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.

Staying in one place for long doesn’t come naturally to Suunto-supported adventurer Denis Katzer. He’s used to being on the move in far flung places, which he’s been doing for 30 years, covering 444,000 km by camel, elephant, horse, bicycle, e-bike, on foot, or with local transport. That’s the equivalent of traveling around the planet 11 times. Denis and Tanja on their recent journey in Norway. The COVID-19 pandemic might have momentarily slowed down Denis and his partner Tanja, but it hasn’t stopped them from continuing what they say is the “longest documented expedition in human history”. Moving slowly across continents, through diverse cultures, isn’t about sharing pretty pictures on Instagram for them. The motivation is much deeper. “As ambassadors of our mother earth, it is our goal to build bridges of understanding and acceptance between different cultures and religions with our experiences,” Denis says. “We want to be the eyes and ears of today’s society, in order to leave humanity a piece of contemporary history, but also tell future generations what state our mother earth is in. That is why we travel by bike, horse, camel, elephant and local transport. A way of traveling that allows and encourages precise and sensitive observation.” Denis and Tanja have just released a new book about their most recent adventures up through Norway to its North Cape. Once the pandemic is behind us, their plan is to continue stage two of their epic e-bike expedition. Denis and Tanja took the Trans-Siberian train to Lake Baikal and then cycled 17, 000 km across Siberia, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Bavarian beginnings Denis had an unconventional start to life. He lived with his parents in a small wooden forest hut with no electricity, running water or central heating on the edge of a forest. Life was simple, and Denis discovered early he was happiest wandering and climbing trees. Even then he had the spark for adventure. His father blew on this smouldering ember by sharing his ideas on environmentalism, colonial history and the value of indigenious wisdom. “He was a nature man, and was always for indigenious people and protecting the natural world,” Denis says. Special training By his own admission Denis wasn’t a happy kid. He struggled at school and didn’t want to conform to society’s expectations. After making up his mind to focus, he eventually aced his school exams and did an apprenticeship. However, as a sporty and athletic guy, it was when he entered the German army in 1979 that the foundation for a life of adventure really began to get laid. “Since I had graduated with top marks in all areas, I had the choice in which form I wanted to serve in the military,” Denis says. “I decided on the special paratrooper unit. Adventure, action and freedom were finally ahead of me.” But it wasn’t to last because Denis, a pacifist at heart, realised his training as an elite soldier, and his training of younger soldiers, was incongruent with his deeper values. Staying true to himself he left in 1981. Denis and his friend Bilgee cross steep slopes on a 3000 km horse expedition to northern Mongolia to meet reindeer nomads. The expeditions begin It all began with an unplanned journey into the heart of the jungle. Denis was on a trip to the Galapagos Islands in 1987 and met someone with connections to indigenous people living deep in the Amazon jungle. He had the opportunity to travel there and meet the feared Auka tribe. “The encounter with the Aukas changed my life and opened my eyes,” Denis says. “I came to the conclusion I had to save money to leave my home for a couple of years. I wanted to live with indigenous peoples, get into their world, understand them. I wanted to know what it means to be able to travel without time pressure.” The grand journey The 40-year slow travel odyssey around the world really began in earnest in 1991, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Starting in Germany, travelling through Austria to Italy, they went by ferry to Greece and Egypt where they had their first encounter with camels and crossed the Sinai desert with them. “Camels are fantastic, intelligent and persistent pack and riding animals,” Denis says. “Also, they are for me a combination of horse and lion. They can be extremely dangerous, but if they are trained with love, they can be your best friend. For me they are the true kings of the desert. Without them we would not have survived many expeditions.” In 1992, they travelled by a smugglers train from Iran to Pakistan, where they again acquired camels and rode them the country, along the border of Afghanistan and through the Peshawar tribal area, at one point escaping gunfire. Since then, they have travelled through 72 countries, from Germany, through Europe, Central Asia, Asian, through to the Americas. They travelled by camel, horse, elephant, bike, local trains, ferries, and avoiding air travel wherever possible. Denis and Tanja travelled 7000 km by foot with a camel caravan across Australia north to south, and west to east. Around the world by e-bike Between 2015 and 2017, they completed the first stage of what they say will be the longest unsupported e-bike expedition in the world. The four stage adventure will take them through South East Asia, down through Malaysia, Indonesia, across to Australia, New Zealand, through the South Pacific and on to South America. “We obtained the required energy, among other things, from solar panels mounted on wheel trailers and charged a second battery while driving,” Denis says. “We decided to use the e-bike as a means of transport because we want to show the world what can be done with alternative energy.” Denis’ challenge: go slow & log out Since Denis’ early days of globetrotting adventure, the world has radically changed. Once upon a time, when Denis went on an expedition the only way to communicate with people back home was by post or telephone, when they were available. A three minute phone call could cost $3USD. Now, with the internet, smartphones and social media, Denis says the experience of solitude, of being alone on an adventure, is almost unheard of. We are always connected. This, along with cheap air travel, has resulted in a hyper connected, fast travel world. Denis’ challenge to adventure lovers is to go against the stream, and to disconnect and slow down whenever possible. Mother earth is in decline, he says, and when we slow down and disconnect from all of our devices we will be better able to pay attention to what really matters. “Slow travel for me means to enter the depth of a country,” Denis says. “Those who travel slowly, look more, hear more, smell more, live more intensely and feel more and for longer.” All images: © Denis Katzer

