Suunto Blog

Winter is coming! Time to start thinking about that ice climbing trip and where to head to this season. To help you make up your mind, we spoke to Suunto's Matthias Scherer and Tanja Schmitt and asked them for their recommended venues. In this first installment the pair, one of the most active ice climbing partnerships around, offer up some of the best lines for beginners and intermediates in the European Alps. Better start training... Cogne, Italy Matthias climbs steep ice in Cogne. ©Tanja Schmitt Let's start with our home area 'Cogne'. Doubtless one of the best places we know so far to get a lot of climbing done within easy and quick access. But be aware – when it snows or the wind is blowing, our valleys become serious avalanche terrain – so please check always the avalanche forecast, before starting your adventure. We recommend of course the 'Cascate Lillaz'. In good conditions it's a wonderful climb in the grade of WI 3. Small objective dangers and equipped belays with the possibility to quit the ascent on many places makes it a perfect beginners' line. Freissinières and Sixt Valleys, France Matthias climbs 'Shiva Lingam' in the Chamonix valley. ©Tanja Schmitt This country hosts some of the most impressive ice climbing areas in Europe: Freissinières and the Sixt are valleys with incredible lines. For scenic climbing in one of the most famous places in alpinism we recommend the 'Ruisseau du Picheu', WI 2 near to the Le Tour village in the Chamonix valley. Of course, you also need to check the avalanche conditions. Kandersteg, Switzerland Tanja Schmitt on Glücksritter, Adelboden, Switzerland. ©Matthias Scherer Not really for beginners but in good conditions and with a stable snow pack a great challenge for the medium ice climber is the 'Glücksritter' fall WI 4+ in Adelboden. Impressive ice formation with a quick access in a wild cirque near to the world famous ice climbing area of Kandersteg... Stubai valley, Austria There's no easy way around the Stubai valley and the ice climbing area above the Pinisalm. The approach, with a toboggan (rent at the ski station) from the Elfer-ski area is super fun. Pinistal is home to impressive lines like 'Maenner' or the 'Kerze', a very aesthetic line. We recommend the massive ice shield of the 'Vorhang', WI 4+. In case the climbing is not exciting enough for you the way down back to the valley on the toboggan will do the job... Velocity, the new ice climbing film from Matthias Scherer and Tanja Schmitt can be seen here.

Three men, two 8,000ers, 7 days and 170km. Mode of transport? Bike and skis only. Welcome to the quest of ski mountaineers Benedikt Böhm, Sebastian Haag and Andrea Zambaldi. The German and Italian trio have just embarked on an epic mission to climb Shisha Pangma (8,013 m) then ride their bikes the 170 km to Cho Oyu (8,201 m) where they hope to make another speed ascent, all within a week. They've spent the last week acclimatising up to 7,000 m and were all set to make their first summit attempt on Thursday September 18. However, bad weather and avalanche risk forced them to turn around. They're now back in base camp, preparing for a second summit bid.“Another attempt to climb Shisha Pangma is being planned and scheduled to happen within the next few days,” they blogged. Big surprise of the trip so far? Bumping into Suunto ambassador Ueli Steck at base camp, no stranger to speed ascents himself.“Ueli gave many useful tips,” the guys said. Ueli climbed Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu in 2011. The three ski mountaineers, who are supported by Suunto, can be followed online here. All images © Elias Lefas

Our #SuuntoAdventure selfie contest has now come to an end and we're pleased to reveal the four winners below. They will each receive the new Ambit3 Sport. Selfies are everywhere. Whether it's on the top of a mountain or out on the trail, everyone loves to grab a selfie to share with friends. So at Suunto, we thought it would be a great idea to invite our fans and the wider community to send us their best shots. We were overwhelmed by the response, receiving thousands of inspiring entries via Instagram. The four winning shots were each selected by one of our Suunto ambassadors – Kilian Jornet, Emelie Forsberg, Conrad Stoltz and Greg Hill. Below, we present each ambassador's choice. Thanks to everyone who submitted images. It was a difficult choice. In the coming weeks we'll have interviews with each of the winners to hear more about the story behind their shots. Emelie Forsberg choice: Winner: Patrick Müller Suarez, @patrickamsSays Emelie: “This picture captured my imagination right away with the light – is it morning or evening? – and made me think of a long day out exploring new mountains. The picture exudes exploration.” Kilian Jornet choice: Winner: Trent Busenbark, @trentbusenbarkSays Kilian: “The picture takes us right there and lets us feel what he feels. We can feel the cold, the storm, the tiredness. Adventure is also about bad conditions and hard times that make us happy when we come home.” Conrad Stoltz choice: Winner: Ross Lovell, @rosslovellSays Conrad: “I can see how crazy steep the hill is by the gear your friend is standing on! You deserve to win for riding one handed and snapping a great photo after such a massive climb!” Greg Hill choice: Winner: Corky Still, @akskicaSays Greg: “The vast background, untouched and waiting feels like unconquered territory. And there is excitement and unlimited potential to this skier. So many ski lines waiting for them...”

