Suunto Blog

It only takes a few minutes of talking with Mau Méndez to notice the confidence he exudes. Some might even say cockiness. Thing is, like it or not, it helps him win races. “Usually I’m a super mellow guy, smiling and laughing all the time,” says the 2016 XTERRA World Champion. “But when I’m racing I don’t have any doubts or fear. I go into beast mode. I take on an alter ego at every race.” Full beast mode will almost be his default for the rest of this year as he travels the world hunting trophies like the Predator hunted skulls. While his 2018 race calendar is full with XTERRA and Ironman events, his main focus is regaining his title at the XTERRA World Championship in Maui this October. He won second last year, losing the crown to South African, Brad Weiss. Winning it back is a step towards a bigger goal. “I have always liked to dream big,” he says. “My goal is to be the XTERRA world champion as many times as possible. I would like to beat Conrad Stoltz’srecord of five times. I think I can do it – I have time on my side.” Méndez says he has learned and matured a lot since becoming a professional triathlete four years ago. With so much time ahead of him, and already freakishly fast, his potential is massive. And he knows it. “Another big goal is winning the Kona Ironman,” he says. “If you win Kona you will be in the history books forever. This means you can have a positive influence on people. I am learning motivational speaking, something I would love to develop more. I want to give back too.” It hasn’t been easy for Méndez to essentially forfeit the usual things 18 to 20 somethings revel in. He admits that after winning the XTERRA World Championship in 2016 he went through a low, when he really questioned being a full-time athlete. “I was a 20-year-old guy and all my friends were having a great time at parties,” he says. “I wondered what I was doing with my life. “Plus, when you win the world champs, everything changes; you feel more pressure, feel the need to win, rather than the joy of competing and racing. It was a big learning curve.” Since that time Méndez says he has learned to live in the moment, to find the good in the bad, and regained his passion for the sport. Getting used to longer distance races, improving his endurance and gaining experience are his main focus as an athlete. Learning to balance sport, family and downtime is important, too. “It’s not just about winning,” he says. “If you do that and end up alone, it doesn’t mean anything. I try to remember I’m fighting for something bigger.” The toughest race of 2018, he says, will be the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in South Africa in September. The distance, the high level of competition, and his relative lack of experience, all put him at a disadvantage. “I will train as hard as possible,” he says. Méndez is also excited about competing in the Patagonman Patagonia Xtreme Triathlon in December. Traveling the world and seeing beautiful places is one of the things he loves about the sport. “Every time I sign into a race, and I know I’m going to travel somewhere new, it’s a huge motivating factor for training,” he says. “I have pictures of the place on my phone or close by to keep me pumped along the way.”

It was 36 days, 1900 km of ski touring, about 90,000 m of ascent, and three times harder than anything 37-year-old Mark Smiley has ever done in the mountains.   The 2018 Red Bull Der Lange Weg (The Long Way) took everything he and his wife Janelle had in the tank. Plus some. The world’s longest ski tour from Vienna, Austria across the Alps to Nice, France started on March 17 and finished on April 26. Only seven athletes started, only five finished, including Mark and Janelle, who became the first woman to do so.     Their average moving time was 10.5 hours a day. They covered about 32 km a day and burned 12,000 calories everyday. No amount of Wiener schnitzel and potato dumplings could fill the hole. “It was insane,” Mark says back in the comfort of his own home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.   The mountains have been Mark’s happy place since he first laid eyes on them as a kid. “I remember going on a family skiing trip when I was 11 and driving down Interstate Highway 70, which has big mountains on either side, and I was like, ‘why hasn’t anyone told me about this before now? I’ve been jipped!‘” After that he moved from the farming plains of Indiana, where he grew up, out to the Rocky Mountains. He’s been there ever since.   He and Janelle have attempted all of America’s 50 classic climbs, and have been successful on 48 of them. It’s took them seven years to get that far.   “No one has climbed all of them. We were trying to become the first,” Mark says. “Now I’m more psyched about combining technical climbing with technical skiing. The combination of the two is cutting edge. If I can get in both on a trip then I’m winning!”     Mark started mountain guiding 17 years ago, and has been doing it pro for five years. With many teachers in his family it’s not surprising he enjoys educating and empowering people in the outdoors. “I treat the people I guide like partners, rather than risks,” he says. “The best teachers can teach without the pupil feeling like they’re being taught.”   It was a logical next step for him to combine his knowledge and passion for outdoor education with his filmmaking skills. He recently produced an online video course on Crevasse Rescue for the Modern Climber, and it’s proving popular.    “This course is like a seat belt,” Mark says. “You wear a seat belt even though you probably won’t actually need it.   “Most of the time out there it‘s fine, but when you need it, you really need that rescue knowledge. Especially in the US, it could be days before someone else comes along and finds you. It’s crucial to be self-sufficient.”     “I‘ve spent 300 days on glaciers and have never fallen in. The chances of needing to use these rescue skills are pretty low. But when you need them, they’re suddenly super important.”   Mark is clear the course doesn’t replace in-person learning in the field. He says it’s always better if people can come out and do a three-day course with him, and drill the skills so they become muscle memory. However, the online course has some advantages.    “Online learning has limitations, but the benefits outweigh them,” he says. “You can rewind it, pause it, play it 100 times. You can’t do that in person. So if you’re a slow learner you can watch it until you get it. If you want to hire me for the day, it’s $600, plus travel, plus time away from work. So, for many people, this course is more accessible.”   He encourages people to try the course and if they don’t learn anything he offers a full money back guarantee. The course offers the latest, cutting-edge ways of carrying out crevasse rescue.   As a taster, Mark offers three tips:   1. "Tie butterfly knots every three or four meters apart in your rope between each two people. The butterfly knot acts like a boat anchor and it will drag the victim to a stop and potentially hold all of the victim's body weight."   2. "Buy a Petzl Micro Traxion and know how to use it. They’re a game changer."   3. "Getting yourself out of crevasse is five times faster than waiting for your buddy to haul you out. Have a good plan about how to get yourself out."     Mark is offering Suunto.com readers 20 % off the course price until July 22, 2018. The promo code is: suuntoclimb. Watch or download the course here.       All images are from Red Bull Der Lange Weg and taken by Philipp Reiter and Christian Gamsjäger. ©Red Bull Content Pool     

