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“Mount Kilimanjaro is more than it’s famed snows, more than it’s iconic, statuesque crater that commands the landscape. It is more than the tallest “trekkable” mountain in the world. To hike Kilimanjaro is to be encapsulated into evolving ecosystems, from tropical rainforest to snow-covered peaks in a few days making for unique experience in our natural world,” describes adventurer Matt Mitchell. There are seven established climbing routes on Kilimanjaro. To trek a different route to the summit is to live a separate and entirely unique experience. In search of true wilderness, we chose Rongai, the least trafficked route and the only one starting from the North, along the Kenyan border. It is the only trek that includes the entire spectrum of habitats in Kilimanjaro’s vast ecosystem, though you have to go out of your way to find it. After a two-hour drive from the park’s main gate, winding through hectic, dusty villages, we arrived at the trailhead. Our journey began in a wild, tropical rainforest, it was difficult to believe that in a few days we would be immersed in freezing cold and burning sun of arctic conditions. Before we left for Tanzania we plotted the route to my Suunto Traverse GPS watch, helping us to navigate and identify POIs (camps and highlights) as well as and track our altitude and gain each day. Kilimanjaro is a busy mountain year round on most routes, so when we found ourselves trekking alone we were surprised, and delighted. We felt like we had the mountain to ourselves, free to move at our pace and simply appreciate our surroundings. The mountain itself was pristine, even at camps debris or evidence of hikers was rarely seen. Giant, jagged crevasses created by lava flows and home to streams from another time lay hidden behind wild and unwieldy bushes. Throughout the forest and heather our path was enveloped in thick rolling fog. Wide, sloping caves that were once shelter, now help to mark the trail. Unlike routes from the south, clear views of Kibo are frequent above 3500 m on Rongai. While our previous days were filled with fog and mist, the greyness gave way to clear and intense days in the sun. Our nights got much colder above the clouds and we started to feel the thinning air as we moved toward the alpine desert. Our only company was a pair of white-necked ravens who followed us for two days and nights. Kilimanjaro is not simply its dominant and easily identifiable volcanic cone (Kibo), with its graceful lines. In fact Kilimanjaro is made up of three volcanoes- Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Kibo remains dormant, the others extinct. As we traversed alpine desert in scorching 37 degree sun, the imposing, jagged edifice of Mawenzi appeared. Hans Meyer Peak is its highest point at 5149 m (third highest point in Africa) and is separated from Kibo by 6 km of baron desert known as ‘The Saddle.’ We arrived at Kibo Huts (4700 m) in the afternoon of our forth day, with a world already below us. We were paying for each moment at this altitude and higher, so at midnight under steady snowfall we climbed towards the stars. There was still a mountain above us, and all we could see were bobbing headlamps and utter darkness. We trudged across steep, scree switch-backs (up to 45 degree) for 5 hours, glancing only occasionally at the horizon for the slightest hint of the day to come. Breathing becomes more difficult with each step, relentlessly testing all faculties. Even simple recognition is not a given at this altitude. As we scrambled to the top of Gilman’s Point and beyond the grandeur of Kibo is startling, its glaciers, sheer cliffs and vast expanses are unforgettable. There is nothing like feeling the day’s first light atop a mountain, invigorates your senses, and brings your body back to life. The streams of clouds and color and light made us feel like we could see all of Africa.

