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

Going crazy Every year we receive feedback that vertical challenges are hard in flat countries. We can fully relate to that as here in Southern Finland the hills are also small. But every year there are also impressive and inspiring performances that show how creativity and determination can take you a long way also when you want to gain vertical meters. One of these people was Adrien from Grenoble, France. He decided to climb up and down a staircase to reach 1000 vertical meters. After running 79 times up and down the staircase – that’s 316 floors all together – he reached his goal. “Next time I’ll do something smarter – and outdoors that time,” Adrien commented in his post. Keeping it consistent Paulina from Finland proved that consistency is the key to success: she headed out every day during the Vertical Week and was very committed. The result was seven back-to-back 1000 m days, a great training block and certainly some unforgettable memories. ”A friend of mine has challenged me to join monthly “Thousand Meter Tuesdays” and Vertical Week was perfect for that!”, says Paulina who ran up and down Puijo in Kuopio, Finland, while her fiancée joined the challenge on skis. “I knew I would be able collect the needed vertical meters even though there certainly were some challenging moments, too.” Soaking up the views The Vertical Week is not only about the hard, physical efforts and hill repeats. When you reach the summit, ridge or a col there’s often the reward of wide-open views. That’s what inspired us with Ben’s Vertical Week shot from the Nelson Lakes National Park in New Zealand. “This was one of those days where all you need to do is soak up the views and appreciate what's in front of you,” Ben says. We couldn’t agree more!   Thank you to all of you for sharing your World Vertical Week experience on Instagram and inspiring us all. Congratulations Adrien, Paulina and Ben. You are the winners of the World Vertical Week contest in 2021. All three of you will receive Suunto 9 Baro watches to join you on your future adventures!   READ ALSO More desire than ever to tally up vertical meters: World Vertical Week 2021 big data is here 

We are talking about you, and your stories. We feel as though we have gotten to know our community better than we ever have before. We read about how you are managing through the past year with a world turned upside down and trying to maintain your health (and sanity). You told us about your achievements and your future dreams of adventure. We are inspired by what you have accomplished and the resolve in your path ahead whether to better health, faster races or new heights of exploration. You took time to share with us your past experiences, and the joy found in peaceful treks through the wilderness and stressful, challenging summit pushes. Some of you shared very personal moments, experiences that have shaped your lives, both heart wrenching and hopeful. We are honoured to have been there with you for some of those memorable moments, even at times providing critical information to get you home safely, or to help keep you motivated and pushing towards a personal goal, or a personal mission. These stories are why we exist, and reading them reaffirms our mission and commitment to enabling them. Thank you for sharing them with us, we are grateful and inspired. – Your fellow adventurers at Suunto Next Steps in the application process and program: We wanted to share that we are reading them (all) and due to the sheer amount we are going to take the following steps to ensure we a). Can kick-off the program in good time and get a first group of selected ambassadors going, b). Ensure we communicate in the most timely manner possible. So this is how we will roll from here: We have begun to communicate to our first selected brand ambassadors and as well as those applications we’ve read through that are not a match at this time. If you have not been communicated with, your application is still being reviewed. We are closing the application page for now effective March 11 to ensure we can handle all the applications with care. We will inform all applicants until this point by April of their status. A couple of notes to help you application in the future. Please create a ‘creator’ or ‘business’ account on Instagram (if you are on the platform), it helps us get to know you better, faster. We will inform you about the next application round on suunto.com, our newsletters and our social channels. Stay tuned! Tell us about you and your adventures with your Suunto! Your stories are a key reason we have made the selections we have, so keep them coming!

