In this week’s blog I want to reflect on the mountains and activities connected to them. I been a visitor in the mountains for the last 45 years. So what is my experience of all those years then? The mountain environment is really good for both the body and soul. You have to plan and schedule events for getting them into reality, and especially scheduling (plan is not so important). Some places is nice to revisit, but not necessarily in the same season or time as before. In the beginning my packing was big – heavy and for all eventualities. Then it became minimalistic, with the result that everything essential didn’t come with it. But now I’ve found a good way to adapt the equipment to the nature and needs of the activity. When it comes to weather it is something that is impossible to influence. And to be honest, due to my experience it is often rainy, foggy or and cloudy. So how it comes that at Instagram the sun is always shining in the mountains? I think this might give a false picture of the real conditions in the mountains. And while talking about social media, I think it can be worth a deeper thought -why does you want to be in, and experience the nature/mountains? Is it for your own feeling or for another reason? And as the Runrigs text says “mountain are holy places…” And as Anatoli Boukreev said:  Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion. While being in present, for me it has become more and more important…So this was the first of the series of my thought’s. The  next week, it will be about leadership.

When it comes to equipment, I have tested the Rossignol Vezor trail running shoe. Its a new solution from Rossignol, and it is a cooperation with Michelin due to the sole. It is a narrow shoe that suit tight to the feet. It is light, but supporting at the same time. It is light with running joy. So it will be a NNNNN as result.

The Black Diamond Element hoodie, is a perfect middle layer. It can also be used as a shell layer in nice weather. It is flexible and designed for athletic sports. Well, it is a standard middle layer in a mid layer price so it will be a NNN+ for this garment.

I’m waiting to try out Dynafit’s pants and jacket. Dynafit is a brand who first manufactured ski boots, and today it has become one of the leading manufactures in ski alpinism (ski-touring) (the whole range of equipment) I will test the Dynafit traverse dynastrech jacket and the Dynafit transalper hybrid pant, so I lokking forward to do that review…

So what is coming up then? Well, a mountain adventure in Idre, a guiding session at Sylarna. And also training – Introducing IML to the Campus Åre Mountain Leader. There will also be a report from the Mountain Safety Council after the autumn meeting.

Farväl till sommaren

Runrig – Our Earth Was Once Green – Lyrics

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The blog has been down since end of May due to some challenge’s…But here we go with new energy.

So I think I will start with a conclusion of the year so far. January a tour in Skuleskogen including sleeping under the open sky. February a tour towards Ullåsjön and Brunnsvalen. March it was a visit of Storskarven area, Rogen cabin and the Sånfjället national park. April I celebrate my 60th birthday at Enaforsholm. In June we ascend Alpspitze in Germany. And in July it was time for Skuleberget an some Via Ferrata…So, so far it has been a good adventure year. And it is still more to come, that I can promise. When it comes to workout I can report 28,8km each day this week. So up and running. Today it was hill training and I can tell that it was very crowdy at the hill of 60 years old men, so I really have to use my elbows:-). Some new gear has also been in focus. The Bergans Helium Backpack is one of them. A really good one. I really like when there is a zipper for easing to get the stuff in the pack. I will get back when I have done some hard core tests. I will also test the Rosignoll Vezor, a trail running shoe with a sole from Michelin. I also will check the Dynafit Traverse dynastretch jacket, so more to come…From next Sunday I also will begin a new serial of the ”the old mountaineers wisdom” So lots of new things is upcoming…

Françoise Hardy – Tous les garçons et les filles (Official Lyrics Video)

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(Photo Björn Dahlgren) I love extremes. Mountains one day, castles the next…

Can you recognize the feeling when life feels really good. Sometimes the planet stands in the right direction and life just feels great. Those moments are golden…There are two feeling I really like, the one I just describe and the feeling when I can feel and see the mountains. Spending times with the friends and just love life, that so great.

All statistics from the winter season is crashing in. What we can see is that avalanches is reported from November to May nowadays. It has been a small increasing of number of avalanches. This winter it has also been a lot more fatal accidents. A phenome we can see this winter is a serious number of Carbon monoxide poising.  The latest is from Härjedalen just a week ago. A women was found in a wind shelter dead due to Carbon Monoxide Poising. Be very careful when using stove in  small areas such as tent or wind shelters. If the flame is yellow the combustion is poor and the risk of gas is increased. Use of cattle with heat exchanger with so-called flanges aloo produce more risk of Carbon monoxide. always ensure good ventilation.

About talking about stoves, here come one new interesting one: The Fire Maple Peterel ultralight. With a weight of 184g and a capacity of 750ml it looks like a nice one. It is very packable, efficient. The only negative thing is that a 230g gas tube does not fit in..

