In the mid 1980s the Chinese government offered Italian alpinist Reinhold Messner permission to climb Mount Kailash. He declined. “If we conquer this mountain, then we conquer something in people’s souls,” Messner said in 2001 when asked about a Spanish team’s plan to climb it. “I would suggest they go and climb something a little harder. Kailash is not so high and not so hard.” After protest from mountaineers around the world, the Spanish climbers abandoned the plan. The Chinese administration got the message and banned any future attempts. Messner, who has twice trekked around it, is right. At 6, 638 m, Kailash is minor compared to the giants of the Himalaya. In terms of technical difficulty, there are more challenging mountains to climb. “Kailash is about the journey and opening yourself to new perspectives.” For the followers of four of Asia’s great religions, Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism and Bon, Kailash is the centre of the universe, the seat of all spiritual power, the summer residence of Shiva and home to the Buddha of supreme bliss. It’s not something to conquer. It’s a symbol of transcendence. To climb it would be to profane what is sacred to millions. “For all mountaineers who appreciate the mountains of the Himalaya, we feel a special connection to the people there, and for them Kailash is the head mountain and the centre of all the religions,” says Suunto ambassador Kilian Jornet. “We don’t climb it out of respect for them.” © Markus Person Besides, not all adventures are about getting to the top, he says. “The summit of Kailash is not as interesting as the amazing journey pilgrims make there,” Jornet says. “Kailash is about the journey and opening yourself to new perspectives.” In a tradition that began in the distant past, thousands of pilgrims travel to Kailash each year to complete a “kora”; walking 52 km around its base. Tibetans believe it takes seven lifetimes to accumulate enough merit for the right to travel there. Some pilgrims drop to the ground and offer body length prostrations each step of the way in a deeply devoted act of prayer and submission. Each kora, it’s believed, amasses good karma and blessings. “There's an attraction to this place coming from the heart.” Located in a remote area of west Tibet, near the border of Nepal and India, Kailash is about a 1200 km from Lhasa, the administrative capital of Tibet. It’s about 800 km from the border to Nepal. It takes between two to five days to drive there. As the region has opened and as word about and images of the incredible pyramid-shaped mountain have got out, adventurers, trekkers, spiritual seekers and devotees of the various faiths have begun travelling there from all corners of the world. Some keep returning, again and again. Markus Person, for example, has walked around the sacred mountain 20 times. He hasn’t been there for two years and says he now understands what homesickness really means. “Mount Kailash is one of the most auspicious, powerful places you can be,” Person says. “But I can’t tell you why. I’m not a Buddhist or a Hindhu, but there is an attraction to this place coming from the heart.” © Markus Person Person grew up in a small village in the mountains of Germany’s Black Forest. Wandering the hills and forests has always been a cherished part of his life. Back in 2000, he was a managing director of an IT company, earning good money and enjoying worldly success. But something else began calling him – a powerful desire to travel and explore. Annual trekking vacations to Asia weren’t enough to satisfy it. A three-month sabbatical wasn’t either. After two years, he could no longer ignore the call. He and his wife quit their jobs in 2002, put the contents of their apartment into storage and bought one-way tickets to Tibet. “It was a very deep longing I carried within myself.” “It’s what I always dreamed of,” Person says. “Just packing the rucksack and travelling without a final destination and a limited time window. “It was a very deep longing I carried within myself.” It wasn’t until he and his wife were travelling that they heard about Kailash. They met people in Lhasa who were planning to go there and were convinced to make it a “side excursion”. “I had no idea what it was about until I walked around the mountain for the first time,” he says. “I only realised how lucky I was afterwards.” © Markus Person “The kora opens your perception, changes the way you look at and appreciate life.” After Kailash, Person continued his adventures and eventually all of his travelling and trekking experience led to him landing a job as a tour guide. In 2005, he made an acquaintance who runs Snow Jewel, a business leading tours to Kailash and other destinations in Tibet. The two became friends and Person began leading trekking tours to Kailash. Since, he has completed 20 koras, 12 of them as a guide. “Kailash is like a guru; everytime you go, there is another lesson you learn” From one perspective the 52 km trek around the mountain is easy. Many people complete it in a day. Some jog around it. From another perspective, however, it’s anything but easy. The altitude of 5000 m can cause headaches and sickness. The harsh environment, cold temperatures and sleeping in tents with strangers can take their toll. “There’re guys who think it’s no big deal and arrive all cocky, but then they get into some kind of emotional loop with their fears, and some turn back often for silly reasons that only existed in their minds,” Person says. “If there’s no space for humility, the mountain will show you who’s boss. Photo by E v a [1], via Wikimedia Commons “Kailash is like a guru; everyone time you go, there is another lesson you learn, another obstacle that gets removed from your way to finding your inner truth.” Person has witnessed a Chinese girl with one lung complete a kora after doctors had told her it would kill her. He’s seen housewives with no background in the outdoors do it because they have a strong, inexplicable desire. He’s also seen grown men break down and weep. All of them had one thing in common; they had reached an important junction in their lives and at that time Kailash mysteriously called to them. “There’s a deep fascination with the mountain and you don’t know why, you just feel it and know it in your heart,” Person says. “There’s a driving power inside us which we can either supress or follow. “Anyone who goes to Kailash never returns the same.”

