Wow. 70,000 participants in seven days. That’s how many people chased vertical meters with us in the first summer-fall edition of World Vertical Week. The Suunto community’s outdoor summer sports enthusiasts raised the stakes in more ways, proving they can hold their own with the vertical appetite of the winter outdoor sports tribe any day. The ball is now in your court winter tribe!  Read on to see the results of the national and sport-based rivalries and see who came out on top! The reign continues Austria deserves an applause. It’s the country with the highest average climb per activity, 465 m, a little higher than its winter result, when it also achieved first place. The alpine nation has held first place in this category for five of the last six editions. It only lost its crown in 2019, falling to fifth place. What’s more, it finishes in the top five of six more categories. Well done Austria!      Punching above its weight Slovenia, a tiny mountainous nation of 2.1 million people, clearly has a serious appetite for pushing uphill. Aside from Austria, it’s the only other nation to feature in the top five of seven categories. Respect! The three amigos Spain comes in first for the total ascent per country, followed by Italy and France. These three are always battling for pole position in this category. Spain has come first in this statistic for two editions straight now.     Huge individual performances Perhaps one of the biggest surprises from this edition of the World Vertical Week was the massive individual performances. Whereas during the previous winter edition there was only nine individuals who surpassed 10,000 m of vertical gain over the week, this time there have been 59 people to do this - that’s a 500% increase! Also a big increase was the number of individual activities that involved more than 3,500 m of vertical ascent. There were only 89 of these in the previous winter edition, and 218 this summer edition. Impressive! Trail running rules It seems like trail running is the popular, go to summer sport and that trail runners like the challenge of a climb. Of all the climbs that involved 1000 m, trail running made up 34% of them. And that percentage only increased for activities with over 2000 m of ascent; trail running made up 47% of these. The biggest climbs They say mountaineering is 75% perspiration and 25% inspiration because it’s the outdoor sport that involves epic, often gruelling vertical ascents. That’s why it comes in first place for the highest average vertical ascents per activity type, with trail running coming a distant second.     Alpine nations live to climb Italy, Austria and Switzerland all enjoy incredible alpine landscapes so no wonder mountaineering is so popular among them. Respectively, they take first, second and third for the highest average meters in the mountaineering activity type by nation. Go Japan We know Japan is a mountainous nation with an incredible trail and hut network. So it’s not a surprise to discover trail running is hugely popular there. Japan came out on top for the highest average vertical meters per activity for trail running: 806 m. Is Japan the next big trail running destination?   Top 5 nations in different activity types Mountaineering Italy 962m Austria 891m Switzerland 891m Germany 881m France 820m Trail running Japan 806m Italy 703m Austria 667m Slovenia 645m Switzerland 617m Mountain biking Austria 705m Switzerland 632m Italy 597m Slovenia 576m Spain 462m Trekking & hiking Slovakia 550,0m Austria 549,7m Italy 526m Switzerland 502m Slovenia 405m Cycling Italy 426m Portugal 415m Slovenia 379m Spain 370m Austria 348m Running Ecuador 212m Slovenia 189m Switzerland 160m Norway 152m Ireland 139m

Spotify Premium users can download their favorite albums, playlists, and podcasts to listen offline with this new feature. Other users can only stream their tunes in Shuffle Mode using a WiFi or cellular connection or download their favorite podcasts to the watch. Here’s how to use Spotify offline on a Suunto 7: Using the Spotify app on your Suunto 7, find the music and podcasts you want to download and have offline. Tap “Download to watch.” To check on the progress, head over to the Downloads section on your Suunto 7. Once you’ve downloaded the selected playlists, albums, or podcasts in your library, you’ll see a little green arrow next to their names. Connect your headphones and start listening, no matter where you are! Head to Google Play to download the Spotify app or update your watch to the latest version. Once the new features are available, you’ll be on your way. *Requires your Suunto 7 to run at least Wear OS 2.0 or higher. Please make sure you are also running the latest version of Spotify on your device. READ MORE The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist Meet the Mambo Brothers, two health conscious DJs living the nightlife Head back to work on top of things with a Suunto 7 smartwatch

