Nathan Fa’avae is the captain of Team Seagate, a world champion adventure racing team. He knows both sides of endurance sport – individual and team competition – but is renown for his ability as a team captain. We caught up with the New Zealander to find out what it takes to build a winning team. Adventure racing has taken Nathan around the world. © Nathan Fa'avaeWhite-water and sea kayaking, climbing, caving, orienteering, trail running, trekking, road cycling, mountain biking, ski touring – Nathan Fa’avae does it all. If the lifelong adventure junky isn’t doing one of the above, he enjoys taking his children on adventures in New Zealand’s stunning wilderness. The 43-year-old has been a semi and full time professional athlete for 16 years and competed in 12 world championships. Remarkably he has done so while battling a heart condition that he’s had surgery for three times. His role as the captain of Team Seagate, which dominated the adventure-racing scene for years, has earned Nathan wide respect as a leader. Any big races in 2016? I’m not sure what racing I’ll do in 2016 and beyond, if any. I’m always fit and active, I love the sport but I’ve done a lot of it. I’m an adventurer so that’s a lifestyle for me, not something I’ll stop doing. Team Seagate has one multiple adventure racing world championships. © Nathan Fa'avae Why do you enjoy about team competition? With the team racing I like the fact we battle together, as a stronger united force. It’s nice to be on the start line with friends and know we’re in this thing together. I get strength and courage from that. How do you see team versus individual competition? As an individual you can control your pace to suit, if you want to ease up, go harder, whatever, but in a team you’re dictated by the speed of the team. The support and camaraderie of a team often makes the major challenges more enjoyable and achievable. Nathan has paddled in 15 countries and many exposed situations. © Nathan Fa'avae How do you manage with team dynamics? As a team captain, accommodating and nurturing people to get the best out of them is an important role. My strength in captaining teams is communication and composure. I place high value on open communication and not sweating the small stuff. I try to see everything in a positive light and always look for solutions to problems. Cross-country mountain biking was his first competitive sport. © Nathan Fa'avae How do you choose your teammates? Building a team is about matching people who will add value to one another’s skill sets. Team work and unity spirals up if you get that mix right, blending together like-minded people with similar attitudes. It’s important we enjoy being together, socially and competitively. For me personally, I tend to only race with people I truly consider friends, people I respect and trust. That’s how I choose my teammates. Part of adventure racing is dealing with the unknown – how do you deal with that? I think our team has always dealt with the unknown because we always expect it. In adventure racing, the thing you have not planned for is going to happen, so you need to be flexible and adaptable, roll with things and not get worried and stressed. My motto is ‘nothing can shock me’, that means when we get last minute surprises, they’re never actually a surprise. © Nathan Fa'avaeDo teams make better decisions in the outdoors or individuals? There’s no hard and fast answer to this question. From my experience, I feel safer in the outdoors on my own. I know my limits and capabilities and act accordingly. The close calls I have seen were in groups when group culture meant they did something dangerous they wouldn’t have done as individuals. People do tend to show off in front of other people and subsequently take more risks.

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!

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

Thought orienteering was a strange fringe sport for runners who like map reading? Think again! The guys competing at the top are phenomenal athletes. Suunto ambassador Mårten Boström is one of them. We asked him how he does it – and why he loves a good map, especially if it’s upside down. What’s your training involve? Whenever I'm healthy I am running around 140-170 km per week, but since my sport is not only about running, I do many other forms of training too. At the moment it adds up to 20 hours a week. Time in the gym?I am just in the midst of a speed strength period where I go to the gym for short and fast series of squats, one leg squats and calf-lifts. Towards the end of the period I transfer the gained power to running through jumps and 7x7 second hill sprints. How did you get into orienteering?My older siblings were practicing the sport so I followed their example at a young age and remember my first race at the age of five. What is the appeal? The dual-task to manage finding the best route through unknown terrain while you put your body under hard physical stress. Is it more important to be a great athlete or great navigator? The challenge is to stay focused in navigating while running as fast as you can, so both are important. Nowadays maps are so good at elite events that any small mistake in navigation will likely put you outside the podium. And you need to be good at math right? It's continuous thinking until the finish line. Your bio says you like making maps? Mapmaking is both professional and fun. I'm pursuing a PhD in Geographical Information Science at the University of Helsinki, where I research methods of using LiDAR data (laser technology) for mapmaking, but I have also drawn various maps around the world. The best situation is when I can combine running and work, which I have recently done in Taita Hills, Kenya. Why is navigating with a map and compass better than GPS? There is a place for both! Generally a GPS would show you the shortest way pointing you towards a POI, (point of interest) but with a map and compass I can find the fastest way. I do however also use GPX tracks guiding me on trail runs whenever out in unknown terrain, such as on remote islands in Thailand. Have you always loved maps?Maps are works of art! As a kid I used to admire maps depicting far-flung places and draw fantasy maps of my own, so yes, I have always loved maps. When one learns how to read a map it's like learning a new language – and a new world of possibilities open up. Do you have a favorite? I like maps which depict things other than purely geographical themes, like bulging countries to represent population, rather than land mass. My favorite map however would have to be "the Upside Down World Map" which challenges the cartographic rule of always having north up and Europe in the center. Can you give x3 tips to be a better map reader? 1) Study maps of different parts of the world2) Imagine what the terrain looks like, by creating a 3D image in your mind3) Keep your thumb pointing to your location on the map always moving it along as you run further. What are your goals for 2016?I’m aiming at reclaiming the gold at the World Champs at the sprint distance in orienteering. MAIN IMAGE: © Matleena Boström