It’s the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Expedition of the Year – the Bell Island Mine Dive. Suunto ambassador Jill Heinerth is part of the team exploring the vast and submerged mine system. Scroll down to learn more and to see images of this incredible dive site. Canadian underwater explorer and technical diver Jill Heinerth is part of a team now exploring 100 km of long-abandoned mining passages beneath the seafloor of historic Bell Island, which lies off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada “The plan is to open this site for guided cave diving for experienced divers,” Jill says. “Ocean Quest Adventure Resort already boasts the ‘Truk of the North’ in terms of shipwrecks. Couple that with the mine, icebergs and humpback whales, and you have one of the finest diving destinations on the planet.” “Shipwrecks, the mine, icebergs and humpback whales – one of the finest diving destinations on the planet.” © Cas Dobbin 2016The plan for the expedition is to establish some primary guidelines for others to follow in the future and to get an idea of what was left in the mine when it was abandoned in 1966. So far, they have found everything from the remains of a miner’s lunch kit, an antique Pepsi Cola bottle, to large pumping equipment and pressure dampeners. “The walls of the mine also tell an important story; miners left behind basic graffiti on the walls such as columns of addition but also painted caricatures in lampblack and white crosses where their colleagues died. It all tells the anthropological story of mining.” Click for more about Jill Heinerth © Cas Dobbin 2016The expedition will also explore the island’s staunch local culture and WWII shipwrecks in its harbour. “The high-grade ore coming from the Bell Island mine was critical to shipbuilding during the war,” Jill says. “In 1942, a German U-Boat sunk four ore carriers and blew up the loading wharf on Bell Island. Seventy men died. The four shipwrecks are a part of this project and I will be back to document them in summer.” © Cas Dobbin 2016Engineers have helped the team assess and mitigate risks in the dry part of the mine. The hematite ore walls can collapse simply by leaning against them. Underwater, they have experienced whiteout conditions from inflowing meltwater. The remaining electrical supply line is an entanglement hazard. “We have to employ very prudent and conservative diving protocols to keep everyone safe and that means a big team topside to help in the logistics and safety.” “It all tells the anthropological story of mining.” The team includes some of the best technical divers in the world. Most are from Canada, and two others are from Britain and Germany. “The majority of the team is using rebreathers in order to lessen the impact of percolation from the ceiling and to increase warmth and comfort.” Click for 7 off-season tips for divers Fierce weather has created problems for the expedition. Blizzards, gales, floods and complete melts have each made things difficult. “The weather made travel across the Tickle to the island impossible on some days and on others we had a river of rushing meltwater flooding the infrastructure we had built for the project. It has not been easy, but we are learning about the forces of nature that will affect further exploration here.” To follow news about the Bell Island Mine Dive expedition, click here. Main image: © Cas Dobbin 2016

It was a race to the top! National and tribal pride was on the line as people around the world tried to prove their country or sport is king of the hill. World Vertical Week 2016 has closed and the stats are in so it's time to see who came out on top! WHICH COUNTRY CLIMBS THE MOST? Surely alpine nations have an unfair advantage? Mostly, yes, but not always. There were a couple of surprises! This visual shows the top 10 countries for average ascents in human powered outdoor activities. Congratulations Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia! WHO CLIMBS THE MOST? Trail runners, cyclists and trekkers were humbled as – maybe unsuprisingly – ski touring and mountaineering led the highest average ascents. As a consolation, remember there would be very different results in summer! Skiers climbed the most NUMBER ONE CLIMBERS IN THE WORLD The Swiss are on top again and nearly breaking the thousand-meter mark in both ski touring and mountaineering. The other two countries with two first places were more surprising: Colombia was on top in running and cycling and Hong Kong topped the chart in both trail running and trekking. The toughest mountain goats come from the Switzerland. TOP COUNTRIES IN DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES And to give you even more to speculate here are the top five countries in the activities mentioned above. Top 5 in ski touring SWITZERLAND 996 m SLOVENIA 941 m FRANCE 908 m ITALY 895 m SLOVAKIA 885 m Top 5 in mountaineering SWITZERLAND 971 m FRANCE 881 m ITALY 798 m AUSTRIA 710 m GERMANY 696 m Top 5 in trail running HONG KONG 890 m CHINA 684 m ITALY 640 m JAPAN 553 m SLOVENIA 543 m Top 5 in trekking HONG KONG 705 m SOUTH AFRICA 519 m MALAYSIA 428 m SLOVENIA 424 m NETHERLANDS 420 m Top 5 in snow shoeing ITALY 558 m AUSTRIA 488 m GERMANY 428 m SWITZERLAND 426 m FRANCE 416 m Top 5 in mountain biking PORTUGAL 533 m ITALY 518 m SPAIN 479 m SOUTH AFRICA 452 m SWITZERLAND 400 m Top 5 in cycling COLOMBIA 481m SOUTH AFRICA 409 m ANDORRA 403 m SLOVENIA 396 m SPAIN 391 m Top 5 in cross country skiing SPAIN 367m CZECH REPUBLIC 351m FRANCE 298m NORWAY 261m JAPAN 248m Top 5 in running COLOMBIA 193 m SLOVENIA 164 m ANDORRA 148 m HONG KONG 140 m PORTUGAL 140 m READ MORE 7 TIPS TO ACCELERATING YOUR UPHILL SPEED PERFORMING YOUR BEST WITH VERTICAL SPEED KIMBERLY, DAVID AND KYLE ARE THE VERTICAL WEEK PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS!

