Yesterday was leg day at the gym. Today is payday with a training soreness in my legs. a wonderful feeling…And today it will be a blog about trail shoes due to the upcoming season…

The market of running shoes have increased significant the last year. The reason is like of all other sports, new choice of methods and new choice of possibilities of exercise. Today in the blog, I will help you to sort out how to and why choose one shoe or another. First of all we must think about where and how we are going to use the shoe. So lets start with the substrate. The choice will depend on were you mostly will run. So here follows the different types of substrate, Hard Trail, Tough Trail, Rocky Trail, Soft and Muddy, City Trail and Off Trail. Hard Trail is equal with; Electric light tracks, dirt roads or forest roads. Tough Trails means; smaller trails with many technical parts. Rocks, roots, mud and hills are no obstacle for these shoes. Rocky Trails; paths with harder ground and a lot of stone. Imagine a path in the Swedish mountain world or a trail in the Alps. Soft and Muddy; Soft, beautiful forest paths, soft meadows and the really muddy surfaces. Crazy fun, with the right shoes! City Trail; run in a park, on footpaths or light trails. There might be some asphalt and sidewalks on the way there. Off Trail; Hardcore! The shoes for you who take you straight out into the forest, and leave the road and path behind you. You want to be able to easily get over logs and rocks, through bogs, etc. And no, this is not a training program, it is how to chose the right trail shoe ha-ha.

(Merrel Agility peak 4 Men, is a good example for a combination shoe) When choosing a shoe you shall also look into the damping and drop. For a trail shoe you might not have so much use of damping due to the substrate, it will damping own itself. Drop is the difference between heel and the front of the foot. Trail running also include need of grip. The material and pattern of the outsole determine the shoe’s grip. Different rubber compounds can give different grip (just like car tires). Depending on the type of surface you will be running on, the tread depth can affect the grip. Larger tread depth of the rubber studs is better in muddy and soft areas, while stony areas and rock outcroppings often provide better grip with more contact surface with the surface, i.e. a smaller tread depth. When it comes to drop, the drop is the height difference between heel and toe. A high drop (7-12mm) means a tendency to first land on the heel when the foot is planted. A low drop (0-7mm) means you will tend to land on the toe, a more “aggressive” running style. The next step of choice will be the damping, a good damping will be more protecting but on the other side it will be less nature ”feeling” from it. Less damping means better feel of the surface. Gore-Tex or not on a trail shoe? The easy answer here will be no, it is more important that the shoe will able to drain incoming water in a fast way.

I have also a review for the Lundhags men’s authentic jacket. This jacket is not windproof neither waterproof. For a jacket with a price of 276 Euro I expect some more. But it has all other details I’ve expect for a outdoor jacket so from that point of view it is ok. Real good ventilation solution, and it fits nice. But with a need of some kind of rain cover/wind cover I am sorry it can be more than (NNN) even if I can add a + (NNN+) But not more. But I think it will become a favorite anyway, I like the jacket even if its not living up to my expectations…

Paolo Nutini – Candy (Official Video) (youtube.com)

See ya soon…(next week it will be about happiness…)

Since it is Easter I want to give you an extra blog. The topic for this blog will be scouting for the trends in outdoor activities. First of all I just want to clarify that this area is tricky, the area will not change direction 180 degrees at once. But here you got some of the areas you can keep an eye on. First of all there still is a expectation of ”getting out there” after the pandemic. A need of freedom feeling. The market has also opened up, to reduce the barriers such as Airbnb, Booking etc. make it easier to travel. The boomers (1946-1964) and GenX (1965-1980) have a healthier lifestyle, and got money. They will retire and want to fill the time with adventures. If we take a look at generation Y1 and Y2, we can see a big difference from Boomers and GenX. They are much more self directing and a high character of high level of individualism. But on the other hand they have a strong connection with social media which will force them to do challenging activities. My own reflection of all this is a market opportunity. For what you might ask? -Well, shell I give you that knowledge for free…Well I think if you read this you are well suited for the secret. The clients today want to have a unique experience, that is the key here. If you can give them the experience of ”something else”. Something different with a heart and soul in, you will get the market. Of course there will be a lot of new gear as well, one you can se in this move. Fliteboard & Lift eFoils side by side – Idaho Mountain Lake (youtube.com) There will also be social platforms that will help people of choosing activates such as About us – Skouty, the Platform for Outdoor Sports and Manawa – Book outdoor activities worldwide At the same time I think the genuine will also be one of the real upcoming areas. We can also see that Scandinavia will grow as destination for adventures. Especially Norway has done a real good result here. Hiking between huts is still a high trend. ”Women only” trips looks like it will increase as well, here the focus will be more of the ”feeling” instead of the result. The peak will not be the target, the trail  will be…