Ultra-trail du Mont Blanc is coming back on August 27-28, 2021 after a two-year break. We asked Courtney Dauwalter and Pau Capell, the winners of the latest edition of the UTMB® (2019), to share their favorite points along the way. Read on, get the routes from komoot and sync them to your Suunto for navigation. Happy adventures! Col du Bonhomme (2329m) Located at Km 43 of the UTMB®. It is not the highest col of the route, but it is the longest ascent of all points that we are recommending to follow the UTMB®.Take it easy on the softer start from Saint Gervais or Les Contamines because from La Balme the most demanding part awaits you. Refuge Bonatti (2025m) Located at Km 92 of the UTMB®. Named in homage to the Italian mountaineer Walter Bonatti.Spectacular views await you just in front of the Grandes Jorasses, allowing you to discover the Vale Ferret. A spectacular valley in the Courmayeur area; the Italian gateway to Mont Blanc. La Fouly (1600m) Located at Km 111 of the UTMB®. A small town in the Swiss sector of Mont Blanc. A perfect starting point on the path to Grand Col Ferret (2537m); the border point between Switzerland and Italy. An ascent of practically 1000m + in a zig-zag allows us to reach one of the highest steps and spectacular views. Champex-lac (1466m) Located at Km 126 of the UTMB®. Situated in the Swiss Alps, it is a picturesque lakeside town surrounded by forests. Ideal for families, the area offers routes and activities of all styles and for all audiences.One of the most popular starting points of the Mont Blanc Tour and from where we propose two route options. Vallorcine (1120m) Located at Km 150 of the UTMB®. Last village in the Chamonix-Mont Blanc Valley before reaching Switzerland. We recommend the ascent way to Tete aux vents to see the race leaders pass on their last climb before the long descent of the Flegere that will take them to the arrival of Chamonix! View the route collection on komoot Connect your Suunto with komoot To get set up, simply connect your Suunto app with your komoot profile: Go to your profile on Suunto app and select ‘komoot’ under ‘Partner services’. Select ‘Connect with komoot’ and sign into your komoot account and allow requested permissions to connect. As soon as you have connected the two accounts the sync is automatic both ways: your activities that are tracked with your Suunto are synced to komoot and the routes created on komoot are available on your route library on Suunto app. Lead image by Martina Valmassoi

It’s a love-hate relationship. That’s the way Suunto athlete and South African ultra runner Ryan Sandes characterizes his relationship with the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), the 171 km race around Mont Blanc - the highest mountain in the Alps. The epic distance, plus 10,040 m of elevation gain to boot makes UTMB one of the most challenging ultra races on the planet. For this reason, it attracts elite ultra runners from around the world. First held in 2003, the route follows the Tour du Mont Blanc, one of the most popular long distance hiking trails in Europe.     In 2019, the last time the race was held before the pandemic shut down public events, Suunto athletes Pau Capell and Courtney Dauwalter won the male and female divisions. In 2017, Suunto athlete Francois D’Haene won the male division. Courtney and Francois will be racing alongside Ryan at UTMB 2021. Pau is recovering from injury. “UTMB has become the biggest race on the global trail running stage,” Ryan says. “It’s always great to be a part of that.” Ryan is currently in Chamonix preparing for the race to be held on August 27-28. It will be the fourth time he’s been on the start line, and he hopes the first time he completes the circuit and crosses the finish line. “I’ve started it three times and actually never finished,” he says. “It’s the one race left that I really want to do well at, at least to finish. I feel I have a bit of a monkey on my back here.”     