Where do you draw strength and solace amidst hardships, how do you turn fear into courage? Andy Earl, a Utah-based artist and adventurer shares his story and talks about his love for the mountains and how they have shaped his life. Watch the short film now: The Power of Mountains with Andy Earl

World Vertical Week was held last week and the hundreds of pictures tagged with #VerticalWeek give a wonderful look at what people were up to during the event. Thank you very much for participating and sharing the photos, everyone! The three lucky photo contest winners are Kyle Conway, David Jeker and Kimberly Strom. Congratulations! They all will receive Suunto Ambit3 Vertical GPS watches for their inspiring images.  putting in some more hard miles before #gorge100k @briehemingway @ultracrazychris #teamultracrazy #trailfamily #trailrunning #trailporn #training #suuntoverticalcanada #verticalweek #epictrailrunning #teamtransalpine A photo posted by Kyle Conway (@kc_lumberguy) on Feb 20, 2016 at 11:08pm PST Kyle Conway shot his winning photo at his local Baden Powell Trail in North Vancouver, Canada. “We ran about 30 km with about 1250 m of climbing, including two loops of the "Seymour Grind", a popular "climbing route" for trail runners,” Kyle tells about the day the photo was taken. Over the Vertical Week Kyle climbed 4700 m. “2016 has been a year with goals of improving my climbing, and Suunto's Vertical Week was a perfect opportunity to step things up.” Dream big. #trailrunning #catogne #trailvsb #whatanadventure #waaultra #waateam #verticalweek #livingthedream #jesuisloup A photo posted by David Jeker (@davidjeker) on Feb 17, 2016 at 8:11am PST David Jeker used the Vertical Week as his last week of hard training before tapering for Transgrancanaria in early March. “I ran nine times during the week, always near my place in Salvan, Switzerland. I kept the best training for the end and did some hill repeats on a very steep trail on Sunday. I ran up and down five times for a total of 2300 meters. Totals for the week were 122 km with 4350 meters of ascent.” David’s photo was taken during a 33 km long run with 1350 meters of ascent. “I had originally planned on doing an easy run down in the valley but when I saw that the snow had mostly melted higher up, I changed my plan. It was Vertical Week after all! I ran up to one of my favorite trails and took a picture of Catogne,” David says. “I’m running a race (X-Alpine / Trail Verbier St-Bernard) this summer that goes up, down and around that mountain. Since I’ve registered for that race, the sight of this impressive mountain is always a great source of motivation!” Finished the week with a big day, +2400m and plenty of sun. #verticalweek #suuntoski A photo posted by @kimberly.strom on Feb 21, 2016 at 10:38pm PST Kimberly Strom’s Vertical Week was a true multisport one: she ran in the Jura mountains, nordic skied, and had a big skimo day in the French Alps gaining a total ascent of about 5000 m for the week. In Kimberly’s photo her friend Noémie leads their climb to Col de l'Encrenaz on the way to Mont Buet (3096 m), in the French Alps. “The route allowed us a quiet morning, away from the busy ascent of Buet. With some extra skinning we earned the chance to be alone at the summit, arriving late in the afternoon after two long climbs (1300 m and 1100 m).” Along the way they saw many small avalanches as the sun heated the snow, watched a huge ibex perched on an impossible ledge, took a break to sit protected from the wind and enjoyed the view, kick-turned up icy slopes, and struggled to break through the crusty, crème brûlée descent. When they arrived back at the bottom the towering peaks glowed pink. “I can't think of a better day than spending all of it with friends in the mountains: working hard, feeling sun and wind burn, rewarded constantly with beauty, feeling accomplishment and the desire to go again.” Kimberly uses Suunto Ambit3 Sport to track her moves. “I never leave home without it. Track-back feature helps me find my way after some exploring!” 

World Vertical Week started today! Share a photo showing your World Vertical Week spirit on Instagram or Facebook between February 15–21, 2016 and tag the photo with #VerticalWeek for a chance to win a Suunto Ambit3 Vertical watch. The three most inspiring photos will be chosen as winners. During World Vertical Week every move will add to your country’s totals and soon we’ll find out where in the world people push uphill the most. Track your adventures with your Suunto watch. Every move and every sport counts. The only thing you need to do to participate in the event is to make sure your country information in the settings is correct. After that your ascent will automatically be calculated in your home country’s total figure. By the end of the week we’ll find out where in the world the real climbers live and can compare different sports, too. Have fun! Read the terms and conditions of the photo contest