Greg charges his electric car onroute to the mountains. © Greg Hill With the release of his latest film, Electric Greg, skimo legend and Suunto ambassador Greg Hill showed how the adventure lifestyle can be more sustainable. He climbed more than 100 mountains without using any fossil fuel, instead relying on his small electric car to get him into the mountains. Also a weekday vegetarian who grows his own vegetables, Greg has researched how he can “be a little better'' in terms being kinder to the planet. He says it’s not about being perfect, but just trying to improve incrementally. “As outdoor enthusiasts we are the ones who appreciate and get so much back from nature, so we should be the ones doing the most to preserve it,” Greg says. “Snowboarder Jeremy Jones is the ideal example of that. He recognized his impacts and looked for ways to change it. In creating Protect our Winters, he enabled change on so many levels, from personal to political. We can all make a difference.” Follow the cardinal rule Before even thinking about other ways to be more sustainable, make sure you are following the cardinal rule of outdoor recreation: pack it in, pack it out. “It’s a pretty simple mantra,” Greg says. The only thing you should leave in the outdoors are your footprints, and the only thing you should take are photos. For a month, Greg restricted himself to cycling to and from all his trips © Greg Hill Find backyard adventures Often times, destinations further afield seem more exotic. While it’s great fun to explore far away places, exploring our local recreation areas helps us to feel more connected to the land where we live. It’s fun to get a topographical map of your local area, note points of interest, and visit them all. It’s also a fun adventure project to walk, hike, bike or run every single trail in your local mountain or forest park. Move to the mountains If working remotely is a possibility for you, consider moving somewhere closer to the mountains. “If you love adventure, find the ideal town and move there, and then backyard adventure forever,” Greg says. This will result in less travel time, therefore less carbon emissions. And every morning you will look out the window and see the mountains waitining for you! Greg is a weekday vegetarian. Studies show eating less meat is good for the planet. © Angela Percival / Arcteryx Use rail when possible One of the great things about living in Europe is the rail network. Sure, you might need to factor in more time to get to and from the mountains, but using rail, rather than driving a fossil fuel powered car, definitely helps us to be a little better. And after a big day in the mountains you can sit back on the train and enjoy a well earned beer or coffee. Buy quality gear In this age of fast fashion and disposable culture, we are conditioned to shop for the best bargain. But the best bargain is often not the best deal. Some outdoor gear – like Suunto watches, for example – have been designed and built to last. It’s also possible to send our watches back for repair, extending their lifespan. Other gear, like these running shoes designed by Salomon, can be recycled and turned into ski boots. Yes, good quality, durable, hardy gear usually comes with a higher price tag, but ultimately it will save you money in the long run because it will last longer and perform better. While cheap quality products wear out quickly and end up in landfill. Maintain your gear To help make your gear last, get professional advice about how to maintain it properly. When you get home from a big hike, for example, clean your footwear properly with the correct cleaner, and keep your leather boots waxed so the skin doesn’t dry out, potentially cracking. And wash your rain gear with washing detergent designed for the job. Go electric Buying an electric car is awesome, but if it isn’t possible for you then another option is to rent one when you do visit somewhere by plane. “On the last trip that I had to fly to, I landed and rented an electric car,” Greg says. “It was a Tesla Model X and it was amazing!” Remember, it’s not about being perfect, just a little better. Reduce microfiber plastic pollution One of the big challenges for the outdoor gear industry is reducing microfiber plastic pollution. All the plastic-based sport clothing people wear sheds trillions of microfiber plastics when they are washed, which ends up in the ocean. It’s estimated there are now more than one million trillion microfiber plastics in our oceans. That’s about 200 million microfibers for every person on the planet. Ouch. You can help tackle this problem by choosing to use clothing made of natural materials, such as wool, or you can use a Guppyfriend Washing Bag to prevent microfibers going into the waterway when you wash your plastic-based outdoor clothing. Choose ethical companies “Buy from companies that have good ethical policy towards the environment and are pushing change at their corporate level,” Greg says. “Many companies are now working hard at being better.” Visit company websites and see what they are doing about sustainability. Suunto’s environmental policy is here. Avoid packaging Plastic packaging is a big problem for the planet’s ecosystems. It’s out of control. So, instead of buying flapjacks, for example, make your own. Take a reusable water bottle, reusable food containers, and do everything in your power to phase out packaging! Lead images: © Angela Percival/ Arcteryx Read more articles: Fuelling the engine: talking nutrition with Greg Hill Proving electric adventure is the future How to find your way in the mountains 8 avalanche safety checks to tick off before the ski season

