term analyses graphs, you can change the time perspective. Really long-term trends can be seen in the yearly view, that shows the latest four years of your training. In the monthly view you will see the latest 13 months and can easily compare your loads to a year ago, for example. The weekly view with the latest 26 weeks and the daily view with the latest 41 days are more appropriate for managing your current training loads. If you want to plan your training and see how the graphs will evolve, you can do that with TrainingPeaks’ Performance Management Chart. The activities you track with your Suunto can be automatically synced to TrainingPeaks so you can also use their advanced tools for managing and planning your training. As part of Suunto Value Pack you can get 30 days of TrainingPeaks Premium for free. Four examples of training load To make it easier for you to understand what to look for in the graphs, here are four different scenarios: Example 1: Overload This graph shows the impacts of a two-week training camp: The training load increases quickly, and at the same time the training stress balance drops very low. In this case the CTL before the camp was 66 and was pushed to 93. At the same time the training stress balance dropped to -79. These low numbers increase the risk of illness and injury. In this case, the training camp was followed by a recovery week that brought the training stress balance close to zero. Chronic training load still remained at an elevated level (close to 90), so the training camp had a positive impact on this athlete’s fitness. Example 2: Race In this graph race preparation is going nicely: The long-term training load is increasing over a long period of time meaning “fitness” is getting better. As the event gets closer, training gets lighter, fatigue goes down and the training stress balance, “form” goes up. The athlete is fresh for the big day. Example 3: Illness This graph illustrates the effects of an illness (or other break in training). At first training is going smoothly as CTL is ramping up, but then training stops for one week. ATL goes down quickly and also CTL gets lower. After the break the athlete starts training again gently. It takes about three weeks before her CTL/Fitness starts to be close to the same level she had before the break in training. Example 4: Normal This graph illustrates what quite a typical training load graph for an active person may look like: The long-term load is on a fairly good level, but not ramping up. To improve fitness, one needs to add load. Read more Training with TSS and hrTSS Training stress score in Suunto app 3 TrainingPeaks training metrics to adjust your running on the go View TSS and other power-based cycling metrics in real-time Figure out your training zones Main image: © Roger Salanova / Suunto

Training load is an essential metric of goal-oriented training. Gradually increasing load will improve fitness and performance. Suunto app quantifies training load using Training Peaks’ Training Stress Score, also known as TSS. The idea of quantifying training stress was first introduced by E.W. Banister and his research colleagues in 1975. Their model is called “Training Impulse'' (TRIMP). TRIMP is calculated using heart rate and duration: a short but intense workout got a higher score than a longer, easier workout. Since then several different training load models with the same basic principle have been developed: Quantify the training load by taking into consideration the workout duration and intensity. The most well-known training load metric is Training Peaks’ Training Stress Score, TSS™. Also Suunto app uses TSS to quantify training load. TSS is calculated based on duration and power-based intensity. (When calculating intensity, anaerobic threshold power, normalised power and intensity factor are taken into account. Learn more about the details here.) To get a better understanding of the TSS values, it is good to know that a one-hour time trial effort equals 100 TSS. At the same time a three-hour easy bike ride can accumulate the same amount of training stress. As said before, the value always depends on the intensity and duration of the effort.   TSS can be based on power, pace or heart rate While TSS is originally calculated based on anaerobic threshold power, it can also be based on threshold heart rate or threshold running pace. The suitable TSS calculation method depends on the activity type and data available. Suunto app chooses the method and calculates the TSS automatically. Usually heart rate data is used, but in activities like running and swimming TSS is calculated based on threshold pace and in cycling threshold power. If there are no measurements available, then Suunto app calculates TSS based on a statistical MET (metabolic equivalent) value. The MET based calculation only considers the duration and the activity type and gives a very rough approximation of the TSS. In order to get good quality TSS metrics, use Suunto heart rate, power or pace. TSS values in Suunto app TSS (r) –- Running pace TSS (hr) – Heart rate TSS (p) – Power TSS (s) – Swimming pace TSS (met) – MET base TSS- – user has edited the value manually   Correct anaerobic threshold is key Since TSS is based on workout intensity, your intensity zones need to be correctly set up in your Suunto watch. Suunto has five different zones where the upper limit of zone 4 should be your anaerobic threshold. The default zones in your watch are based on heart rate, but you can also set up advanced zones for running (based on heart rate or pace) and cycling (based on heart rate or power). Adjust your intensity zones on your Suunto 3, Suunto 5 or Suunto 9 at ‘Settings’ -> ‘Training’ -> ‘Intensity zones’. There are basically three ways to define your heart rate zones: an estimate based on your max heart rate, a field test and a lab test. Learn more about intensity zones and about defining them in this article.   TSS quantifies also the long-term training load When each of your workouts has a Training Stress Score calculated, long term values can be derived from this. Suunto app Diary’s ‘Progress’ view tracks your training load over time and helps you keep your training in balance – whether that means progress, maintaining your fitness or avoiding over-training. You will be able to see the long-term load as Cumulative Training Load (CTL) and short-term load as Acute Training Load (ATL). When your CTL and ATL are compared, you will get Training Stress Balance (TSB) that helps you follow changes in your freshness or “form”. Learn more about long-term training load analyses here.   Read more Training with TSS and hrTSS Understand and manage your training load with Suunto app 3 TrainingPeaks training metrics to adjust your running on the go View TSS and other power-based cycling metrics in real-time Figure out your training zones   Reference E.W. Banister, T.W. Calvert, M.V. Savage, T. Bach. A systems model of training for athletic performance. Australian Journal of Sports Medicine, (1975) 7:57-61. Lead image: © Matti Bernitz/Suunto  