What's been happening? I have been in Auburn, California the last four weeks preparing for the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run (WS). I came early to see what the trail holds, and to get used to temperature and altitude. I’ve adjusted well. I really eased into, and then moved to run in the hottest part of the day. It’s about 35 degrees celcius, and hotter still in the canyons. I’ve been lucky that over the last few years I’ve chased the sun, and haven’t had a winter. I’m feeling good! What’s been new for you there? The WS trail is super unique because of its downhill nature. I’ve never run a trail with so much grinding downhill. It sounds good, but after a while you’re searching for a hill. The quads feel it! Western States is quite special for you, right? Absolutely, because I’ve wanted to run it forever since I was 15. It was the first race I ever heard of, and I’ve been trying to get to the start line for three years. My aim for the race is to give my best; it’s an honor just having a bib. To complete my first 100 miles is a big thing – it’s a really long way. The people I get to stand on a start line with are amazing. I was their fangirl when I was a teenager. Now they are giving me advice, which says a lot about the camaraderie in our sport. What's in your diary this summer and what's the main focus? WS is the main focus. I’ve left the back half of the year open. WS is my first 100-mile event, and I’m not sure how I will feel physically, mentally, emotionally after it. I’ll play it by ear. I have respect for what WS will take from me. I’m heading to the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc in France, just to be there. I’ll spend some time traveling in Europe. What are you most excited about? I’m excited to head to the Sky Running World Championships in Scotland at the start of September. I’ll be there as a supporter or a competitor – we’ll see. It’s my first time visiting Scotland. It would be nice if there was sunshine on race day! But I think I’m dreaming. Favorite post-training meal at the moment? I am plant-based, vegan. I use that to my advantage – I get to eat a lot! The foods I choose are plants and fruits so the quantity I have to eat is quite big and that pleases me. I love making green smoothies, or commonly known as “Shrek Poo” – lots of green vegetables blended with frozen bananas, and Amazonia vegan protein powder. It has a thick consistency. I top it with nuts and fruit. Delicious! Anything else inspiring you at the moment? I practice yoga, more for the mental benefits than the physical. When I run, because I’m so efficient, I drift off and think about other things. With yoga, I fully concentrate and listen to my body. It’s really intuitive. I’m living a simple life: run, eat, sleep, yoga, repeat. To be honest, I’m pretty happy with it. VIDEO: Follow along Lucy for a day as she prepares for the Western States Endurance Run!

