“It’s really smooth for us Scandinavians to travel to Tenerife because of the direct flights. The island itself has a lot of variety: the beaches, green forests and the barren mountain. It has everything. I really enjoy it here”, says Emelie. A morning run on the beach. However, Emelie’s off-season isn’t all about relaxation. “I heard about this run about five years ago when I was here on the island. I was really tired after a race and had one week to relax so I couldn’t do it then.” Emelie's Suunto Spartan is ready for the route called 0-4-0. “It is fascinating to try to do fast times on mountain routes. I want to see if I can do it fast and, if I can, it’s great. But if I can’t it’ll be a great day anyway!” Watch the video and follow along on Emelie’s holiday in Tenerife.

To say Jonathan Sunnex’s life has taken a few unexpected turns is a bit of an understatement. How else would a Kiwi from Ngaruawahia, New Zealand come to be living on the little bay of Soufriere, in one of the least-known islands in the Lesser Antilles? But that question was hardly at the forefront of his mind while he sat at the airport in Miami – stranded thanks to a little storm called Hurricane Maria. The entire Caribbean and much of the southeastern United States had a tense hurricane season – first Hurricane Irma barreled its way across multiple islands, then just five days later Hurricane Maria sprung up in its wake. While Dominica dodged a major hit with Irma, Maria was another story. The island suffered a direct hit – and almost three months later, much of Dominica still is without power or running water. The fact that it was a pretty big wrench in the works of Sunnex’s biggest project of the year – the Blue Element Freedive competition – was essentially an afterthought. For Jonathan and girlfriend Sofia Gómez, it was a tense two-week wait in Miami, wondering if when they returned home they’d find their dive school – and their home – still standing. “We were in Roatan for the World Championships,” says Sunnex. “We wanted to get back early to prep for Blue Element. It was scheduled for the 11th – 17th of October, but Maria hit at the end of September. It went from tropical storm to category 5 in just a few hours.” At first he was hopeful the event could still go on – but as reports came in about the damage done to the island, expectations were quickly lowered. “We were really hoping our dive platform was still there,” he said. “Communication with people onsite was impossible.” But one of the first things he did? He set up a GoFundMe and reached out to the free dive community – hoping to raise a €1,000 of donations for food, water and other supplies. They ended up hitting their goal, and even bettering it – raising $26,000. The highlight moment? Jonathan – whose long, flowing hair had been growing for ten years – got on Facebook Live and shaved his head and cut off his beard, raising $700 in just twenty minutes. With the bounty of the successful fundraiser ready to share with the island, he started making his way home – but it wasn’t a straight shot. “I flew to Martinique, and just started picking up supplies – water, chainsaws, literally thousands of dollars’ worth of food – whatever we thought we could fit on a boat,” says Johnny. “Then I hitched a ride with Piwi Croisieres Calypso over to Dominica.” When he arrived on the island, he was ‘mostly speechless’. "The island is the greenest tropical forest – super dense bush – it looked more like a firestorm hit it,” he says. "No foliage. Bark ripped off of trees. No green left. It was a dry dusty desert. Piles of debris. Giant trees on the beaches, debris two meters high.” The damage to their home was real – the house/school was flooded, and the platform had been dislodged and blown to shore. They lost their competition rope, worth about $1500 – although it was later recovered, and they hope to repair it. Without a doubt, the competition was off – so Sunnex and the competitors already on the island diverted their attention to clean-up and aid, cleaning beaches, roads and helping repair the island’s infrastructure. There’s still much to be done – but Sunnex is confident the Blue Element freediving contest will return next year – and probably not during hurricane season. “The conditions here are impeccable,” he says. “Calm and flat, no current, water’s warm, perfect.” Want to pitch in and help Dominica? See the Blue Element GoFundMe page here.

Follow along Erkki Punttila on a bike packing trip way up north, north of the Arctic Circle, in Lemmenjoki National Park. Sometimes the best way to find yourself is to get lost in the beauty of nature.   Eki Punttila rode his Kona Unit X across the national park.   Erkki has an appetite for adventure – and a Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR Baro to guide his way. And read more about the bike trip at konaworld.com Photos by Jaakko Posti / Kona Bikes

Who are you and where are you from? My name is Saeed Rashid, I live on the south coast of England in the town of Bournemouth, 20-minute walk from what I think is one of the best sandy beaches in England. Where do you dive? I travel a lot and mostly to Asia and like most people in Europe, the Red Sea, which is really above all over places my underwater playground. But I also try and get a few dives in at home, I have a local pier in Swange, Dorset that is a great place to chill out in the shallows with my camera What inspires you in the underwater world? I know it sounds a cliché, but just being underwater inspires me, finding a cool little critter that I’ve never seen before inspires me, helping others to capture their dives in a photograph inspires me. I love seeing the work of other photographers of places and things I’ve never seen and imagining the excitement they had at the time of taking them. How would you describe your photography style? I’m not sure I have a style, if I do it is in constant flux and changing all the time. I just try and capture each image as I see it Is there a story you wish to tell with your images? When I’m teaching underwater photography I try to get my students to think of themselves as not photographers but as storytellers. There is also a story to tell, however big or small. You also teach photography. Can you tell us a bit about that? I have a day job in which among many other things I teaching photojournalism at Bournemouth University. But I’m also very fortunate to be able to travel and teach underwater photography in amazing locations. I work with a couple of UK travel agents (Oonas Divers, Ultimate Diving and The Scuba Place) where I take small groups away to some wonderful destinations such as Indonesia, Philippines and Egypt and help them with their own photographic skills. I teach all levels, it’s great seeing those that are both completely new start to understand the basics and I’m able to get them to banish the blues of their images and as well as those that are pushing their skills further and producing amazing imagery. The best feeling in the world is when one of my own students teaches me something I never knew before, that really is great. And where to follow your adventures? I have a website focusvisuals.com that I try to keep as updated as possible. I’m also all over social media: www.facebook.com/focusvisuals/ www.instagram.com/saeedrashid01/ www.twitter.com/saeedrashid Follow @suuntodive on Instagram