Childhood buddies Philipp Reiter and Martin Schidlowski set off bikepacking from Berchtesgaden in south Germany yesteday following the same historic journey undertaken 85 years ago by German climbers and friends Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser. In 1936, early in the Nazi period, Kurz and Hinterstoisser deserted from the German military, and under the cover of darkness began cycling from Berchtesgaden to the base of Eiger in Switzerland, some 600 km away. Their goal? To become the first climbing team to solve the last unsolved climbing problem in the Alps – the sheer, unforgiving North Face of the Eiger (3967 m). However, their climb ended in tragedy, with both climbers, and two Austrian climbers all dying on the wall. The tragic story was captured in the 2008 film, North Face. “What is cool for me is we will get a little glimpse of an idea of how tough it was and what challenges Kurz and Hinterstoisserand had to face,” Philipp says. “It’s cool to discover how it really was for them.” The intimidating North Face of Eiger. © Wikimedia Commons User: Terra3 / CC BY-SA 3.0 Philipp and Martin, both Berchtesgaden locals, are undertaking the same journey, with the aim of summitting Eiger via the North Face, to experience firsthand what their compatriots went through. It will take them three days to cycle 600 km, with 6000 m of vertical gain, to reach Grindelwald Valley and the base of the face where they will attempt the 1600 m vertical climb. A snow dump made the first day a tough ride. @ Nicolas Holtzmeyer Philipp, a photographer, alpinist and history enthusiast, and Martin, a climber and mountain guide, have been friends since childhood, and having been going on adventures together since 2006. Each year they try to share one adventure that combines endurance and mountaineering. “Martin is totally not into biking,” Philipp says. “I’m more experienced with biking, and he’s expert in climbing. We make a good team. He’s afraid of the long bike ride, and I’m afraid of the challenging climb. This will be my biggest alpine project. It’s 1600 m straight up!” The two friends will track their journey with Suunto watches and provide live updates via Suunto Instagram. @ Nicolas Holtzmeyer This isn’t the first history focused adventure Philipp has initiated. In 2020, he and some friends did a relay run of the 850 km front line where Austrian and Italian troops battled during the First World War. In 2019, Philipp and his friends did the same on the 1400 km border that once divided Germany. “Back in 1936 it was the Germans against the Austrians, and the Austrians against the Italians,” Philipp continues. “Climbing teams from each country wanted to become the first to scale the North Face. It created a super big hype, like the equivalant of a Superbowl TV broadcast.” Philipp and Martin won’t have to cope with any competition or a medic circus, but a Bavarian television crew will follow them to document the historic journey. You can follow them on Suunto Instagram!

Once a pure runner, who won ultra races across the US, an injury in 2011 transformed Anton Krupicka into a passionate multisport athlete who thrives on human powered adventure. “There is something special and empowering about doing everything yourself – not relying on a motor vehicle – and as a multi-sport athlete, I love combining sports into one big outing,” Anton says. “For instance, riding my bike to climb at the local crag, or riding my bike on a tour to link up a series of mountains on foot, or even riding my bike from my doorstep to climb and ski a local mountain. I like the logistical challenge and the need to refine my systems to be as functional and simple as possible.” Anton’s passion for mixed sport adventure hasn’t diminished his love of racing, however. “Pushing your hardest is such a unique life experience, and I find that I’m only able to do that in a race environment,” he says. “Competition, at its essence, is everyone working together towards a common goal to bring out the best in each other. It’s a beautiful, painful, connecting experience. When it goes well, there’s euphoria. When it doesn’t go well, there is an unparalleled opportunity for learning and growth. I think racing is so valuable, no matter where you finish in the results. As such, I hope to do it my whole life.” Anton, now 37, began racing early in life. Originally hailing from Nebraska, he became a runner at 11, and 18 months later ran his first marathon. The thrill of pushing his limits led from one challenge to another, and 10 years later he ran his first ultra marathon, the Leadville 100, and the experience changed his life. “It gave me a fundamental confidence I could do anything if I tried hard enough,” Anton says. In 2011, at the height of his ultra powers, Anton broke his leg while running, putting his career on hold. But it was a blessing in disguise because it gave him the time and inspiration to explore sports he hadn’t had the opportunity to try before – climbing, cycling and skiing. “I never had the confidence to pursue these other sports when I was younger,” Anton says. “Now, for the past 10 years, I would say I have been as enthusiastic a climber as I am a runner (though not as successful, of course!), and for the last six years I’ve also devoted a lot of time to cycling and skiing, depending on if it’s summer or winter. These have grown to become as important and indispensable to me as an athlete and a human as running has been for the past 26 years.” Now based in Boulder, Colorado, Anton is always cooking up new adventures. His favorite usually involves mixing cycling with mountaineering. He enjoys cycling from mountain to mountain and climbing them on foot. With his love of pushing hard, bikepacking races are also on the cards in the near future. “My ideal adventure probably has some element of speed included in it, I don’t think records are necessarily interesting in and of themselves. However, I do think trying your hardest puts a unique demand on you and shapes the experience in a positive way. Trying to go fast demands that you are focused and skilled and it puts me in a mindset I find very enjoyable and an enormous privilege. Trying my best – pushing towards my personal limits – is the best way for me to grow and learn new things. There has to be some chance of failure and challenge for growth to occur.” Whatever Anton does, trail running, bikepacking, mountaineering, skiing, he keeps meticulous training logs, and has been doing so since 1995. He’s been using Suunto watches since 2015, which he says are fundamental to his athletic life. He started with a Suunto Core, switched to an Ambit3 Peak, and now uses a Suunto 9 Baro. “I use my Suunto 9 to take splits on regular training routes, check the altitude and elevation gain, track distance, and with the advanced GPS technology available now I even use it for navigation in unknown terrain. I always have my Suunto with me!” All images by Joey Schusler

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