Suunto Blog

In their latest update from Greenland, the Under the Pole team share their adventures, which included violent Arctic winds, and a memorable Christmas party.“We say that the Arctic is the school of patience,” writes expedition leader, Ghislain Bardout in his latest newsletter. “It takes us 20 minutes of preparation to get out the boat, one hour to remove the snow from the deck every morning, four hours to prepare a scuba dive, and we haven’t seen the sun in four months.” This is a day in the life of Ghislain Bardout and his team of French explorers, as they wait patiently for spring to arrive and continue their ambitious scientific expedition off the Greenland coastline. Diving base camp next to the iceberg. © Lucas Santucci / Under The Pole He says: “While we waited for the sea-ice and sun to come out, we had some great Christmas parties at Uummannaq. And New Year’s Eve was one of the best we’d ever experienced: locals launched hundreds of fireworks into the sky – it became a magical show above the snowy city.”The team then headed to their winter location and had a three-day stopover at Ikerasak to lend the locals a hand. “Véronique, our physician, examined several local people, and Sylvain, our fixit man, repaired the local school’s informatics network.” Ghislain says.January proved to be a difficult month for the team, as they endured several days of violent Arctic winds, halting all activity. “We registered averages of 50 knots and gusts up to 80 knots. It’s in these kind of situations that we’re happy to have two anchors!” adds Ghislain. The team is now planning for the next leg of their exhibition – the sea-ice scientific program.Under The Pole is a series of submarine polar expeditions aiming to explore the hidden face of the Arctic and Antarctic Polar Regions in their diversities. Suunto is an expedition partner. Main image ©Under The Pole

There are a lot of similarities between cave diving and developing a new product. Pushing the limits is one of them. Explore the world of a cave diver, tech dive instructor and Suunto EON Steel test diver Sami Paakkarinen. Sami Paakkarinen was one of the field testers that supported Suunto's internal test team in the development of EON Steel, our new fully customizable dive computer. Paakkarinen is an advanced dive instructor who teaches technical, cave and rebreather diving. He is based in Finland but can be found diving all around the world in places like Plura in Norway, Pozo Azul in Spain and Orda in Russia. In this video filmed by the Divers of the dark Sami introduces us to the world of cave diving – and finds similarities between cave diving and developing a new dive computer. “Big projects take years and years of preparation. Only then you are ready to push the limits,” he says. Explore the world of cave diver, tech dive instructor and Suunto EON Steel test diver Sami Paakkarinen.  

Speight’s Coast to Coast is an iconic multisport race across New Zealand's South Island. Every year, more than 800 competitors line up to run, cycle and paddle the 243km width of the island. No one knows more about the event than 5-time winner and current race director, Richard Ussher. He explains its enduring appeal. Why is the race so iconic?What really sets it apart is the concept of crossing a country in a day (or two). New Zealand’s South Island is the perfect distance – long enough to be a real challenge, yet short enough to be achievable by more than just the truly insane. Is it more adventure-race or triathlon?I’d say it falls between the two. Top competitors certainly treat it more like a triathlon, where further down the field you probably get more into the adventure-racing realm. Richard also created a Suunto Movie of the Coast to Coast Mountain Run course with his Suunto Ambit3, which you can see here. Post by Richard Ussher. Which discipline decides who wins?You really have to be an all-rounder to win. The two sections that tend to decide the race are the Mountain Run and the Kayak. But then there’s still 70km of cycling to finish it off – normally into a stiff headwind. Did you record the Running Stage time yourself?Yes. It’s probably close to what the bulk of the better two-day runners will set. The top one-day and team competitors are closer to the 3-hour mark though. Last year’s winner Braden Currie clocked 2:49 for the run. How did you become race director?The event was sold to a company called Trojan Holdings in 2013. They contacted many former participants and asked them where they thought the race needed to go. I was a little vocal in my opinions, and after talking with them, ended up in the role. It certainly wasn’t something I thought about before, but it’s a great opportunity. So you’re retired?No, I’m not retired. I had a very tough 2014 because of injury, but I can finally see light at the end of that tunnel. My focus is obviously on the management side of Coast to Coast now, but I still love getting out and competing. Nowadays, I’m more focused on competing in races that I’ve always wanted to do. How do you like the Suunto Movie Tell us about Suunto Movie on the Ambit?I really like this feature, especially where you get to see the whole course in the revolving view. I can see it being really useful for multisport athletes, as it gives you an idea of what the course might be like, and to a certain degree helps create a picture of the gradients involved. Have you used Suunto products before?Yes, I’ve been using Suunto products from early on in my adventure-racing career – starting with the Suunto Advizor, which I still have. I also use the global compass range and orienteering compasses as well as Suunto’s Ambit and Core watches. Suunto products have always been fantastic. Follow the race here: www.coasttocoast.co.nz All pics ©sportzhub.com