High school teacher Dave Williams is attempting to become the first person to scale the highest summits of the seven continents by starting at sea level and running to each mountain. Dave on his hike from the Black Sea to Mt Elbrus in Russia. © www.sea2summit7.comWhen Dave Williams isn’t teaching at a high school in Auckland, New Zealand, he’s doing one of two things: running or eating. “I run a half marathon in morning and a half marathon in the evening, which has made the necessary training feasible while working full time,” Dave says. “Keeping the weight on has been hard even though I eat eight meals a day.” On the summit of Kilamanjaro. © www.sea2summit7.comDave has completed sea to summits on the highest mountains of four continents – Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus and Kosciuszko – and is about to set off to Alaska for a five-week expedition to make his attempt on Denali – the highest mountain in North America. Starting on April 19, he will run 350 km from Anchorage to the road end. “It will take five marathons to run to the road end, then a three day trek to the base of the glacier, then a nine day trek up the glacier to the base camp, then another two weeks to the summit,” he says. “One of the biggest challenges I've faced during preparation is to build the required fat and muscle stores while simultaneously increasing my fitness and running over 100 km per week. I predict I will lose up to 10 kg during the five weeks of adventuring.” On the way to the summit of Aconcagua. © www.sea2summit7.comLater this year he will be heading to Antarctica to make a sea to summit attempt on Mt Vinson. He’s saving the best to last, however. In 2018 he will begin running from Kolkata, India, doing 32 marathons in 30 days, to Everest base camp and then climb the highest mountain in the world. “I enjoy climbing more than the running,” he says. “Running is more repetitive. “When I start running I know I’ve got the best to look forward to. The finale is the climb.” The 30-year-old outdoor education teacher began his Sea2Summit7 project in 2013 after two friends committed suicide due to long battles with depression. The loss got him thinking about depression and what he could do to help. “I had an epiphany while doing a sea to summit adventure in New Zealand,” Dave says. “I thought I could do same thing on the 7 Summits and raise money for the Mental Health Foundation.” Success at last! © www.sea2summit7.comHe’s raised $5,400USD so far and, incredibly, has paid for most of the project out of his own pocket, investing $50,000NZD ($34,000USD) until now. The first mountain of the project, Aconcagua, was the most difficult. He failed twice. On the first attempt in July 2014, a storm hit on his summit attempt and climbers he had met earlier died on the mountain. On the second attempt his body gave out on the climb and he had to call it off. Finally, in January 2016, everything came together and he summited Aconcagua. “The thing that always keeps me going is receiving personal messages from people who have been following the project and who say I’ve inspired them to get off the couch,” he says. Dave hopes he has to run to Denali only the once. “Sea2Summit7 is all about never giving up and calling on friends to help when you are feeling fragile," Dave says. “This time I have an awesome expedition team of five who will be fulfilling specific roles along this journey so it is feasible and safe.”

It was a race to the top! National and tribal pride was on the line as people around the world tried to prove their country or sport is king of the hill. World Vertical Week 2016 has closed and the stats are in so it's time to see who came out on top! WHICH COUNTRY CLIMBS THE MOST? Surely alpine nations have an unfair advantage? Mostly, yes, but not always. There were a couple of surprises! This visual shows the top 10 countries for average ascents in human powered outdoor activities. Congratulations Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia! WHO CLIMBS THE MOST? Trail runners, cyclists and trekkers were humbled as – maybe unsuprisingly – ski touring and mountaineering led the highest average ascents. As a consolation, remember there would be very different results in summer! Skiers climbed the most NUMBER ONE CLIMBERS IN THE WORLD The Swiss are on top again and nearly breaking the thousand-meter mark in both ski touring and mountaineering. The other two countries with two first places were more surprising: Colombia was on top in running and cycling and Hong Kong topped the chart in both trail running and trekking. The toughest mountain goats come from the Switzerland. TOP COUNTRIES IN DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES And to give you even more to speculate here are the top five countries in the activities mentioned above. Top 5 in ski touring SWITZERLAND 996 m SLOVENIA 941 m FRANCE 908 m ITALY 895 m SLOVAKIA 885 m Top 5 in mountaineering SWITZERLAND 971 m FRANCE 881 m ITALY 798 m AUSTRIA 710 m GERMANY 696 m Top 5 in trail running HONG KONG 890 m CHINA 684 m ITALY 640 m JAPAN 553 m SLOVENIA 543 m Top 5 in trekking HONG KONG 705 m SOUTH AFRICA 519 m MALAYSIA 428 m SLOVENIA 424 m NETHERLANDS 420 m Top 5 in snow shoeing ITALY 558 m AUSTRIA 488 m GERMANY 428 m SWITZERLAND 426 m FRANCE 416 m Top 5 in mountain biking PORTUGAL 533 m ITALY 518 m SPAIN 479 m SOUTH AFRICA 452 m SWITZERLAND 400 m Top 5 in cycling COLOMBIA 481m SOUTH AFRICA 409 m ANDORRA 403 m SLOVENIA 396 m SPAIN 391 m Top 5 in cross country skiing SPAIN 367m CZECH REPUBLIC 351m FRANCE 298m NORWAY 261m JAPAN 248m Top 5 in running COLOMBIA 193 m SLOVENIA 164 m ANDORRA 148 m HONG KONG 140 m PORTUGAL 140 m READ MORE 7 TIPS TO ACCELERATING YOUR UPHILL SPEED PERFORMING YOUR BEST WITH VERTICAL SPEED KIMBERLY, DAVID AND KYLE ARE THE VERTICAL WEEK PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS!