Winter is a good time to focus on strength training. Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash  Now that winter has landed, it’s time to pause, reflect and adapt. With recognition and acceptance of the shorter and colder days, we can adapt and turn winter into an opportunity. Now is a good time to pause, to take stock of where you are at, and how your body is doing. Do you have any injuries or niggles that need attending to? How are you feeling mentally? Inspired, flat or tired? It’s also good to now reflect on how the season went, what went well, what could have been better, and how you’d like to do things differently next season. If you have a coach, sit down with him or her and review your efforts this year and discuss how to plan for next year. You could also sit down and analyze the training data captured by your Suunto watch and see what insights you can find. Pausing and reflecting like this will suggest how you might like to adapt over winter. Ask yourself what would serve you – body and mind – the best in the coming months? But before you begin, we are going to jump the gun and give you a few suggestions on how to make this your best winter ever. Try swimming regularly to maintain your condition. Photo by Goh Rhy Yan on Unsplash Make winter goals Making goals gives us direction and purpose. There’s no reason to drop making them over winter. After you have paused, reflected and adapted, create new goals for your winter. Write them down, tell your friends and family, and set to work fulfilling them. Go to physiotherapy If you suffered an injury, or have a niggle that comes and goes, now is the time to take care of it. Book a block of appointments at a sport physiotherapist, and get to the bottom of it. Make whatever your physio advises your main mission in the coming months. If he or she gives you exercises to do each day, do them! Work on technique Reducing your training volume means you have more time to exclusively focus on the finer points of your sport. If you’re a runner, dedicate the winter to improving your running efficiency and technique. You could do regular 20 minute treadmill runs, for example, and focus on form.  Resolve any niggles or injuries by seeing a physiotherapist. Photo by Jesper Aggergaard on Unsplash Get massage Your body has been your trusty work horse all year. Reward it by getting massaged. There are all sorts of massage styles; Shiatsu, Lomi Lomi, sports massage, Thai, Swedish etc. Why not try a few? We suggest getting at least three massages over the off season. Your body will thank you for it. Build strength Winter is a great time to focus on strength training. Join the gym, buy yourself some weights, or sign up for an online fitness course on core power. You don’t need to go hard. Just do a little each week over the off season and it will pay dividends come spring. Try something new Learning new forms of movement is good for the body and mind. You develop new skills and capacities you didn’t know you had. It also gives your body a break from your usual movement patterns, while keeping it in shape. Sign up for a boxing course, for example, learn cross country skiing, join a social team sport or go indoor regularly.   Climbing is great for coordination and mental focus. Photo by Jonathan J. Castellon on Unsplash Escape to training camp If slowing down and pivoting to other things isn't how you roll, then why not head to warmer climes where you can keep training like a beast? There are some great places around the world that offer training camps and warmer weather. Focus on eating well When the off season arrives, it’s often the case our nutrition plan goes out the window. Especially with Christmas and New Year, it’s easy to eat too much of the wrong stuff and gain weight that you have to shed later. While it’s good to allow yourself to enjoy, try focusing on eating well this winter. You could focus on eating seasonally, try being a weekday vegetarian, or learn how to cook a particular style of cuisine. Swim and sauna Swimming regularly is incredibly good for the body. It tones the muscles, improves strength, and is a good cardio workout while causing no impact on the joints. Try swimming two or three times a week this winter. If you’re not a strong swimmer, consider getting a couple of swimming lessons and developing your technique. Once you’ve done your laps, hit the sauna and sweat it out. There are many styles of yoga. Restorative is good for deep relaxation. Photo by Mark Zamora on Unsplash Practice restorative yoga One of the best ways to give the body and mind the deep release they need is by doing restorative yoga. This style of yoga is all about slowing down and holding easy poses for longer than usual and with the support of comfortable props. This approach invites deep muscular release and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, bringing us back to homeostasis, or a state of relaxation. Try to attend six restorative classes this off season. Yoga helps Emelie Forsberg find the flow. Stay inspired Dark, grey and rainy days week after week can get uninspiring. Counter this by dosing up on adventure and training inspiration. Read uplifting biographical books, listen to podcasts about training and your sport, and watch films and documentaries that spark your imagination. Find local meetups or clubs for your sport and connect with others who are on the same path as you. Hibernate Lastly, sleeping more can help you become a better runner. So consider how you can catch some extra winks this winter. Day time power naps have been shown to be immensely beneficial. Lead image: © Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash Read more articles: 7 tips for running in the dark How to find your way in the mountains 8 avalanche safety checks to tick off before the ski season Proving electric adventure is the future

