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Scoring early season ice: it's always a challenge and a gamble – but one that paid off for Tanja Schmitt and Matthias Scherer, who ventured to Canada in search of cold November climbs. In their own words, they tell the story of their adventure below and scroll down to see the video: Reborn. The search for early season ice is always a voyage into the unknown. It causes many questions: has the ice already build up, how are temperatures going to develop, how many snow has fallen and is it going to be already a threat regarding avalanche risks? Whilst the winter in the Alps often doesn't come before December, it can often be found full-on in November in the canadian Rockies. And so both climbers heeded towards the Rockies in hope for early season ice. But this year the Rockies were also still dripping with water instead of solid ice.Matthias on Whiteman Falls ©Tanja Schmitt And so Matthias and Tanja found themselves Drytooling under a warm clear sky instead of ice climbing in cold winter light. The positive fact about that resulted in an enhanced training, and by the end of their Drytool-cycle both climbed 10 times M9+ in an hour: a fact which gave them confidence for what laid ahead. In the second week of November the cold finally arrived with icy temperatures around minus 25°C. The ice formed. On November 12th Matthias and Tanja could start their ice season together with Steve Swenson with the classic ‘Murchison’ on Icefields parkway. The climbs were freshly formed, kind of ‘shock-frozen’ and still thin. No traces indicated a previous climb, arising the common questions: is it already possible to climb? Might it not be a better idea to still wait? Is protection generally possible? Is the climb worth the risk? It is these questions early season ice climbing is all about. Pointing the way to the Sorcerer In the course of the second November week temperatures dropped even deeper: On november 29th the team climbed ‘Whiteman Falls’ with temperatures around minus 27°C, making the climb very interesting. Next day they went together with Canadian ice climbing legend Raffael Slawinski to Field for a longer gully climb. With temperatures around minus 30°C degrees thin icicles and pillars were no option and steady movement a clever choice. So they soloed the easier parts just to keep moving and not to wait too long. It is when ice screws start to stick on your mouth whilst cleaning and your complete movements start to get slower that a cold day indicates itself...a very cold day. The ice becomes difficult to climb. The air crystal cold. Days unforgettable! But no Canadian trip is complete without the ghost valley. And so at the end of their trip Matthias and Tanja once again teamed up with Steve Swenson for an adventurous trip. Next to hours long bush-walks and river crossings, ice climbing in the Ghost valley is all about getting in there first place with your car: snow packed roads, slippery river crossings and route finding in general are the challenges of the car 'pilot'. And so the four pitches of awesome ice were well earned: the ‘Sorcerer’ is by many means a great climb on an outstanding place and gave our trip an unforgettable ending! Main image: ©Tanja Schmitt

It's only a couple of months since Suunto Vertical Blue but Will Trubridge is already looking ahead to his next record attempt. Here's what else the year has in store for the freediver. So what's up in 2015? 2015 is a busy year, with Suunto Vertical Blue happening at the end of April, then the Caribbean Cup in Honduras in May and the World Championships in Cyprus in September. I would like to perform well in all of these, but it's hard to maintain peak performance for long periods, so I will have to structure my training and rest carefully.Will you try again for another record?Yes, I hope so! Vertical Blue in April will have the best conditions for this, and with some solid training over the winter I would like to have another attempt at the 102 m [CNF – no fins, completely unassisted] and possibly try and push the Free Immersion record out some more as well. Will in action during Suunto Vertical Blue. ©Daan Verhoeven Looking back, what was the highlight of 2014? Winning Suunto Vertical Blue was definitely a great feeling, but I think the highlight would have to be seeing all the support for my world record attempt at 102 m, both before the attempt, when everyone was writing in with encouraging messages and leaving audio clips on the Steinlager site, and afterwards, when despite failing at my goal there was an even greater flow of support. Is it disappointing not to get the record?It can be a disappointment when you have trained hard for a long period, and there is a lot riding on your success. However you can learn as much from failure as you can from success, so I plan to use this disappointment as both motivation and a learning experience for the next occasion. A freediver in action during Suunto Vertical Blue 2014. ©Logan Mock-BuntingWas there a single thing that sums up the event?After last year's incident this VB was characterised by a more careful approach from the athletes, and enhanced safety measures from the team. In a way it was inspiring to see the prudence displayed by an athlete voluntarily sitting out the entire competition because they had suffered a lung injury in training, when the previous year they might have tried to push through regardless. But rather than sulking at home, this person, and others who had similar conditions, showed up at the beach to coach their fellow athletes and support the event. I think this demonstrates the spirit of VB, where everyone is supportive of each other, and the unique environment at Dean's Blue Hole allows for a warm and intimate event.Anything else that stands in the memory from 2014? I heard whalesong underwater for the first time, which is a magical experience, and encountered my first tiger shark (a fleeting visit, as it was a little timid). My 97m no fins dive in the Caribbean Cup, which is the deepest dive in this discipline during a competition, was one of the competitive highlights for me.