The new ice-climbing film of Matthias Scherer and Tanja Schmitt is out now! Watch here but don't miss our Q&A with Matthias and filmaker Franz Walter, who explain what the movie is all about. Tell us about the filmMS: The idea was to make a film that shows ice climbing as a way of life in an artistic view. We did not just want to tell another story about hard lines being climbed. We tried to capture the moments that make the magic – and show the truth of ice climbing. Ice climbing is a true adventure. We love this aspect beside the fascination of the surreal beauty that frozen water creates.FW: As a storyteller I wanted to get to know Tanja and Matthias and their passion for ice-climbing. Distilling these insights into a short-film was what I was aiming for. Where was it shot?MS: The full film was shot in Cogne in the Aosta valley on legendary lines like 'Repentance' or 'Lau Bij' to name just a few... How challenging was it to film?FW: Filming in winter and ice-climbing in particular is always a challenge. Avalanche danger, danger of falling ice, humidity all-over, snowfall, frozen fingers, you name it. Yet coming home at the end of the day with some beautiful shots makes it all worth it. Were there any really difficult moments? FW: Yes there were, although it was not during the filming itself. The first hurdle to take with every project is to find the first supporter who says, “That's a great idea and I will help you make it happen.” The second hurdle came when we actually had driven to Cogne and had way too much snow and avalanche danger to be able to stick to our initial concept. So, over the course of a night we had to make the decision to either cancel the project or re-align things according to the given conditions, which is what we did. The third hurdle was to get the narration right. Although it might seem simple and straight-forward it took a lot of time to get there.Photo: ©Franz Walter What's next?MS: We have a trip to Canada coming from October until the beginning of December where we will hit the early ice like the last seasons. Then back in Cogne we have a challenging project coming up. It will be a full day, a long day with lots of ice to be climbed! But most exciting are our plans for Norway. We can not say more – but when it happens, it will be big and full on! FW: As I am writing this I am sitting in my van, heading north to Scandinavia for a three-week road trip, fully loaded with whitewater kayaks, climbing gear and hiking boots. We will continue doing our very best producing small, beautiful, thoughtful stories from the outdoors.

To receive a GPS signal your Suunto watch needs to locate satellites that are orbiting the Earth. The better the watch knows where the satellites are located, the quicker it will receive the signal. Since the satellites are moving constantly, the new locations of the satellites need to be synced to your watch. Simply put, to find the satellites quicker, sync your watch regularly with Suunto app. Suunto app sync the latest, seven-day satellite orbit forecast to your watch so it knows where to look. If you want to optimize and find the signal quickly, sync the watch as close to your activity as possible. The data that is synced to your watch is global. So even if you sync your watch in New York and start your run 12 hours later in Chamonix, there is no need to re-sync. Image: © Bruno LongGet support for your Suunto product at support

This is a wingsuit flight you have to see. Patrick Kerber leaps from the summit of the Ochs at 3,895 m in the Bernese Oberland for a 185 km/h flight in the Swiss Alps.Check out the video and prepare to be inspired. But the jump is only part of the story. This wasn't just an extraordinary BASE jump. This was para-alpinism. To get to the take-off site, Kerber first had to had to climb over the Fiescherhorn (4,049 m). After staying at the Mönchsjoch hut, he and partner Simon Wandeler set off at 4am. “The hardest part was to climb and cross over on the Gross Fiescherhorn. There was lots of ice and snow it took eight hours of climbing to reach the exit point. The jump-off but was covered with a lot of snow,” he adds, “so we had to dig it all out and prepare it for a good push.”What makes the jump unique is that Kerber did not have any external support and BASE jumped with all his gear.“My goal was to approach this project only with my buddy and to fly all the gear that we brought up back down – that meant crampons, ice axe, harness, laser device to measure the jump, karabiners, ice screws etc. All this stuff had to find space in the suit and this is only possible with new pockets that are integrated in the wings.” He adds: “This is though a big deal when it comes to aerodynamics. So after climbing up for quite some time and also getting tired, you have to make sure that all the technical aspects are correct too or the suit will not fly the right way.” “When you plan a project like this, you can only take and bring the most important gear with you, but also enough to be always safe.”Naturally, that included Kerber's Suunto Ambit2.