A rocky history The first time Ryan entered UTMB was back in 2015. At the time he was recovering from glandular fever and had to pull out of the race at the 40k mark because the symptoms flared up. He tried again in 2016, but stomach problems early on resulted in another DNF. Two years later, he tried again, this time feeling good. But a shoulder injury had knock-on effects to a hip and forced him to drop out at 60k. “So I definitely haven’t had the best luck at UTMB,” Ryan says. “Hopefully I can turn things around this year.” Breaking the mental block Mont Blanc and the surrounding massif is one of Ryan’s favorite alpine landscapes. He’s enjoyed amazing experiences exploring the area. Just not while racing. Even in 2017, the year he won the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, Ryan ran the UTMB’s little sister race, the 100 km Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC), and didn’t perform as he hoped. “Whenever it comes to racing here things haven’t gone according to plan,” Ryan says. “I guess I’ve got a little mental block to be completely honest.” The toughness of UTMB You can’t fault him for struggling in this race; it has earned its reputation for toughness for a reason. Ryan’s hometown Cape Town doesn’t have mountains like the Alps. “UTMB is the one race where all the top runners are always at, which is great for the sport of trail running,” Ryan says. “It’s super competitive so it starts off really fast. The very long and very fast downhill sections tend to smash your legs up a bit. That takes some getting used to. And then there’s the big climbs and getting used to trekking poles. The conditions here are quite different to what I’m used to.” The goal This is the first international race Ryan has competed in since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. From a mental perspective this creates a degree of uncertainty both for himself and for many of the other competitors. “First things first, my goal is to get around in one piece,” Ryan says. “Then being a naturally competitive person, I want to stay as close to the front of the field as possible.” UTMB 2021 is (provisionally) set to start between 5pm and 6pm on August 27. Tune in live to watch the action here!   All images: © Kelvin Trautman / Red Bull Content Pool

William Trubridge prepares for a depth dive.   It’s the first international freediving competition since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic so a lot of excited freedivers are arriving at Dean’s Blue Hole pumped to dive deep at Vertical Blue 2021. Running between 13 to 23 July, it’s likely to be the most celebratory edition in the event’s 11 year history. The first Vertical Blue since 2018, organiser and Suunto ambassador William Trubridge has been working around the clock to make it happen. The ongoing travel and health restrictions due to the pandemic have increased his work load 100 fold. But knowing how much it means to the freediving community makes it all worthwhile. “In these last 18 months a lot of people have been trapped and locked down, not able to travel or go to the sea, but everyone has been continuing to train and they are all amped to get back into the water,” William says. “It's the first big freediving event since COVID hit so we will get a chance to see where all the top athletes are with their training, and what they have been able to improve on, or whether they are behind now because of a lack of depth training. First indications are that everyone has been training really hard and there are going to be some epic performances.”   Follow the action at Vertical Blue via YouTube live!     All the top athletes in depth freediving, in all three disciplines, are attending this edition. “All the current record holders will be in attendance and most of the people who are within reach of world records,” William says. “At the last Vertical Blue in 2018, there were some days when the average depth amongst men and women across all disciplines, including no fins, was deeper than 80 m. This year I think it could be even deeper. In training at the moment the dive line is rarely less than 100 m. We're going to see some mind blowing performances.”   Check out our visual guide to freediving    William and his arch freediving rival Alexey Molchanov will be competing – a now longstanding tradition – for the top spot in Constant Weight without Fins (CNF). The stress of organizing the event isn’t giving William the dedicated training and recovery time he needs to be at his very best. Moreover, he isn’t sure he’ll be anywhere near his best. Depth freediving is a sport where being in a relaxed state is essential for success. “My training was going very well up until about a month ago,” William says. “I was making steady progress towards attempting a world record in Free Immersion. I'd gotten within a couple of meters of achieving it. I was doing beautiful, comfortable, relaxed dives to that depth. That's when stuff started to go downhill with the organisation work and the stress ramped up. “Hopefully if I can get everything resolved, then take a few days rest, and then build my training back up again, maybe by the end of the event I might be able to do some kind of a dive,” William continues. “I doubt it will be a world record dive. But never say never, fingers crossed, let’s see what happens.”   All images: © Daan Verhoeven  