A week is a long time in the life of Kilian Jornet and there's rarely much time for rest. Recently back from running up the Americas' highest mountain Aconcagua, he's straight into competing in the Ski Mountaineering World Cup series. The record-breaking ascent of Aconcagua just before Christmas capped an incredible year for the athlete, possibly the most succesful ever, he tells us below. 2014 wasn't a bad year was it! I think it's been my best trail running season ever. [Kilian finished the trail running season with a hat trick in the World Cup and two gold medals in the world championships. He competed in a total of 14 races of different lengths as well as setting records on Denali 6,168 m and Aconcagua, 6,960 m.] There were some good races but races with different disciplines. I started the summer with Transvulcania (83 km) and then Zegema Marathon, then it was to ski Denali then some vertical kilometer races, some mountaineering, some trail races... I don't like to specialize in one thing! It's been a perfect year. I’m pleased about having been able to participate in so many varied races this summer in places with incredible landscapes and where I have met many people. At the end of the day, this is the essence of trail running and what drives me to continue. So what's next?I do half a year running, half a year skiing. Ski-mo racing is a much more explosive sport than trail running. Races are much shorter and much more intense. It requires a lot of power! Much more fast but it's good for the muscles. What's the appeal of ski-mo? It's fun because it's going up! You suffer! It's really hard because you want to go fast, you have to push, you have to have power to make every step. But ski mountaineering, not just racing, is great: you can go wherever you want. You don't have to follow a trail. You make your own track. It's this feeling of freedom. You also have your sights on Everest in the spring? It's too ambitious to say it will be a record attempt. It will be an attempt and then we'll probably come back next spring for the record. The idea is to go the north side where there are more aesthetic lines. Anything else in your sights? I have a lot of projects and always have things in the mind. I want to run, I want to be in the mountains. I will keep going out there winning races as that's my life and the thing that I love. Check out the Suunto Movie of Kilian's record breaking ascent of Aconcagua here. Main image ©Summits of my life, portraits above ©zooom.at/Markus Berger

We received over 1,700 submissions in our Dive Paradise contest and chose three amazing winners to join us on an exclusive diving trip to Ayada Maldives. Choosing the winners was a challenge since there were so many potential candidates to win the main prizes. In the jury’s final selection there were about a dozen images, but only three initial winners. Now, as a new year’s gift, we have made room for two more winners. Welcome to join our trip to dive paradise Jen Weston and Dapeng Juan! Here are Jen’s and Dapeng’s great diving experiences. “Diving off of Koh Tao, Thailand, I came across a large anemone with some anemone fish hanging out at home. I got my Canon G16 camera as close as I could without being bitten or stung and snapped a few photos. I was lucky that there was plenty of light and no need for flash.”–Jen Weston from New York, USA “I had a stunning diving trip in Mexico and Galapagos Islands during October!”– Dapeng Juan from Beijing, China

