Over the last few months Antti Autti has been doing one of his favorite things: pouring over maps of northern Norway, Sweden and Finland looking for contours that suggest there’s an incredible line there waiting for him to freeride. After identifying a number of candidates, he developed a plan for the second season of his Arctic Lines project; the goal of which is to hike and ride 30 iconic backcountry lines north of the Arctic Circle. Each trip is carefully measured against the two guiding values of the project: safety and sustainability. Antti will soon set off into the frigid Nordic north to try to get in a trip or two before the polar night descends, and the sun no longer rises above the horizon. We caught up with him just before he left and asked him to take us through his planning process and how he keeps he and his team safe while also trying to minimize the project’s carbon footprint. Watch each episode of Arctic Lines as it drops here!   Route planning on the go with Suunto app.   Step 1: Study the maps This is where it all begins. Antti uses Suunto app and FATMAP to study an area, become familiar with the terrain and to look for features that suggest there’s a line worth riding. Using 3D maps on Suunto app, he tries to find what might be aesthetically interesting or unique, and then looks at how to approach it safely, the nearest road end and town. “I’ve been using Suunto app a lot, with the new satellite images, to get an idea of whether the line has potential or not,” Antti says. “We also use the heatmap to see how people have been moving in the area as this can help us to find the right route. Having a 3D map means we can think about what the line will look like and that’s an important part of the planning.”   Step 2: Selecting a line “It’s a creative process,” Antti explains. “It really comes down to the feeling I get when I look at it on the map. If the line makes me curious about how it would feel to snowboard down it, then I know it might be interesting to do. It also has to have a sense of challenge. The exploration, steepness, length of tour, the lack of sunlight, lack of daylight, these are challenges you have to plan around and this makes it more interesting.” Step 3: Getting feedback On each trip of Arctic Lines, there’s a team of three or four who accompany Antti: a videographer, someone he rides with, and a safety person. Once Antti has selected a potential line he shares it with his team and asks for their feedback. How would we film this trip? Is it too remote? Does it look too gnarly? Would this be fun? “We create a GPX file, based on maps in Suunto app, and send it to my crew for feedback,” Antti says. “They let me know what would be good for them.” Learn how to import GPX files in Suunto app for iOS and for Android.   "Having a 3D map means we can think about what the line will look like and that’s an important part of the planning," Antti says.   Step 4: Evaluating snow and weather Once Antti and his crew have decided on a line, the next step is determining what conditions they’d like to do it in. “We have three options,” Antti says. “A stable snowpack with very good quality snow, but poor weather or, alternatively, sunny weather and an unstable snowpack or great weather and a stable snowpack. There are just a handful of days when everything is sort of perfect.” With a stable snowpack we have the chance to try something with more risk, like a couloir. We can do that in grey weather or in a snowstorm. If we go in sunny weather, we might have a less stable snowpack, but because we can see risky pockets it’s easy to avoid them. But if the snow cover is really unstable - if there’s a chance of triggering a big avalanche - everything is off. But if we know we can avoid those locations then we can keep going. Route choice is super important.” Step 5: Factoring in the crew With a sense of the snow conditions, the route and the risk involved, Antti then factors in who he will be skiing with and who will be in the crew, and whether they all have the level of experience, skill and endurance fitness to pull it off. “If we have a big mission in the interior, I can’t take a less experienced person with me,” he says. “It’s important to know everyone’s experience level, and their mental and physical condition.”   Once Antti has planned a route on Suunto app he shares it with his crew.   