Meet the former Maoist child soldier turned trail runner who is blazing a trail for Nepalese women. © Martina ValmassoiYou can be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Mira Rai. But the young Nepalese trail runner is fast making a big impression after turning up on European soil. In June last year she won the Mt Blanc 80 km, 20 minutes ahead of her nearest rival and came second, just four minutes behind Emelie Forsberg, at the 100 km Ultra Pireneu in the Pyrenees last September. Hers is a remarkable story: she grew up in small village with just three families living on top of a hill, escaped aged 14 to join the Maoists and trained as a soldier. Always competitive, she later took up running, was talent-spotted in Kathmandu and switched to trail running, winning her first race, a 50 k, in March 2014 wearing a $4 pair of shoes. During the race, she stopped once to borrow 50 rupees to buy noodles and a carton of orange juice. © Richard BullIt was tough growing up, she says, but also rewarding. “From a young age I carried water and collected fodder for the animals, and later I did a lot of work carrying heavy bags of rice to the market. It was hard, but now I know it made a difference for me.” It may seem surprising but she volunteered for the Maoists for the opportunities they afforded. “I joined for different reasons,” she says. “We certainly had financial difficulties in home, I wanted an opportunity to learn new things, and I wanted a chance to prove that women can be equal to men. Maoists respected women soldiers also.” Her manager Richard Bull, who arranged for her to compete in Europe, takes up the story. “Mira has told me that it was a choice between being stuck in the village doing the hard work required to keep life going, or taking a chance and seeing where it would lead. It’s a tough life in the village, and especially tough for girls as they are ultimately the workers.” © Martina ValmassoiBeing competitive is in her blood though. “She and her friends would compete at the daily household chores, like who could cut grass for the animals quicker, who could carry the bigger load or reach the destination faster,” says Bull. Her good fortune was to join the Maoists as Nepal’s 10 year civil was ending and she never saw combat. “We did a lot of training in different sports, and different exercises, drills and skills to be fit. It was also a chance to compete against others in sports which I enjoyed a lot.” Her big opportunity came years later after her Maoist sports coach Dhruba Bikram Malla heard she was thinking of moving to Malaysia to work in a factory. He invited her to Kathmandu to try to run seriously. However, mountain running was unheard of. “Athletics organisations in Nepal focus on track up to marathon distance - IAAF recognised distances,” adds Bull. “The coaches dislike trail running as ‘it makes runners slow’. So all focus is on the track and marathon. In Kathmandu in her early 20s, she was trying for any event that came up – 10 km, 15 km etc.” And that’s when she had a chance encounter with some runners who invited her to the 50k race that she won. “A week afterwards I met her,” adds Bull. “I told her about this sport and asked if she would like to try it. She looked a little bit incredulous, as if she thought ‘hilly up down running’ as she called it was a ridiculous idea. But slowly she came around to the idea that her potential was not on the track and she could try ‘hilly up down running’.” It’s safe to say there’s now no turning back for the athlete. “My goal is to run for a few years, to run really hard and do the best I can,” adds Rai, “then to help more Mira Rais to run, and to try and support them as best I can!”  Nepal is struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake that struck in 2015. To support the recovery, Suunto created the Ambit3 Nepal Variant. With every watch sold, Suunto will donate €25 to the Nepal earthquake rehabilitation operation. More here. MAIN IMAGE: Lloyd Belcher