Diver, cave explorer – someone who just loves to go diving at every opporutunity. 2014 has been memoroable for many reasons for Jill Heinerth. Here's why: Any memorable dives of the year? Diving in the rift between the Eurasian and North America tectonic plates in Iceland was a real highlight. Slinking through towering icebergs in the misty ocean near Disko Bay Greenland was unforgettable and snorkeling with ten women across the Arctic Circle was a memory I will not soon forget. Was there anything you feel gutted you didn't do? I traveled to Croatia for a diving event that was fabulous but I had hoped to do some significant cave diving as well. Europe was experiencing some epic flooding at the time and many of the regions for cave diving were inaccessible. But you still went diving? I can’t really complain… I did get a couple of caves dives in any case and a terrific visit to a 1st Century Roman shipwreck. The archaeological work was being conducted by a large group of international students. I spoke to them about exploration, science and water conservation and they took me to their workplace – a Roman wreck of great significance.Looking ahead to 2015, what's number one on your tick list?I am heading out on for cave diving project in Cuba. If all the travel permits come in, I will be working with some scientists on documentation and exploration. I’ll also do some training for local scientists who have not had access to international expertise in cave diving. What other projects are you working on? I am working with an artist on some potential exploration of spring caves in Turkey. Many of these locations are significant Roman archaeological sites. Margaret Tolbert, painter and conservationist, has been traveling to Turkey for almost 30 years, painting the stunning landscapes around the springs. She is rallying an inter-disciplinary team that includes artists, scientists and explorers and I look forward on developing that project with her in the coming year.Where will you spend the holiday period? My holidays will be spent primarily underwater. I am working on some camera testing with a colleague from National Geographic. We are going to be cave diving with some new cameras and brand new lighting technology developed by Light and Motion. We were shooting some test photos and video over Christmas. For me, that is the best present I could ask for – a chance to do more of what I love most! All images ©Jill Heinerth

The greatest honor for an alpinist is to have the respect of one's peers – and Ueli Steck has that in abundance. When you look at what he gets up to, it's easy to see why. Last year was no exception for the Suunto ambassador – it proved to be another action-packed year of epic ascents and adventures. And it seems like he's got a monster project brewing for 2015... A year in the life of Ueli Steck: it involved the whole spectrum of mountaineering activites from winter big wall rock climbs to Himalayan ascents with some Andean exploration thrown in for good measure. In March he teamed up with Michi Wohlleben and climbed the Tre Clime in the Dolomites in just one day. “It was a rather cold and steep adventure,” he writes in his latest newsletter. “These three walls have never been climbed in one day in winter before. We did it in a total of 15 hours and 42 minutes.” In April he was awarded the prestigous Piolet d’Or for his ascent of the south face of Annapurna. “This was a great honor and sign of appreciation to me,” he says. “The Annapurna expedition merited further recognition; the nomination of Swiss Citizen of the Year in 2013 and the nomination by National Geographic in 2014 as Adventurer of the Year.” Don't forget, you can still vote for Ueli to become National Geographic Adventurer of the Year here. The spring was spent sport climbing in Spain and France followed by four weeks in Peru. In the fall Ueli then attempted to ski Shishapangma with his wife Nicole but the project was overshadowed by the tragic deaths of two other skiers caught in an avalanche. “The harsh reality of this all forced me to sit down and contemplate yet again,” writes Ueli. He adds: “In summer, just before leaving for Tibet, Samuel Gyger, Robert Bösch and I were able to document the 2013 Peuterey traverse on Mont Blanc by way of film and photography. The film release is scheduled for the end of 2015.” Plans for next year are still underway for Ueli. His original idea was to retry the Everest-Lhotse traverse but has abandoned this idea as it would involve exposing himself to the hazards of Everest politics. “At the moment, I’m planning an alpine project for the summer of 2015 together with Michi Wohlleben. A project meaning commitment, sweat and strength – 1000 km and 100,000 m in altitude. Further details will follow soon. The coming winter and spring will be entirely focused on preparation for this project.” We can't wait to find out... All images ©Jon Griffith