“It was a tough race.” So says Mauricio ‘Mau’ Méndez – although his version of a ‘tough race’ is a something closer to most people’s achievement of a lifetime. Returning to Maui as the reigning XTERRA world champion, the 21-year-old triathlete from Mexico City was hoping to prolong his reign – but a rough swim to start the race got the best of him. And while he couldn’t quite catch up to South African Brad Weiss, he managed quite a respectable finish: 2nd place, maintaining his place on the podium. No time to enjoy the scenery on the Razor Ridge. (©Mike Adrian / XTERRA) Despite conditions on the ground-side of the course being solid – it had been raining for two days prior, but the course was dry and fast – things went bad from the start for Mau: he finished the swim in ninth place. “It was way rougher than usual,” Méndez said of Maui’s DT Fleming Beach – often protected, on the windward side of the island. “It was difficult even for the best swimmers to catch a rhythm.” He got out of the water only to begin battle straight away with bike expert Ruben Ruzafa – still struggling for rhythm. It was finally on the run that things came together – on the course he’d scouted with his dad prior to the race, he was able to go from fourth to second, gaining a couple of minutes and catching Ruzafa on the last stretch of sand before the finish line. Mau ran the fastest time of the day. (©Mike Adrian / XTERRA) Keeping him ticking on the race course was a customized Spartan Ultra, a newly appreciated tool in his XTERRA quiver. “It’s a great watch,” he says. “It does everything I need it to do.” What’s happening next year? Well, he’s starting early. “Normally I wait to start my training season until March or April, but this year I’m going to start in January to try and prepare myself a little better,” says Mau. "Having a second place is great,” he continues “But from right now until October 28th next year, I am going to be thinking of one thing and that’s getting that title back.” Main image ©Jesse Peters / XTERRA

The entire mountaineering world knows Kilian Jornet had not one summit this year on Everest without oxygen, but two. The first of them was record-breaking – a mere 26 hours after leaving the Everest Base Camp at 5,100m. The second was ‘just for fun’ – he was there, he felt good, so, why not do it again?   A lot of things are different at 8,000 m and above. It’s politely referred to as ‘the death zone’ with good reason – people die there, simply because they are there. In the death zone, the human body simply can’t survive for long periods of time. An extended stay without supplementary oxygen will result in deterioration of bodily functions, loss of consciousness, and, ultimately, death.   Getting into it is not a decision to be taken lightly – and getting out of it is imperative. So when record-holding Kilian Jornet lost his way while descending from 8848 m on Everest, his next few decisions would be crucial – his life would literally depend on them.   “Going down from my second ascent on Everest I got lost. It was a heavy snowfall and in the middle of the night and around 8300 m and I was traversing on technical terrain. My brain wasn’t working really well, and I had no clue where I was. Visibility was poor – I could sometimes only see about five meters in front of me – sometimes just two.”   He had left the normal route around 8300 m – and in fact, he is not even sure why. “I have a sort of "black moment" where I can't remember anything. In that time I left the normal route, but I can't remember exactly when or why.” He was clearly suffering the effects of high altitude. And of course, it was snowing: a half a meter during the night, further increasing the difficulty of navigation.     Lucky for him, he had a tool, and the presence of mind to use it: his Suunto GPS watch, which had been recording his path since he left Advanced Base Camp at 6400 m 23 hours ago. Accessing the trackback feature, he realized that he’d made a 90º degree turn to the left, and continued to traverse for one kilometer off of the normal route, and leaving him in the middle of the North Face. It was clear: he had to move in the entirely opposite direction. He did so, until he got back to the normal ridge.   In the new era of fast, light alpinism, going solo has its benefits: you’re quicker, and often, quicker is safer. "I use it about a dozen times in a year,” says Jornet. “When it’s really bad weather or really foggy, if I’m going somewhere with a lot of ridges and cornices – often, it’s really about reducing risk as much as it is about finding the way home.” This brings us to a curious realization – it’s not a last-ditch, all-odds-are-against us survival tool – it’s something to keep you from getting into that situation entirely.   That said, Jornet recognizes clearly the severe potential consequences of his situation on Everest. Without Trackback, he likely would have hunkered down in the cold for four or five more hours until daylight – and the consequences of that could have been severe. “There’s no question for me,” he says. “This feature saves lives. For sure.”     Learn how to navigate with Suunto Spartan watches or how to use Trackback on Suunto Ambit watches.