What a weekend for Suunto Ambassador, Kilian Jornet. His victory, combined with his remarkable Vertical Race win on Saturday, leaves the Catalan athlete as the interim leader in the overall rankings with two races left to go in the Championship. An elated Kilian said afterwards: “A gold medal in the star race is very stimulating. I won this race in 2011 and attaining this medal after four years means something special to me. The Individual Race is the most important race and that is why I am so happy to have won a second gold medal in these Championships.” Kilian on his way to victory in the Vertical Race.  © ISMF / Verbier 2015 Kilian still has two more shots of winning a medal when he participates in the Team Race with his friend and colleague Marc Pinsach on Wednesday, and the Relays to end the World Championship on Thursday. Kilian added: “I am very pleased to have achieved the two victories. Now it's time to think about the Team race, which will surely be quite spectacular.” Emelie on the ascent in perfect conditions © ISMF / Verbier 2015 Jornet wasn’t the only Suunto Ambassador tearing up the mountain on Sunday – Skyrunning World Champion, Emelie Forsberg competed in the ladies’ Individual event, and managed to secure a 4th place finish. She said: “I'm very happy with the results, especially after the individual race. I'm on my way back to shape after a long summer break. Also the ambiance and organization were perfect in Verbier. The crowds cheering us were so inspiring, I love all the things around races,” she added. For more race info go to: www.verbier2015.ch

Do you have a favorite Ambit feature that you wish you could access quicker? No worries, in time mode you can access any menu item with a single push of a button after you have taught your Ambit2 or Ambit3 what you wish the shortcut button will do. The shortcut button comes in handy in many ways. For example, it is a quick way to set the wake-up alarm and travellers can use the shortcut to easily set the dual time to match the destination’s time zone. And for your most frequent activity the shortcut button can lead straight to the right sport mode setting you ready to go with a single push of a button. Here's how to use your Ambit's shortcut. DEFINE A SHORTCUT By default, when you keep [View] pressed in TIME mode, you toggle the display between light and dark. This shortcut can be changed to a different menu item. To define a shortcut: 1. Keep [Next] pressed to enter the options menu or press [Start Stop] to enter the start menu.2. Browse to the menu item to which you want to create a shortcut. 3. Keep [View] pressed to create the shortcut. Your own shortcut works when the watch is in time mode. In other modes, keeping [View] pressed accesses predefined shortcuts. For example, when the compass is active, you can access the compass settings by keeping [View] pressed. NOTE: Shortcuts cannot be created to all possible menu items, such as individual logs. You can get support for your Suunto product at support

A few weeks ago the first three Suunto Guiding Stars were sent on a journey, passing from one adventure-minded woman to the next.  Suunto ambassador Emelie Forsberg, Scuba Diver Girl Margo Sanchez and cross country skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen all kept one of the Guiding Star pendants for a while and passed them on to a person they admire for her attitude, her achievements, her adventurous mindset and her energy.  Emelie was the first one to pass on her Guiding Star. She gave it to Norwegian musher Sigrid Ekran.   Time to pass this #SuuntoJewel along to another star! Sigrid Ekran it will arrive soon! A photo posted by Emelie Forsberg (@tinaemelie) on Jan 15, 2015 at 11:17pm PST   Thank you Emelie Forsberg for this beautiful jewelry #suuntojewel It will follow me and my dogs for a while, then I will pas it on to the next adventurous women. Proud to be part of this! #suunto #emelieforsberg #adventurouswomen A photo posted by Sigrid Ekran (@teamsigridekran) on Jan 25, 2015 at 7:34am PST   Margo soon followed. She gave her Guiding Star to Becky Kagan Schott, an Emmy Award winning underwater videographer, photographer and tech instructor.  Passing this #SuuntoJewel along to @beckykagan ... a strong, beautiful, adventurous woman!!! #scubadivergirls #SuuntoDive #SuuntoGuidingStar A photo posted by Scuba Diver Girls (@scubadivergirls) on Jan 27, 2015 at 12:15pm PST   Also Aino-Kaisa's silver compass pendant has started travelling. It is now in the hands of American skier Liz Stephen: http://bit.ly/1F79LQ5 Follow the journey of these functional pieces of jewelry with #SuuntoJewel   Learn more about Suunto Guiding Star