The more people in the group who can navigate confidently the safer it is. © Arc'teryx / Piotr Drozdz Knowing how to read a map, use a compass and find a safe route through the mountains are essential outdoor skills for hikers, climbers, mountain bikers and trail runners. These skills, the basis of good wayfinding, make our adventures safer and more enjoyable. In this series of articles, Terho Lahtinen, who works in Suunto’s Emerging Business team, will explain how to develop these essential mountain navigation skills. Terho was lead navigator in an adventure racing team that competed all over the world for eight years. He recently led a clinic on wayfinding at the Arc'teryx Alpine Academy, and helped dedicated adventurers gain greater confidence on their trips. “The confidence that comes from knowing how to navigate in the mountains helps you to relax on their trips, making them more enjoyable,” Terho says. “Location awareness, map reading and compass orientation are also fun in of themselves.” In this first article of the series, Terho explains where to begin to develop your wayfinding ability. Don't be dependent Yes, it’s true we have GPS nowadays, but digital navigation technology isn’t a replacement for these essential skills; as we explain below, mobile phones and GPS devices should play a support role only. What happens, for example, if your smartphone runs out of batteries or falls in a river? What if the reception sucks? Or you are dependent on someone in your group to be the navigator and he or she gets it wrong? The more people who know how to navigate the safer the group. Even if you usually follow well marked trails, knowing how to navigate with a map and compass can come in handy. A few moments of distraction while passing a fork in the path, and you could go in the wrong direction and an hour or so later find yourself wondering where the heck you are. It happens. Location awareness is key It all starts here. Without this ability, the other skills will be shaky. Location awareness is more than just knowing where you are. “It’s an attitude of consciously and constantly observing things around us and a sensitivity to notice the essential landmarks,” Terho explains. “It’s almost an intuitive feeling for the landscape around you.” This honed sense of location awareness makes orientation more straight forward. Orientation is the attempt to determine one’s location by relating your position to nearby objects or landmarks. This depends on being able to relate what you see around you to what you see on a map. It takes time to develop this, but with regular practice it will come. Start observing To cultivate location awareness, learn to be more observant. “Start observing things around you, studying maps, correlating map information and the real world to each other, and it gets more and more interesting every day,” Terho says. “If you are using phone apps for navigation, stop using automatic guidance and just use your location on the map, choose the way yourself, and study what’s around you and how it appears on the map or a satellite image.” The more you use topo maps, the more you’ll come to love them. © Arc'teryx / Piotr Drozdz Practice with topographical maps We all agree that Google Maps is possibly the next best thing to sliced bread. It is immensely helpful when running late for an appointment while navigating in an unfamiliar city, for example. But digital technology has its limitations, too. We should avoid becoming dependent on it. Terho suggests buying a topographical map of an area you know well and start studying the map and relating what you see around you. Doing this over time will give you a sense of how maps communicate land formations. “Paper maps never run out of batteries and they won’t break if they fall on the ground,” Terho says. “They contain much more detailed terrain information than most digital maps and are much more practical for planning and for studying larger areas and longer routes.” Learn the contours The number one thing to learn is correlating contour lines on the map and topographic shapes in your surrounding landscape to one other. The map should tell you what you can expect to see around you. With time and practice, you get a feeling for this. “Contour lines describe the shape of the earth’s surface and that’s the most important information on any map for outdoor activities,” Terho says. “Studying maps at home is a great exercise for getting the feeling, comparing map and actual terrain is even better.” Practice makes perfect In each article of this series Terho will suggest some homework for you to do to cultivate your wayfinding skills. This first article’s homework will keep you busy! Map study Get a terrain map for an area you know well (where you won’t get lost). Study the map at home, spot familiar places on the map and find out how they are illustrated. Compare the map with your memory of those locations. Terrain recognition Remember your latest activity in the map area and identify your route on the map. Study the contours lines and look at the intervals between them. Where are the hills? How high are they? Are there any valleys, ridges, gorges, or saddles? Is the slope in a specific location steep or flat? What is the highest point on the map? The lowest? Where is the steepest slope? Field study Time to take the map into the