Morgan Wallen – Last Night (Lyrics) (youtube.com)

See ya at Sunday…

The spring is coming in full speed, and the sun warms us. Every year at this time I want to get out and run. It is a feeling of freedom to put on the trail shoes and run. Trail-running, cross country-running, sky-running you can do it or call it whatever you like, but it will be just…running. The base of all my training will be the running. With speed play (sv. fartlek) or hill running is really good for become prepared for the upcoming summer season in the mountains. There are some really nice place to run in the Swedish mountains. Idre is one really nice place, The kungsleden is also a good choice. And why dont you try the Jämtlandsleden from Ramundberget-Helags-Sylarna-Blåhammaren-Storulvån. My favourite is to run from Tossåsen towards Lunndörren and from there towards Vålåstugorna and so on….If you want some challenge and some goal- check here: Outnorth Trailtour – korar Sveriges bästa traillöpare och team Trailrunning Sweden

When it comes to the mindset in the mountains I can see a change the last years. People become more selfishly. My take on that is that the influencers and  social media is a part or reason of that. It has become more of an competition of doing most and more challenging adventures. It is easy to forgot the spirit the soul of the nature and why we really are there, the experience shall be the reason. But sometimes we need to stop and reflect and enjoy the silence and the slow speed for get a full minded experience…or what do you think…

Jah Cure – All Of Me (Audio) (youtube.com)

See ya soon…

Think now that you’ve been out skiing or hiking, your body feels slightly cold from the humidity. You approach the mountain hut and can already smell the smell of the wood burning in the hut. That feeling is hard to beat…Many are the cabins and mountain stations I visited and spent the night in, but the experience of coming in after a long day on the mountain is great. Today’s blog will be about the area around Lunndörren. A cabin with four-bed room, with a fireplace in every room. There is also a sauna next to the cabin. The cabin i situated close to the Lunndörrs U valley. In the valley the gruvfjället rises majestically, and tell us a bit about the history in the area. It is here on the slopes if you look carefully you can spot the trace from the earlier copper mining from the middle of the 1800s. The power man from Vallbo Jon Olofsson with the nick name Stor-jo could be found here. At least a head higher than all the other he was easy to discover, When you had to build scaffolding to be able to carry out the mining, there was only one man who came into question, Stor-Jo. He was totally free from fear of heights and was balancing  at the heights as a pure circus performer.

The area is well suited for ice climbing and it was during one of these climbing trips that alpinist Franz Fisher from Östersund found dynamite. This resulted in a sheriff’s visit and which ignited the remaining dynamite. worth mentioning in this context is that the barn man at Stor-Jo was living 25 years! in a cave at the West side of the Gruvfjället, The both men build the Vallbo chapel. For ice climbing there are three different choice; 1. Breivik ice about 120 m. Much ice, steep and fine. Quite large so there are several variants to climb.2.S kruvisen approx. 250 m. Thin line but not as steep as the other ices. March 2005 it looked like it was ice all the way, but it’s usually a mixed line. 3. Tvillingisarna approx. 230 m. two steep icefall which goes to do together. You start on the left and finish on the right. However, it is fine to just climb the left, which offers a steep and serious climbing. Then you can also simply celebrate the entire fall instead of walking around and down inside the pass. You then avoid the hang drifts and probably save time!?..

Naâman Feat. Dub Inc – Crazy (Official Video) (youtube.com)

See ya soon..

Three weeks ago we completed the winter examination for our IML candidates. Tis was the fourth examination in Sweden. This time it was in Norway-Stordalen. The condition was demanding with a difficult avalanche forecast and also tough weather. Transceiver test, navigation among a lot of other areas to be controlled and tested. With a high level of requirements, it is required that the candidates have a high level of ambition for meeting up the required level. Three days filled with different kind of challenging assignment. Also sleeping in a snow cave is one of the part of the examination. The second fully course for Sweden is now completed with a fully expected result. Totally we are now nine IML’s trained and approved as IML in Sweden.

One of the question due to apparel will be to wear west or not. I have a fondness for the west. It is a perfect middle layer , and I will seldom get cold on m y arms. It will also give you the opportunity to provide full freedom of movement for the upper body. It will take less space comparing to a whole jacket, but this apparel will be a ”wave divider” either or not:-).

Here comes a west I really like; the Montura All track west Tobacco

Benjah ”Purpose” ( official music video ) (youtube.com)

See ya soon…