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Here are the last two candidates in the Dream Traverse Video Contest final! Vote for your favorite to make its creator's dream come true. View all six videos and choose your winner at traversecollection Three Suunto Traverse outdoor watches will be raffled among all voters. SNOWBOARDING IN JAPAN Candidate number five is Tom Harrison from London, UK. Or actually the whole Harrison family has a dream of snowboarding in Japan. “As a family we enjoy adventure, and I helped my sons create the film for the competition about the familie's dream trip to Japan,” Tom says. “Whether it’s camping, climbing, hiking or skiing, we can’t get enough of new challenges. Leaving London for a new adventure, even if it’s for only a couple days, is always a thrill.” When asked what the outdoors mean to him, Tom turned to his 15-year-old son to get an answer. “The outdoors is something that he can’t even begin to comprehend; a place that breeds adventure. Living in the city he feels contained, boxed in, always looking out the classroom window into the unknown, and all he wants to do is explore it.” “Outdoors give you an overwhelming sense of achievement. Getting out of London and going on an adventure is an amazing feeling, and it’s addictive. You can really find yourself when you are lost in the outdoors.” The Harrison family’s dream is to snowboard in Niseko, Japan. “In Niseko both amateurs and professional shred the fresh snow of the mountain,” Tom explains. Tom would take his sons also to Tokyo and Kyoto to explore the culture and beauty of their dream destination. “I would love to see my boys’ faces as they watch the crowds at the famous Shibuya zebra crossing in Tokyo or marvel at the beauty of the bamboo forest in Kyoto. It would be an unforgettable experience.” TRAIL RUNNING EP.5 Finalist number six is Björn Hunger, 17, from Windischgarsten, Austria. Björn enjoys trail running, mountain biking, ski mountaineering and shooting videos. “For me outdoors mean freedom. It's the best thing in the world to be out in the mountains with my friends and family!” Björn says. Björn’s dream traverse destination is Iceland. “To go to Iceland is one of my biggest dreams and it would be so cool to realize this dream!” “I would like to go to Iceland because the whole nature and the mountains there are so awesome.“ Get to know the other candidates: DREAM TRAVERSE VIDEO CONTEST FINALISTS: KINGDOM TRAVERSE AND PATAGONIA DREAMING DREAM TRAVERSE VIDEO CONTEST FINALISTS: DO THINGS ALWAYS AND WINTRY CHINA DREAM Go to traversecollection, watch the videos and vote for your favorite. Three Suunto Traverse outdoor watches will be raffled among all voters.

Get to know the first two Dream Traverse Video Contest finalists and vote for your favorite to make its creator's dream come true! View all six videos and choose your winner at traversecollection Three Suunto Traverse outdoor watches will be raffled among all voters. KINGDOM TRAVERSE The first candidate, Grobler Basson, comes from Cape Town, South Africa. Grobler and some of his friends actually had their adventure dream long before the contest. “We have been planning our adventure for the better part of this year, we even called it the Kingdom Traverse long before we knew of Suunto's plans and the launch of your new Traverse watch,” Grobler says. “We will traverse Lesotho from one side to the other. We will do this the only way we know possible – high altitude trail running, some off-the-grid mountain biking, cold water swimming and breath-taking kayaking coupled with some off-the-chart camping spots and difficult navigation!” The Kingdom of Lesotho is a land locked mountain kingdom located inside South Africa. It is the country with the highest lowest point on Earth of 1400 m (4600 ft). “The Kingdom Traverse would serve two goals; firstly to stimulate and temporarily satisfy our need for adventure and exploration, secondly, we see Lesotho as an amazing jewel yet to be discovered by international adventure tourism. We believe that the Kingdom Traverse would bring some amazing exposure to what Lesotho has to offer, and possible boost their tourism!” PATAGONIA DREAMING Candidate number two is Kellen Witschen from northern Minnesota in the United States. “The outdoors is a place I can go to and feel free from a schedule and from responsibilities, even if it’s only a quick bike ride at the end of the day. It is a place to test your knowledge and skills, where the consequence of failure is very real and very apparent,” Kellen says. Kellen’s Dream Traverse is far from an evening ride: he wants to ride the Carretera Austral, a 770 mile dirt road that runs from Puerto Montt to the start of the Patagonian ice cap. “Ever since visiting Patagonia in 2012, I have dreamed about going back. While doing research there, I only got to see a small section of the area and the group traveled exclusively by motor vehicle. I want to go back and bike the entire 770 miles of the Carretera Austral.” “The road travels through many different types of landscape and vegetation, ranging from closely woven coastal canals and Patagonian Steppe to high mountain peaks.” Go to traversecollection, watch the six videos and vote for your favorite. Three Suunto Traverse outdoor watches will be raffled among all voters.