field. When you’re out there, align the map with the surrounding terrain (north on the map pointing to the north in the terrain). Look around at what you see and compare it to your map. This can be visualized by imagining the map is fixed to north and you are walking around it, depending on which direction you are going to or looking at. If you are looking south, you are on the north side of the map and north on the map is pointing at you. When changing direction, you are turning, not the map. You are always holding the map in front of you and the map is pointing to north. Now, choose a route that you’re familiar with. Follow your progress on the map, and spot every detail that’s drawn on the map and identify them in the terrain. This is a great way to learn how the map and the terrain relate to each other. Panoramic view Find a spot where you have a sweeping view of the landscape. Keep the map aligned, north pointing north, with the terrain. While looking in different directions, find distinctive terrain features, such as cliffs, peaks, valleys, buildings, and rivers and then locate them on the map. Guide a buddy Head into familiar hills with a friend. Make a route plan in advance, explain the plan to your friend including the different terrain features and other objects you are going to use for navigation waypoints. While out there, explain all the things you observe in the terrain and show where they are on the map. Then let your friend do the same. Stay tuned for the next article in the series: how to plan your route through the mountains! Lead image: © Arc'teryx / Piotr Drozdz Read more articles: 7 tips to find a safe track up the mountain 8 avalanche safety checks to tick off before the ski season Born to shred in the Arctic Proving electric adventure is the future

Nicknamed the “marathon whisperer” Denise Sauriol knows the distance inside out. She should do after running more than 112 marathons in locations across all seven continents. She is one of our Suunto multisport team coaches and has designed this plan for trail runners. Denise began running as a child and ran her first marathon in 1994. She continued advancing as a marathoner until August 2009. She was running to Central Park to race in the New York Half Marathon, but never made it to the start line. A car struck her, breaking five of her vertebrae, and temporarily ending her running career. To give back to the sport she loves dearly, she transitioned to coaching. “I loved coaching so much that in 2016 I left my 26-year career to become a full-time running coach,” she says. “I have a lot of practice on what to do and what not to do with training and on race day. I coach runners of all abilities, ages and race goals. I have helped my clients run their first mile, all the way to helping some of them run a 100 mile ultra.” Click here to access Denise’s 20 week trail marathon training plan! Ready to train? Let coach Denise guide you! Denise has created a 20 week trail marathon training plan for beginners. Available for download on Training Peaks, it’s designed for runners who are already averaging between 32 and 40 km per week and can comfortably run a 12 to 16 km long run each week. It assumes people following it have a strong endurance base. The plan has a four week cycle: In the first three weeks the volume and long run distance increase by 10% each week. Then both decrease on the fourth week. This ensures a balance of build up and recovery time. The training volume continues increasing up until two 32 km long runs. This gives athletes plenty of time on their feet and more confidence than if they only complete one 32 km long run. “The plan also allows for a three week taper,” Denise says. “During the taper the volume drastically decreases, allowing the body and mind to rest and reset for race day.” Denise advises athletes following her plan to make sure they do their long runs on trail, not on roads or treadmills. She says this is one of the most common mistakes she sees trail runners make. “You have to train on trails to race trails,” she says. “Trail running is a different beast than road running. You can run some of your training miles on a treadmill or on the road, but I recommend a high percentage of your weekly miles, especially the long runs are run on trail.” The plan is available for free as part of Suunto Value Pack via TrainingPeaks, one of Suunto’s key partners, and provides easy to understand, week-by-week, session-by-session, training guidance. Your end of the bargain is doing the work. To download Denise’s 20 week training plan, login or sign up to TrainingPeaks and find the plan here. LEARN MORE ABOUT SUUNTO VALUE PACK AND HOW TO GET THIS TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FREE

Greg charges his electric car on route to the mountains. © Greg Hill Record-breaking ski mountaineer and Suunto ambassador Greg Hill is no stranger to pushing the boundaries. In 2010, he climbed two million feet (610,000 m) in a year, and in March, 2014, he skied 100,000 ft vertical. This time around he has climbed 100 summits without using any fossil fuel, demonstrating that one can be a mountain mad adventurer and also care for the planet. “I really care about the environment and I really want to walk the talk,” Greg says. “We have to be conscious about our impacts on Earth.” “Electric Greg” premiered at the Banff Mountain Film Festival this year. Watch below and see Greg and his adventure buddies test the limits of an electric car designed for the city in rugged backcountry. Electric Greg premiers online at 9 p.m. CET on December 3rd. Stay tuned and join Greg and the film's