With Suunto World Vertical Week 2022 around the corner (March 14-20), we reached out to Austrian ski mountaineer, sport scientist and coach Susi Kraft and asked about what goes into getting faster vertically. Susi is one half of the Berghasen, an awesome German-language blog covering everything you need to know about ski touring: training tips, tours, gear and so on. Like many Austrians, Susi grew up in the mountains, began skiing as a child and got into ski touring at university, and more recently trail running. Now the 29-year-old can’t stop. “With sports science I got deep insights into how training really works,” she says. “It made me rethink my own training.” The tendency, Susi says, among endurance athletes is to slip into doing too much high intensity training, even when they know they shouldn’t. And this is further compounded by vertical speed training because climbing steep gradients radically elevates heart rate. Why improving vertical speed is hard “It’s hard to train your aerobic base when you go uphill,” she says. “When your body isn’t used to endurance efforts, your heart rate increases quickly, the intensity gets turned up, your lactate levels start to max, which means the pH value in the body starts to fall. If it gets too low, the muscles and respiration don’t work economically anymore.” On top of this, while doing a lot of high intensity hill training can give short term gains, in the long term it can actually worsen your performance. So how to improve your vertical speed without blowing yourself out? Read on for Susi’s four tips and three training plans below! Susi trains in the mountains around Salzburg. © Berghasen Good things take time Suunto ambassador and mountain athlete Kilian Jornet is the Rolls Royce engine of vertical speed. We’d all like to be able to power uphill like he does. But Susi points something out we easily forget; Kilian got to where he is because he spent a decade or more training his base fitness, and that is achieved through low intensity training, not going overboard on hill repeats. “It takes patience to train your base,” Susi says. “You need a year, five years, or even longer to really accomplish that. The better your training, the better your base, the better your body will be able to handle intense exercise. So take the time to train your body to work economically. When you have a good base, you will be better able to do uphill training!” Embrace the flat This sounds counterintuitive, right? You might be thinking how you’ll ever get better sticking to flat terrain. Susi has a reply: “Flat training is important because it’s not that intense,” she explains. “You should combine terrain – half on flat, half in the hills. World class athletes never stop training their base, they just carefully combine it with more intense sessions.” Build strength If you’re really serious about wanting to improve vertical speed, then there’s no skipping legs day at the gym. Strength training for the lower and upper body are essential to getting faster. “The stronger you are, the easier it becomes,” Susi says. “If you can keep your upper body stable, your legs and arms can work more efficiently. This is really important for pushing uphill for a long time.” Improve your technique “Technique is really important for any sport you’re doing uphill. “You need to find the most economic way to move your body. I suggest practicing your technique on the flat so you can really focus on it without feeling exhausted.” Beginner, advanced and expert training plans Susi suggests following one of these plans for two weeks, then have a rest week with one to two additional rest days. Repeat the plan for several weeks with slowly increasing the length of the sessions after week six. Beginner Monday: Off day Tuesday: Core and mobility training Wednesday: 30 min run before breakfast at low intensity (70 % of your max heart rate). Thursday: Off day Friday: Strength training: legs and upper body Saturday: 30 min running or 40 min cycling at low intensity (70 % of your max heart rate). Sunday: 1,5h biking or 2 h hiking/skimo at low intensity Advanced Monday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Tuesday: Fartlek (interval) workout: 1 km at 60 % of your max heart rate then 1 km at 85 % of your max heart rate. Repeat five times. 10 min easy jog cool down. Wednesday: 45 min run before breakfast at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Thursday: Off day Friday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Saturday: 60 min running or 2 h cycling at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Sunday: 2,5h biking or 3 h hiking/skimo at low intensity Expert Monday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Tuesday: Fartlek (interval) workout: 1 km at 70 % of your max heart rate then 1 km at 85 % of your max heart rate. Repeat five times. 10 min easy jog cool down. Wednesday: 50 min run before breakfast at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Thursday: Off day Friday: Core stability followed by general strength training (hypertrophy) for legs and upper body. Flexibility exercises for cool down. Saturday: 80 min running or 2 h cycling at low intensity (70 % of you max heart rate). Sunday: 2,5h biking or 3 h hiking/skimo at low intensity. During the workout: 5x3 min. at 90 % of your maximum heart rate with at least 3 min. of easy jog between the 3 min. intervals Lead images: © Berghasen

A winter riding camp somewhere warm, like Mallorca or Madeira, would have been the norm just a year ago. Not anymore! We had to look the other way for an adventure ride – to the cold, wild north. Follow us on a wintery two-wheeled adventure from Suunto HQ to the magical landscape of Kiilopää in Finnish Lapland. Watch now! Rails to trails, a weekend of winter bikepacking in Lapland, Finland. Magical riding amongst the snow ghosts at Kiilopää, Finland. Better keep moving! Good times at the hut in the evening. The riders: Timo Veijalainen, Antti-Pekka Laiho and Erkki Punttila. All images by Jaakko Posti Photography Video by Joonas Vinnari / Kona Bikes

Spending time on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands for the last few months has given Sami Sauri the outlet she needs. Staying at a friend’s retreat centre, she’s been out surfing and cycling whenever she can. Life indoors doesn’t come easily to her. “Normally I escape from thinking and being alone with myself and that’s why I do big trips because at least you’re sitting on a bike and not sitting in your apartment looking at the ceiling,” Sami says. “Stuck at home in Girona during the lockdown my head just exploded. So I took leave from work and escaped to the mountains in summer 2020. That didn’t make much difference so I went back to what I love most, the sea. So I’m travelling back and forward between Girona and Fuerteventura.” The new Suunto ambassador is at her best on epic adventure rides, like the one she did with a crew of friends in 2018 across the US via Route 66, or, that same year, the 1500 km ride of the Trans Labrador Highway in Canada. The 29-year-old Spainard has adventure cycled all over the place, and has her sights set on riding in Kenya and France next – when life returns to normal. “The trips I’ve been on have helped me a lot,” Sami says. “You’re sitting on a bike and seeing life go by and you have a lot of time to think about things. Sometimes it’s so monotonous that it’s harder mentally than physically. It taught me a lot about how to be and move forward in life.” Sami is a self admitted “wild child” who skipped school whenever she could, and left home when she was 17 to lead her own life. She changed styles with the seasons, and landed her first job at a skate and surf shop. Things really changed for the better in 2010 when Sami laid her eyes upon a friend’s fixed gear bike. They were out in Barcelona, her hometown, meeting for a drink and her friend rolled up on the bike. Impressed that it didn’t have brakes, Sami had a try and instantly fell in love. She saved up and bought her own. “It was the shittest bike ever, but I loved it,” she says. “Every single night after school I’d go out riding to learn how to skid, which is how to brake without brakes. I’d ride through the traffic like crazy. Thanks to that bike I discovered so many places in my city. I would have never seen them without a bike. It really opened my eyes.” Now on Fuerteventura, waiting for the pandemic to pass, heading out surfing, trail running or cycling whenever she can, Sami tracks all her activities with her Suunto 9. “Suunto has every single sport mode you can imagine,” she says. “Now I take my bike and go to the beach, track my cycling, jump in the water, track my surfing, it’s perfect. For someone like me who combines sports, Suunto is the way to go. I have it with me all the time.” All images: © Sergio Villalba