Tenji (middle), Kilian Jornet and David Göttler met while training in the Khumbu Icefall. © Tenji Sherpa Suunto athlete Tenji Sherpa recently returned home to Lukla in Nepal after a difficult start to the climbing season at Everest Basecamp.The COVID-19 Indian variant was running rampant there. “Teams were stuck to their own sections at camp, different from past years where I could interact with friends working with other companies,” Tenji says. “It’s certainly a devastating situation that I hope soon begins to settle so autumn climbing can go ahead safely.” Unfinished business It’s not only more guiding that Tenji, 29, is looking forward to; he has his sights set on some ambitious personal climbs. Tenji is part of a growing number of Nepalese sherpas who are breaking out of the mould of traditional Sherpa work and showing the world they can climb just as well, if not better, than many of their Western counterparts. At the top of the list of goals, Tenji has unfinished business on Lhotse (8516 m), the fourth highest peak in the world. In May, 2018, in the memory of his friend and inspiration the late Ueli Steck, Tenji attempted to complete the same daring traverse trip the “Swiss Machine” met his tragic demise on in 2017. “Inspired by his strength and support, I sought to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen and traverse to the summit of Lhotse,” Tenji says. “Unfortunately, the weather became too risky to finish Lhotse.” This photo was taken while filming the Everest VR movie. © Jon Griffith Humble beginnings Tenji was born and raised in a small village called Gudel in Solokhumbu district of Nepal. Life was simple, he had a three hour commute to school each day, at a time when sandals were considered a luxury and running shoes were unheard of. As a boy he watched as his brothers and other villagers set off to the mountains to work as porters and guides. Village elders mentored Tenji to do the same and by 2007 he was working as a porter to pay to go to college in Kathmandu. “Moving to Kathmandu was a huge change from life in the shadows of Everest,” Tenji says. “I knew I belonged back in the mountains. As such, I started formal mountain training in 2012 while continuing to work as a porter in the high season.” Tenji gained his International Mountain Guide Qualification in early 2019. Tenji with the late Ueli Steck on Jungfrau in Switzerland in 2015. © Tenji Sherpa Meeting the Swiss Machine His work as a porter is how, in 2012, Tenji crossed paths with Ueli Steck, who had made a name for himself for his lightning fast solo ascents of some of the world’s most challenging mountains, culminating in his legendary solo climb of Annapurna’s (8091 m) south face. On the night of the climb, Tenji had a dream of Ueli standing at the summit. The dream turned out right. “From our initial meeting at Everest Basecamp, Ueli and I had a connection that sparked a great combination for climbing together,” Tenji says. “Learning from him when we climbed Everest together in 2012 was inspiring and confidence building, leading to our ascent of the renowned north face of Cholatse (6501 m). Teaming with Ueli on that technical ascent, I became the first and still the only Nepali to climb the mountain.” Tenji says Ueli became something of an informal teacher to him. He respected Tenji’s ability at altitude, his work ethic and drive to challenge himself. And Tenji was inspired by the Swiss Machine’s alpine climbing style – fast, light, and without oxygen. “Ueli taught me that if I have an idea, it’s up to me to put it into action.” In 2012, Tenji summited Everest without supplemental oxygen. Tenji climbing Manaslu (8163 m) in winter 2020. © Tenji Sherpa Guiding at the top Now doing his own private guiding and working with a Swiss company, Tenji has summited Everest seven times and Manaslu (8163 m), and many 7000 m Himalayan giants. He’s pumped to take on new personal climbing projects, but has to sit tight until the pandemic is under control. The technicality of Cholatse’s north face continues to hold special interest for him. When the pandemic first exploded Tenji was travelling abroad to meet climbers considering coming to Nepal. He got stuck in the U.K for five months before finding a way back to Lukla. He says the pandemic hasn’t been kind to Nepal’s guiding industry. “Essentially more than a year out of guiding made for some challenging times,” Tenji says. “But despite the pandemic, the spring season this year has brought even more international climbers than any other year given that so many lost their climbs last year and that the Tibetan side is closed to foreign climbers.” After years of climbing at the roof of the world, Tenji is perhaps better equipped than many to handle the unpredictability of living through the first global pandemic in more than a century. After all, what has alpinism taught him about life? “That it can change very quickly.” Lead images: © Tenji Sherpa © Jon Griffith