For the last two weeks, Suunto ambassador and alpinist Ueli Steck has been in Nepal acclimatizing to the higher altitude to prepare to climb the notoriously difficult south face of 7861 m Nuptse. After recently running up a 6000 m mountain there in his running shoes, it's clear things are going well so far for the Swiss Machine. Here's part two of our four part series on Ueli's Nuptse expedition. Ueli climbing Lobuche Peak. © Ueli SteckAfter arriving in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley two weeks ago, Ueli Steck has been having a blast running, climbing, bouldering and camping out while acclimatizing to the higher altitude. He and his climbing partner Colin Haley are preparing to climb Nuptse, a 7861 m mountain only 2 km away from Everest. No one has successfully climbed Nuptse via its highly technical south face since Valeri Babanov and Yuri Koshelenko first did it in 2003. Click here to read more about why Ueli wants to climb Nuptse via its difficult south face After completing his #82Summits project over summer, Ueli is "super motivated". © Ueli Steck Ueli and Colin intend to climb it in the far more challenging alpine style, which means a one-time single push climb, without leaving fixed ropes. Ueli says he has acclimatized and is ready to climb. “Yesterday, I ran up Lobuche Peak from Dzongla,” he says. “It was pretty nice exercise. Summiting a 6000m peak in running shoes is quite fun!” Click here to read about how Ueli has progressed as an alpinist The view from Lobuche east where Ueli camped for two nights. © Ueli Steck Ueli is waiting for Colin to get acclimated. The well known American climber experienced some altitude sickness and went down to Deboche village to recover. While he waits, Ueli has been having a good time in Dzongla. He also camped for two nights on Lobuche Peak. “It’s very nice to be back in the Khumbu Valley,” he says. “It’s great to see that life is going on for the Sherpas [after the earthquake]. “There are only a few tourists in the area so it’s quite calm.” Stay tuned for the third part of our series on Ueli's Nuptse expedition: climbing Nuptse's south face

Suunto ambassador Ueli Steck is soon heading to the Himalaya to climb Nuptse, a 7861 m monster in Nepal only 2 km from Everest. Follow our four-part series about Ueli and climbing partner Colin Haley’s journey as they acclimatize and make their one time push to the top. After climbing 117, 000 vertical meters in the Alps this summer for his #82Summits project, Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck is “super motivated” to take on a grande mountain. In one week the Swiss Machine – famous for his lightning fast solo ascents – is travelling to Nepal to begin acclimatizing for an alpine-style attempt on Nuptse, via its formidable south face. Click here to read more about Ueli Steck© Jon Griffith Ueli is drawn to Nuptse because the south face reminds him of the Grand Jorasses north face, one of the most famous walls in the Alps – a highly technical climb Ueli has done several times. But, while the Grand Jorasses north face towers 1200 m above the valley below, the south-face of Nuptse is 2500 m and 5 km wide. In 2003, Russian climbers Valeri Babanov and climbing partner Yuri Koshelenko made the first successful ascent of Nuptse via its south-face, using fixed ropes. For this they won the prestigious Piolets d'Or award. However, it came hard won – for Valeri the successful ascent followed three consecutive failed attempts in two years. Since Valeri’s ascent in 2003, no one has again summited Nuptse via the south-face. “It’s never been repeated because it’s a really hard route,” Ueli says. “It’s a really technical route. That’s why I want to go there –it’s another step for me in developing technical, high altitude climbing.” © Jon GriffithUeli believes Nuptse will be more difficult than his famous 2013 solo ascent of Annapurna, one of the most dangerous mountains in the world. That climb won Ueli the Piolets d'Or award in 2014.“I think it’s definitely harder than Annapurna south face, technical wise,” he says. “The route I did on Annapurna looks insane, but technically it wasn’t hard.”Ueli is also motivated by the fact that no one has done a successful high altitude, technical climb in the Himalaya in the alpine-style.“The true alpine style means you don’t leave fixed ropes, you carry everything on one single ascent,” Ueli explains. “It’s a single push climb – you cannot go up part of the way, come down again and then go back up.” Whereas Russian climber Valeri Babanov and partner used fixed ropes, Ueli and climbing partner Colin Haley won’t be. “It’s going to be interesting to repeat that route in more of an alpine style,” Ueli says. “Sometimes it’s really cool to realise what other people have climbed. “The fact that someone did it before, means I have much more knowledge, which means I can climb harder because of that knowledge. “I know Valeri very well and for me it’s an honour to repeat one of his routes.”Ueli and Colin will spend about two weeks acclimatizing to the higher altitude on the north face of 6440 m Cholatse. Ueli expects the ascent and descent of Nuptse to take between four and five days. Stay tuned for the second instalment in our four part series. Part 2: acclimatizing. Main image credit: © Jon Griffith

Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and cycling around it offers mind-blowing views. Press play on the video below and experience what it's like to ride through this incredible landscape! Alpinists and ice climbers Matthias Scherer and Tanja Schmitt can’t get enough of the mountains. Whether, it’s winter or summer, their lives revolve around preparing for and going on big adventures. To help them physically and mentally prepare for the coming winter, they cycled around Mont Blanc in less than 24 hours. Below, Tanja Schmitt recounts their big day out pedalling. By Tanja Schmitt The Tour du Mont Blanc climbs more than 8050 vertical meters over a total distance of 340 km. The route goes through some of the most beautiful alpine passes in the Alps and some of the most spectacular parts of Italy, Switzerland and France. It offers stunning views of the snow-covered flanks of the mighty Mont Blanc (4810m), the highest peak in the Alps. As mountaineers and ice climbers, the psychological part of our sport has a big impact and the physical demands are also high. Next to basic strength training, regular rock-climbing and dry tooling, endurance training plays a major role in our overall training. For this reason, over summer Matthias and I do a lot of vertical ascent training through mountain running and biking. The idea of cycling non-stop around Mont Blanc was born from the logical step of connecting the passes and roads we’ve gotten to know so well through our training and traveling over the years. And on Sunday, August 30th the time had finally come to take action. Click here to read more about Matthias Scherer and Tanja Schmitt With bright headlamps and equipped with several Clif Shot Gels, Clif Shot Bloks and Clif Bars, together with salt-tablets and water, we hit the road at Aymaville and cycled along the empty roads of Aosta towards Grand St. Bernard. Our heartbeat was regular and we cycled in a steady rhythm. Our route lead us from the Col du Gr. St.Bernard over Champex to Martigny. Then over the Col de la Forclaz and on to Chamonix, Le Fayet and St. Gervais to Megève. From there we gained 750 vertical meters to les Saisies and further on to Beaufort. Temperatures during the day went to over 30° C and, correspondingly, the cycling became tougher. On the Cormet de Roselend, I began to suffer from the heat due to an agitating dry cough. But as the evening freshness came on, we got our strength back and enjoyed rolling down the long descent to Bourge-St-Maurice. The challenge to organize water refills became an unexpected issue. However, after a nerve-racking 30-minute wait in the queue of a nearby McDonalds, we rehydrated and furthermore equipped ourselves with an ice-filled cola! The last verticals up the road of Petit St-Bernard were tackled at dawn. Then the end was in sight and after a spectacular ride down the Col to Prè-St-Didier, we felt like we were flying on the last flat kilometers on the SS26 to Aymaville. On arriving back in Aymaville, our Suunto Ambits showed a time of 19h55min. A wonderful training day in the mountains had come to an end.

It’s 7000 m of elevation gain and 300 km and ice climbers and alpinists Matthias Scherer and partner Tanja Schmitt aim to cover their Tour Mont Blanc in less than 24 hours. It’s the highest mountain in the Alps and cycling around the base of Mont Blanc takes most people around five days. Matthias Scherer and Tanja Schmitt aim cycle it on racing bikes in less than 24 hours this Sunday. © Matthias Scherer They’ve been climbing mountains and frozen waterfalls for over 15 years together and for them Mont Blanc – with its stunning ice channels and snow covered flanks – is a symbol of their shared passion.“Mont Blanc for me is something like a church,” Matthias says. “When I see it, it reminds me there’s something higher and more important in life to long for than numbers and training.”The unsupported tour will be the ultimate test of their bodies and minds before autumn arrives and their ice-climbing season begins. The most challenging part, however, will be staying focused and fueled.“You have to be extremely concentrated the whole time,” Matthias says. “The descents are very tricky, the roads aren’t always good, as they have holes. “You have to stay fueled if you want to keep a rhythm.” © Matthias Scherer They’ll be drinking water every 10 minutes, taking electrolytes every 13 minutes, eating energy blocks every 20 minutes and sandwiches before each long downhill to allow enough rest time for digestion. Another challenge is making sure they don’t push too hard too early on in the tour. “At the beginning of a big tour like this it’s common to be a little bit euphoric and to push too hard,” Matthias explains. To avoid this, they will use their Ambit3 Peak watches to ensure they keep their heart rates at 70 per cent of their maximum. They’ll also use their watches to record their elevation gain and for GPS tracking to navigate the few stages of the tour they’re less familiar with.“It’s going to be a long training day for us, but I don’t expect to be broken,” Matthias says. “I plan to go climbing right away on Monday.”