director Anthony Bonello for a live chat! What inspired the project? It was a long time coming. Forever I’ve recognised the hypocrisy of being an outdoorsy person and yet the vehicles we use for our means of access aren’t great for it. It’s been a struggle in the back of my mind for a long time. What changed? When I finished my two million feet project I knew my carbon footprint had been huge. I was driving my big truck all over and had a trip to South America. So in April 2012 I decided to cycle to all my adventures and not use any gas that month. It was a fun month. I climbed 11 summits and had an incredible journey. But it was pretty challenging because nobody joined me. It’s not something anyone is going to jump on board with because it’s just too hard. It was a great month, but I wasn’t able to inspire anybody. Then I broke myself in an avalanche in 2014. I spent hours, days and months sitting on the couch recovering and reflecting and thinking about what I could do to make a difference. Finally in 2016 electric cars were coming on to the market. The technology was finally there. I sold my truck in 2016, and gave up heliskiing. Finally we had the technology to get us to the trailhead and allow us to be a little bit better. It took the big crash in the avalanche to really stop and look at my kids and realise that if I had any influence I should try to influence a more positive change. Is electric adventure the future? I love the fact that I've been an explorer of first ascents and traverses and stuff, pushing human limits, but I love the fact that I'm also an explorer of this whole new way of adventuring. I'm pushing that and hopefully it becomes the norm. I’m not perfect, but humans are great at evolving so lets put our minds to doing that. There is a great emotional reward. We all have to stand strong and battle. The technology is changing so rapidly. The ability to recycle batteries is getting better and better. It’s the future. In March next year I’m getting an electric snowmobile. This is my third winter with my little electric car and I definitely can’t wait to get to more trail heads. Your circle of access is much smaller if you are only accessing trail heads off the side of the road. A snowmobile gets you deeper, and keeps the exploration fun. My circle of adventure will widen. I'm ready to adventure deeper! Tell me about your electric city car? It has a range of about 150 km. I've driven it down to Jackson Hole, which is 2000 plus km, and down to California. It’s done close to 100,00 km now. When I go on trips in it, I definitely have a little bit of a grin, they call it the “electric smile”. It’s offered a way to help me be better, to reduce my carbon footprint. What has been most challenging about this project? My family was worried about what it was going to change for them. Not flying for vacations and so on. I do my best to make it less hard on them. They have had to adopt all the challenges that come with the electric challenge. Some of my sponsors were initially skeptical, too. There is so much fear around change.  I have received offers to go and explore the world, to ski and summit peaks in remote places, there has definitely been lots of trips I've had to say no to. As good as I try to be I do sometimes fly. I went to a Utah athletes summit, but once I landed there I rented an electric car. There are always options to be a little better. Lead images: © Bruno Long Read other articles: Born to shred in the Arctic 7 tips for running in the dark 7 winter trail running tips 7 great things about running in winter  

As a pioneering cave diver and explorer, documentary maker and author Jill Heinerth has educated and inspired people around the world about our incredible underwater world and the human impact on it. The International Scuba Diver Hall of Fame is an annual event that recognizes people who have significantly and positively impacted the industry through education, exploration, adventure and more. Founded by the Cayman Islands Ministry of Tourism in 2000, the award ceremony will take place in September 2020 in the Caymans. During an announcement ceremony at DEMA Show, 2019, Jill spoke of what the award means to her. “Such an amazing honor for a young woman who started her professional diving career in the Cayman Islands a long time ago. This is really fantastic at a time in my life that is very meaningful where I am just releasing my new book Into the Planet and a new documentary, Under Thin Ice. Thank you for this incredible honor! I look forward to visiting the Cayman Islands to accept it.” There were three more nominees announced for the 2020 induction and they are Handicapped Scuba Association Founder Jim Gatacre, DEMA Executive Director Tom Ingram, and Undersea Hunter Group Founder Avi Klapfer. Jill was at the Suunto booth this year signing copies of her incredible memoir, Into the Planet. Released in August, Into the Planet is a thrilling insight into places inside the Earth you may not have imagined exist, but where Jill has dived. She bravely illustrates intense political issues and presents hard evidence about the impacted ice caps and beyond. Her autobiography explores life-or-death decision-making in critical underwater situations, the pain and difficulty involved in recovering the dead bodies of her tragically lost friends from caves that no one else in the world has the ability, training, and mindset to access due to such extreme conditions. Speaking at a Suunto function during DEMA Show, 2019, Jill talked about her memories, which are fascinating for both divers and non divers thanks to their important messages.