Step 6: Balancing safety and sustainability These two guiding values are in tension with one another. What’s safer is often less sustainable and vice versa. “If it’s a 30 to 50 km approach, then we have to have a super strong crew because that’s a 100 km round trip,” Antti says. “You have to be physically and mentally strong to do it. If there’s even the smallest chance one person isn’t fit for it, then we might have to use alternative options, like snowmobiles. Sustainability is hugely important, but sometimes we have to compromise for the sake of safety.” Step 7: Deciding on Plan B This involves considering the snow and weather conditions, the available time window, and deciding the best way in and to the top of the line. It’s smart to map out the Plan B route on Suunto app and share it with the rest of the team. “If there’s too much time pressure we might just cancel because that’s when mistakes can get made,” Antti says. Step 8: Scout day “To get a better idea about the situation, I don’t go straight into the line,” Antti says. “I will take my time to plan. Then we have the basic ideas, but we still have to take a look and build up the confidence by knowing the pack and understanding as much as we can.” Check out Antti’s Arctic Lines adventures here!   All images by Jaakko Posti

Watch as Kilian Jornet explores epic Norwegian landscapes to find the perfect spot to break the fastest known time – or "FKT" – of a Vertical Kilometer held by Philip Gotsch. Philip's time is under 29 minutes! Images by Matti Bernitz

Growing up in the wild forests of north-east Sweden, Suunto ambassador and mountain runner Emelie Forsberg formed a deep, enduring relationship with natural places and a desire to explore and protect them. After recently giving birth to her second daughter, she has gradually returned to running and training, and aims to race again soon. Her other great passion in life is working with the earth and understanding natural systems. The former sky running world champion, mother of two and avid gardener is passionate about sustainable living and minimizes her household’s environmental impacts. “The most important thing in life is to live sustainably in all ways, in relation to myself and the goals I have, with nature, and my children,” Emelie says. “I think everything is connected. Of course the biggest concern is to take care of the planet we live on.” With sustainability and climate change urgent topics, with grave implications for humanity, we caught up with Emelie to talk about her approach to it. Read below for her principles. Learn about Suunto's approach to sustainability Emelie collecting berries for the freezer to last over winter. Follow the four ‘R’s Emelie first learned about these 30 years ago when she was in kindergarten. Now, they are more important than ever. The four ‘R’s are: reuse, reduce, refuse and recycle. With 7.5 billion people on the planet and growing we need to be careful how we manage the planet’s resources. Every year Earth Overshoot Day - which marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what the planet can regenerate in that year - arrives earlier and earlier. In 2021, it arrived on July 29. Reusing, reducing, refusing and recycling are essential components if we are to preserve, even restore, our planet’s natural systems. Reuse There are so many possibilities here. For example, there are the obvious ones like taking a reusable coffee cup with you and using that on the go, or getting reusable cloth shopping bags, rather than using plastic bags. You can also reuse clothing, kitchenware and furniture by buying second hand. Glass jars, plastic containers, milk cartons and so many other household items can be repurposed and reused. “I often think about my grandparents when it comes to reusing things because for them, and their generation in general, this was very natural,” Emelie says. “I grew up with this principle so it feels very natural to me, and I implement this with my daughters as well.” Repair Ok, so we know we didn’t mention this one at the outset and that’s because it’s really just another aspect of reusing - repairing items rather than tossing them out because of damage. The less we put into landfill and reuse the better. Items like shoes, clothes, furniture, sports equipment and more can, with a little skill, be repaired. In cities around the world “upcycling” - the creative reuse of discarded items in such a way as to create a new item often of higher quality or value than the original - has become a popular activity with courses showing people how to approach it. Repairing can be fun! Reduce “In general, I try to reduce my impact by reducing unnecessary gear, clothes and other material things,” Emelie says. Reducing can also mean choosing to drive and fly less, and cycling or walking more. It can also mean reducing how much meat and dairy we eat, given methane emitted by livestock is a more powerful greenhouse gas than C02. We can also reduce how much electricity we use by turning unnecessary lights off and shutting down our devices rather than leaving them running. Reducing can also mean buying your vegetables from a local market rather than plastic wrapped items from the supermarket. Refuse This one might seem touchy. But if you accept what the vast majority of climate and environmental