Where do you draw strength and solace amidst hardships, how do you turn fear into courage? Andy Earl, a Utah-based artist and adventurer shares his story and talks about his love for the mountains and how they have shaped his life. Watch the short film now: The Power of Mountains with Andy Earl

World Vertical Week was held last week and the hundreds of pictures tagged with #VerticalWeek give a wonderful look at what people were up to during the event. Thank you very much for participating and sharing the photos, everyone! The three lucky photo contest winners are Kyle Conway, David Jeker and Kimberly Strom. Congratulations! They all will receive Suunto Ambit3 Vertical GPS watches for their inspiring images.  putting in some more hard miles before #gorge100k @briehemingway @ultracrazychris #teamultracrazy #trailfamily #trailrunning #trailporn #training #suuntoverticalcanada #verticalweek #epictrailrunning #teamtransalpine A photo posted by Kyle Conway (@kc_lumberguy) on Feb 20, 2016 at 11:08pm PST Kyle Conway shot his winning photo at his local Baden Powell Trail in North Vancouver, Canada. “We ran about 30 km with about 1250 m of climbing, including two loops of the "Seymour Grind", a popular "climbing route" for trail runners,” Kyle tells about the day the photo was taken. Over the Vertical Week Kyle climbed 4700 m. “2016 has been a year with goals of improving my climbing, and Suunto's Vertical Week was a perfect opportunity to step things up.” Dream big. #trailrunning #catogne #trailvsb #whatanadventure #waaultra #waateam #verticalweek #livingthedream #jesuisloup A photo posted by David Jeker (@davidjeker) on Feb 17, 2016 at 8:11am PST David Jeker used the Vertical Week as his last week of hard training before tapering for Transgrancanaria in early March. “I ran nine times during the week, always near my place in Salvan, Switzerland. I kept the best training for the end and did some hill repeats on a very steep trail on Sunday. I ran up and down five times for a total of 2300 meters. Totals for the week were 122 km with 4350 meters of ascent.” David’s photo was taken during a 33 km long run with 1350 meters of ascent. “I had originally planned on doing an easy run down in the valley but when I saw that the snow had mostly melted higher up, I changed my plan. It was Vertical Week after all! I ran up to one of my favorite trails and took a picture of Catogne,” David says. “I’m running a race (X-Alpine / Trail Verbier St-Bernard) this summer that goes up, down and around that mountain. Since I’ve registered for that race, the sight of this impressive mountain is always a great source of motivation!” Finished the week with a big day, +2400m and plenty of sun. #verticalweek #suuntoski A photo posted by @kimberly.strom on Feb 21, 2016 at 10:38pm PST Kimberly Strom’s Vertical Week was a true multisport one: she ran in the Jura mountains, nordic skied, and had a big skimo day in the French Alps gaining a total ascent of about 5000 m for the week. In Kimberly’s photo her friend Noémie leads their climb to Col de l'Encrenaz on the way to Mont Buet (3096 m), in the French Alps. “The route allowed us a quiet morning, away from the busy ascent of Buet. With some extra skinning we earned the chance to be alone at the summit, arriving late in the afternoon after two long climbs (1300 m and 1100 m).” Along the way they saw many small avalanches as the sun heated the snow, watched a huge ibex perched on an impossible ledge, took a break to sit protected from the wind and enjoyed the view, kick-turned up icy slopes, and struggled to break through the crusty, crème brûlée descent. When they arrived back at the bottom the towering peaks glowed pink. “I can't think of a better day than spending all of it with friends in the mountains: working hard, feeling sun and wind burn, rewarded constantly with beauty, feeling accomplishment and the desire to go again.” Kimberly uses Suunto Ambit3 Sport to track her moves. “I never leave home without it. Track-back feature helps me find my way after some exploring!” 

World Vertical Week started today! Share a photo showing your World Vertical Week spirit on Instagram or Facebook between February 15–21, 2016 and tag the photo with #VerticalWeek for a chance to win a Suunto Ambit3 Vertical watch. The three most inspiring photos will be chosen as winners. During World Vertical Week every move will add to your country’s totals and soon we’ll find out where in the world people push uphill the most. Track your adventures with your Suunto watch. Every move and every sport counts. The only thing you need to do to participate in the event is to make sure your country information in the settings is correct. After that your ascent will automatically be calculated in your home country’s total figure. By the end of the week we’ll find out where in the world the real climbers live and can compare different sports, too. Have fun! Read the terms and conditions of the photo contest