In the first of our Peak Creator film series, we present Dan Raymond and his work building and repairing mountain bike tracks in Whistler. The Peak Creator film series celebrates creative people inspired by the great outdoors. We talk to four creators and find out what inspires their creative work. In Dan’s case, his passion for designing and building trails started as a kid when he and his buddies followed one another’s tire marks down hills. He’s been at it ever since. When building a trail, Dan follows an important principle: “The driving force of building a trail is it has to look like it was always there,” he says. Click play below and watch Dan share his creative inspiration!

Since forever, the great outdoors and its misty forests, silhouetted mountain ranges, and craggy peaks have inspired creatives of all ilk, whether poet, painter, musician or photographer. The awe nature strikes in us gets the creative energy flowing. The resulting work has, in some cases, inspired the masses and shapes how we see and protect the natural world. At Suunto we believe this is worth celebrating. So we initiated our Peak Creator film series, in which we met four creators - a trail builder, a photographer, an architect and an artist - and found out how the natural world inspires what they do. We’ll publish a short film about each of them in the coming weeks.   Meet photographer Angela Percival, architect Ryley Thiessen, artist Jessa Gilbert and trailbuilder Dan Raymond in the Peak Creator Series.   The first film up, the trailbuilder sees his work more as uncovering what’s already there; next up, the photographer admits she’d rather be out shooting than indoors editing; then the architect explains how his mountain resorts bring people closer to nature; finally, we meet the artist who packs her painting kit and heads out for epic free rides. Stay tuned for each film as it drops. And get your own creative juices flowing! Watch Peak Creator Series episode 1 – The Trailbuilder Watch Peak Creator Series episode 2 – The Photographer Watch Peak Creator Series episode 3 – The Architect Watch Peak Creator Series episode 4 – The Artist

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

American photographer and artist Chris Burkard travels the world documenting amazing people, places and events. Recently he was visiting Iceland, a country he adores, to go on a bikepacking adventure. But life had other plans. A volcano erupted, and Chris knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture this incredible force of nature. It didn’t disappoint. Press play to watch the power of nature! What he witnessed blew his mind and got him reflecting on peak experiences, those almost altered states of consciousness characterised by euphoria and wonder. “I was just so honored to experience it,” he says. We caught up with Chris and asked him about the experience and what he’s learned about peak experiences through his years of travelling the world and witnessing incredible things. Do you often travel to Iceland? I do! In fact I have been there 43 times. In some ways it's an obsession and I think what draws me there the most is the landscape as it’s so visceral and ever changing. But honestly, it's the people that keep me coming back and that keep me engaged and interested. How did you feel standing so close to a live volcano? Oddly enough I truly felt at home. At peace.. Like it's something I have been doing for thousands of years. In many ways it felt incredibly calming. You mention peak experiences in your Instagram post – I imagine your work has brought you many – do these happen by chance or are there things, in your experience, we can do to invite them to occur? I think that a “peak” experience is the byproduct of the time you put in. You realize at a certain point that to truly experience the height of something you need to slow down, be patient and really recognize when a moment is special. Sometimes a peak moment won't slap you in the face or excite you right away. You realize it later. It sort of dawns on you. I like to give myself the time and patience to recognize these moments. Rarely, when I do recognize them in “real time” it can feel really special. What does a peak experience feel like to you? It's a moment when your mind and heart and body are all in sync, it’s the certainty of knowing that there is no other place on Earth that I should be right now. Do your peak experiences only occur in epic situations like your visit to the volcano, or, say, while surfing a perfect wave, or can they also occur in everyday life? Everyday life. With my kids, at my property. On my bike commute. It's just the knowledge that a moment is special, will rarely be repeated, and you sort of get a glimpse of the future. And realize I need to cherish this. You talk about the importance of giving yourself the space to experience before shooting – how do you personally approach this? Honestly in some ways it kind of sounds like voodoo, but I truly feel like the way to really experience a place is to make an offering. An offering of time and interest and engagement. Not hiding from its many moods and feelings. Its storms and high winds. That is how you find a connection. You have to go through those things to really feel a place. I firmly believe that if you invest that time into a place and put in that effort, you are rewarded. All images: © Chris Burkard