scientists are saying and the impending disaster human civilization might face as a result of our impacts, then saying no to certain things is a logical and necessary next step. Many people, for example, have decided to stop flying. While others have decided to say no to taking short haul flights. We can also refuse to invest money in organisations that support the fossil fuel industry. In terms of everyday life, we can refuse to buy single use plastics, cheap plastic items, or vegetables packaged in plastic. There are many possibilities. “Say no to meat, fruit and vegetables produced with a lot of pesticides, non-seasonal food and so on,” Emelie says. “The list can be huge if we want!” Recycle This one doesn’t need much explanation and is really the very least we should be doing. But we can get creative about what we recycle. Glass, metal containers, paper and plastic, obviously, plus clothing, batteries, electronic equipment and so much more. Planting trees helps to capture carbon. Run a low energy home Emelie recommends choosing an electricity company based on renewable energy. At night, turn off heating, lighting and your devices. Use energy efficient light bulbs. Take only short showers. When you use the oven, take the opportunity to cook many things at once rather than heating it multiple times over the week. Only use the dishwasher or washing machine for full loads. Eat plant based, or as much as possible The UN and multiple studies have found one of the best things we can do to stop climate change is adopt a plant based diet. Less livestock animals belching and farting methane the better. It also means less land use for grazing, and more space for forests to regrow. If going full plant based doesn’t work for you, then like our other ambassador Greg Hill and many people try being a weekday vegetarian - only eat meat on the weekend. Eat seasonally Eating seasonally and eating locally are two sides of the same coin. “Locavores”, like Emelie, choose to eat what is grown nearby, season to season, keeping to a minimum their “food miles” - how far their food has had to travel to arrive on their dinner plate. This means less resources are required to transport and store food. Ask yourself whether you really need to eat those strawberries in the middle of winter or whether you can wait until early summer and buy them from local producers? Eat organic Scientists have sounded the alarm about what they call the insect apocalypse - steep bug population declines because of stresses caused by humans. Sure, bugs can be annoying, but they play crucial roles in our ecosystems. Bees and other pollinators, for example, pollinate nearly 75% of the world’s plants that produce 90% of the world’s food. Yet their numbers have been decreasing, and one of the reasons is the use of insecticides; nasty chemicals designed to eliminate insects that threaten crops. The problem is they kill much more than the targeted pest. “So important to support farmers who don’t use pesticides,” Emelie says. “Pesticides destroy the living ecosystem.” Grow your own food “For me this is a way to connect to nature and realise how important it is that we take care of it,” Emelie says. “It also gives me so much respect for the products of organic small scale farms and farmers and their work. I would never ever let any veggies I grow in my own garden go to waste, and I bring this awareness into how I respect veggies I buy as well. I know the process of growing the food!” If you do start your own garden, Emelie encourages growing flowers in and around it to help the bees! Small caveat:It’s also important to point out that while all of these measures can help reduce our individual emissions and other environmental impacts, the challenge of climate change is too big to be solved by individuals alone. System change is required.

A snowboard guide by winter, and a passionate artist inspired by nature Jessa Gilbert lives to be in the outdoors. This is the fourth in our Peak Creator film series, which celebrates creative people inspired by the great outdoors. We talk to four creators and find out what inspires their creative work. As a teen, Jessa learned to snowboard on the Catamount in the Catskills in upstate New York and before she knew it she was competing in freestyle. She racked up five knee surgeries by the time she was 27 and was eventually told she could never run or board again. She thought packing her painting kit might force her to slow down - it didn’t - but it did result in her capturing the stunning landscapes she shreds in and has led to her creating graphics for brands. “We are in a time where we are starting to remember that public art is important,” Jessa says. “The beauty of public artwork is that you are creating artistic environments.” Click play below and watch Jessa share her creative inspiration.