If Jill Heinerth didn’t spend so much time underwater, we’d be a little more comfortable making this statement: the Canadian-American explorer is so darn busy, she barely has time to breathe. Between her expeditions, documentary filming, and you know, winning lifetime achievement awards, it’s a little tough to find a free moment – but unsurprisingly for those who know her, Jill was happy to fill us in. (And don’t worry – she’s got plenty of time to breathe.) First, the awards. What did you win? At the TekDiveUSA biennial conference, I was surprised with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the technical diving industry. In a fun tradition, they run a cave diving line into the audience to surprise the recipient. I was then blindfolded and had to follow the safety line to the stage while a show about my life was playing for the crowd. It came with a trophy… and quite the compliment. The award was a perfect little action figure of me in my diving and camera gear that was made by an artist in Poland. The citation read, “For a lifetime of consistent contribution and discovery that has opened up the field of technical diving.” But what really humbled me was that I was described as "our generation's Cousteau." I still feel quite speechless. I am the first woman to be recognized for the honor. Congratulations! On to the future. Where are you going to be this summer? Filming in the Arctic, filming with French-Canadian filmmaker Mario Cyr. We’re working on a film documenting climate change, dramatic changes in the sea ice. We'll be working with local Inuit elders to hear about their observations and adaptations. We’ll be in Arctic Bay, Repulse Bay and Greenland. You’re in a hurry. The climate in the Arctic is changing twice as fast as anywhere else on earth. The sea ice sets up later and breaks up earlier each year. In fact, we had to move up our filming by a month due to the receding ice. Our climate change doc is being thwarted by climate change! Our Inuit hosts called us and recommended that we hurry north as soon as possible due to unprecedented break up this year. So basically: ice is melting way to fast. If we lose Arctic sea ice, we lose an important regulating function on global temperature. The white ice reflects the sun's rays back into the atmosphere. The darker open sea, absorbs heat, further increasing the feedback loop that rises ocean temperatures and ultimates affects the global circulation of water currents. Furthermore, both the people of the north and the wildlife rely on sea ice. The Inuit call the sea ice, "the land" since it represents their hunting ground and their ability to travel to other places. The wildlife also hunt on "the land.” This is a big problem! The entire food web of the Arctic relies on sea ice. From the algae beneath its surface that feed the zooplankton to the polar bears that roam in search of seals, all organisms use the ice as a part of sustaining their feeding activities. To learn more about Jill’s Into the Arctic on the Edge film project, check out the website – and be sure to check out the teaser for her film below. WATCH ARCTIC ON THE EDGE

Jukola Relay, the largest orienteering event in the world, is just around the corner. Mid-June close to 20 thousand athletes will face some unique, challenging terrain in Southern-Finland. We turned to former sprint world champion  Mårten Boström  for some advice. Read on to learn more. The 70th edition of Jukola Relay and the 41st Venla Relay will take the orienteers to Lahti and Hollola in Päijät-Häme Region about an hour north of Helsinki, Finland. The competition area is quite peculiar, as it is dominated by depression terrain formed by the Ice-Age. These depressions make navigating hard; the hollows are not as easy to see in the terrain as hills and rises would be. One also has to read the map carefully; are the contour lines up or down?    “Most of the features we use for navigation are below the main running level, not above as we're used to,” says Mårten Boström.      The depressions vary in size, some are small, some go down as much as 40 meters. Most of the terrain is pine forest with good runnability. There are also a lot of existing trails.    To get an idea of how the maps will look, check this out   “You should not plan on running through all depressions. If there's yellow on the bottom it might be a good idea to run along a depression's bottom, but otherwise, I'd suggest using the ridges between the depressions. Most animal trails and runner's tracks will also be going along the ridges, where you'll be avoiding the excess climb.”     Smart use of compass use is crucial in this year's Jukola.   “Most features you'll use for navigation are contours with soft edges, so it's hard to get your 100% specified location. When going through depressions (be sure you will no matter how well route choices you make) you need to be careful to exit in the correct angle,” says Mårten.     Main image by Kimmo Hirvonen / Lahti-Hollola Jukola, other images by Petri Kovalainen / Suunto     READ MORE THREE REASONS TO USE A THUMB COMPASS HOW TO USE SUUNTO AIM-6 THUMB COMPASS LEARN MORE ABOUT SUUNTO AIM-6

The key benefit of a thumb compass over a traditional baseplate compass can be summed to one sentence: It is faster. But what exactly makes an orienteer with a thumb compass go faster?     You can run faster When using a thumb compass you hold the map and the compass in the same hand. This enables you to keep running while reading the map. “Using both hands for map work turns your running into penguin walk,” says Mårten.   You don't need to place the compass on the map again and again No more holding your finger on the map to mark your current location and no more need to place the compass back on the map. The compass is already there and pointing to where you want to go.   “A lot of times people are taught to place their thumb on the map where they are. However, I find it more useful to know where I am going and thus want to know what is the next spot where I can get solid confirmation on my location.”   You can take a new direction quicker There is no need to turn the compass capsule on the AIM-6 thumb compass. Simply see which sector on the compass capsule corresponds with your new direction and go. “I usually memorize the color first and then the shape. But you can create your own system for remembering the correct sector.”   All images: Petri Kovalainen / Suunto     READ MORE LEARN MORE ABOUT SUUNTO AIM-6 THUMB COMPASS HOW TO USE SUUNTO AIM-6 THUMB COMPASS DEVELOPING A NEW ORIENTEERING COMPASS IS A TEAM EFFORT