The typical human eye can see two to three million colors and an open human mind can appreciate an equally diverse array of people, lifestyles, identities and sexual orientations. For Suunto athlete and American trail runner Ryan Montgomery it’s this diversity that makes the world such a beautiful place. The 27-year-old recently returned to the US after travelling to Chamonix, France where he ran the 55 km OCC (Orsières-Champex-Chamonix) ultra run. Wherever he competes, Ryan champions diversity any way he can, even if it’s simply by approaching runners that appear new or alone and striking up conversation to make them feel welcome. He consults with organisations and brands on how to build welcoming and diverse communities. After all, he knows first hand how difficult it is to feel comfortable in your own skin in a hostile environment. Ryan celebrates setting a FKT record on the 150 km Wonderland Trail back in October, 2020. (Photo by Nick Danielson) Finding freedom on the trail Ryan grew up in Alaska and Seattle and struggled to find his place in a decidedly conservative milieu. He realised he was queer in grade school, and hid it from friends and family for fear of what their reaction might be. “My whole environment was quite homophobic,” Ryan says. “So coming out was quite the journey.” Ryan ran cross-country at high school and even then gravitated towards long distance running. At age 14 he told his running coach he wanted to run a marathon and she told him he couldn’t do it and would only hurt himself if he tried. “Growing up as a gay boy and having so much of my identity not being seen or validated, it just felt like another nail in the coffin,” Ryan says. “So I took it as a personal challenge and was like ‘let me show you coach’! I did it and it was a great experience. Running allowed me to find a headspace where I could explore and express myself.” One year later and inspired by the challenge of endurance running, Ryan applied to go on an expedition with not-for-profit Impossible2possible, which empowers youth to go beyond their perceived limitations. He was accepted and went on an expedition to the Bolivian mountains where, with a group of other youth, he ran a marathon every day for five days. “It was such an eye opening experience where I learned not only so much about my body, but my vision for what I wanted to accomplish in my running career,” Ryan says. “And it was when I first knew I wanted to run ultra marathons.” Going ultra distance In 2017, Ryan ran his first 100-mile race, the Wasatch Front 100, and finished in 27 hours. Inspired by the distance, he concentrated on improving his speed and two years later he broke the 13-hour mark for the 100-mile distance at the 2019 USATF (USA Track and Field) National Championships. Since then, he has achieved a lot, including placing first at the 2019 Quicksilver 100k, coming second at the 2019 Tahoe 200-mile Endurance Run, and, in 2020 setting an FKT (fastest known time) record on the 150 km Wonderland Trail in Mt Rainier National Park, to name a few. He loves the trail and ultra running scene, and overall has felt welcome as part of it, but says the sport has work to do to become an inclusive and friendly place for people from all walks of life. “There’s a lot of people that have been so welcoming and, surprisingly, the trail community is more queer, and gay, than we give it credit for,” Ryan says. “And that’s the problem, those are not stories that are being told. The downside is there’s still so much homophobia.” Being a champion of change Ryan works with organisations and brands in the outdoor sector to help them better understand and promote diversity. He says it comes down to more richly reflecting their various communities and telling stories that are too often neglected or ignored. For too long, the outdoor sports industry - due to its European and North American power base - has focused on marketing that features and promotes straight white people and athletes to the exclusion of everyone else. But, Ryan says, change is in the air in the US and across the world. More and more people, organisations and brands, even entire industries, are waking up to the fact they have neglected groups in their communities, particularly people of colour and LGBTQ people, and it’s time to tell their stories and to advocate for an inclusive society. “We need to celebrate all the different people in our communities and be very, very cognizant of how we're doing that in our engagement and also our marketing,” Ryan says. “We need to find explicit and concrete ways to show up and support and welcome people.” Images by Nick Danielson

In this third film of our Peak Creator series we profile landscape architect Ryley Thiessen who shares how he designs mountain resorts that bring people closer to nature. The Peak Creator film series celebrates creative people inspired by the great outdoors. We talk to four creators and find out how nature inspires them. Ryley specializes in designing four season resorts around the world. He grew up in the countryside and from an early age knew he wanted to work with the earth. The essential principle for this work is balance: “It’s working with nature and finding that balance where you’re not taking too much,” he says. Click play below and watch Ryley share how he approaches his work.