I also find Lundhags Flok wool Ms Pile vest very nice. I am one of those who has a penchant for the West when I’m on tour. I find it as a very flexible garment. It might  It may seem a little large in size, but really nice wool…

Ain’t Going Down This Time

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We already has past the middle of May, and soon we will be on June. So it is time for a summing up of the Winter season and looking forward and planning the upcoming season. Started up in January with sleeping under the open sky at Skuleskogen. In February a tour towards Ullådalen Åre. March a fantastic tour towards Rogen and Sonfjället. April skiing at Enafors – Storlien area. In May it will be a tour towards Skuleberget for a Via Ferrata session. So it has been a real nice Winter season.

The passed week has been a lot of interesting stuff, started up with a lecture at The Storuman Outdoor School generally about guiding and Mountain Leader area in particularly. During Tuesday we got the spring meeting in Swedish mountain Safety with a lot of statistic report of the Winter season. We will get the fully report within a couple of days, but the trends we can see. This year it has been more of incidents over all. We can also see that the visits in the Swedish mountains has overall decreased. The season has been with a big variable of weather as well. More detailed reporting will come…

Todays suggested hiking tour, will be the three park meeting. This is a hike where you will pass three out of Sweden’s national parks. I suggest you start at Ritsem. From here you take the boat to Änonjalmme and a short hike of two km to the akkha cabin, From here you got the view over the  Queen of Swedish Lapland, The akkha mountain. Next day your tour will be towards the Kisuris(Gisuris) cabins. This will take about 4-5 hours 14km. This day is a enjoyers day among many reasons; The trail goes close to the mountain Akkha, The sound of the wildly rushing Vuojatädno River can be heard throughout much of the stage. In days with good weather you see the top of the mountains in Sarek, and just a couple of kilometers before the end of this day you will pass the spot where the three national park meets. The next day the target will be the Kutjaure cabin 18km away. This day you will pass 9 bridges. Don’t forget to check the waterfall and caves close to the cabin. The next day it is time for the Vaisaluokta cabin,  18km away. Now you follow the Nordkalott trail, at the beach of the Vaisaluokta the Samis got there summer stay. Here you can buy freshly ought fish. From here you just take the boat jurney back to Ritsem.

Since I am going for a tour to Garmisch Partenkirchen soon, I will test the Petzl 85L Duffelbag, So I will reply when I have checked it. And at last the workout follows the plan so far…around 70km running and 100km speed hiking this week…This week I will end up with a poem. It will be on Swedish…

Den mätta dagen är aldrig störst. Den bästa dagen är en dag av törst. Nog finns det mål och mening i vår färd – men det är vägen, som är mödan värd. Det bästa målet är en nattlång rast, där elden tänds och brödet bryts i hast. På ställen där man sover blott en gång, blir sömnen trygg och drömmen full av sång. Bryt upp bryt upp! Den nya dagen gryr, oändligt är vårt stora äventyr.

Karin Boye.

Don’t forget the small things nice  in the everyday life

Zach Bryan – Poems and Closing Time

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The training has went well this week. With over 200km including a hill training session. Today I reach 48,8km so lets call kit a day now:-) The upcoming week will be hectic. Tomorrow I will holding a lecture for high School at Storuman and Tuesday it is time for meeting with the Mountain Safety Council where I will hold a lecture about the job and status with the work in the Mountain Leader Council…

I have now review the Salewa Mountain Trainer Lite mid Gore-Tex boot. And I find it real good. It has low or medium shaft, so from my point of view its not so stable as the description. But if you lace them up tight, they become very flexible and fit very well. A real nice boot for Via Ferrata for example. Or day hikes between cabins. So NNN+ will be the score for this boot.

This week blog will be a shorter due to all upcoming activities (also preparing for a Garmisch Partenkirchen tour in June) But next week will be a longer one I can tell…

Blackberry Smoke – One Horse Town (Official Acoustic Video)

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A study from Sweden shows that today 1/3 feel stress from training rather than motivation. The same study also shows that 40% Of those surveyed  believes that interest in training has increased in the last four years. But back to the stress, as usual I thing its related to that we got to high ambition and when we don’t live up to our own expectation it is easy to loose the motivation and we fall into a negative spiral. So I will try to reach out a bit about all of this. What is Ambition-Engagement and Motivation.

Ambition, Simply put, it is the desire to do or achieve something. Ambition can be a very negative quality. If you are selfish and just strive for getting everything better for yourself. Ambition is to become more than you are, so it can be a nice quality as well, but you have to take good care of it.

Engagement, is when I do something for it makes me feel good, something that give me energy and I do it for just the good feeling. Ehen you do something and feel great, that is when you got engagement. The engagement almost starts with a spark. An idea, a feeling or a friend who give you boost of energy. I have said it before, surround you with people who gives you energy. Storytelling, this is very important here to get the engagement, you or someone else can move mountains with that quality. Commitment is thus choosing to care, even when it would be easier not to.

But Motivation then? It all begins with a holistic view-Participation-development and feedback if all of this parts are involved then you get motivated. So if we look back to the survey on the top here – why does people loos there motivation? Not enough long-term goal (the holistic view) the development of training fails to appear and so on. Try and develop, use a frameless thinking.

You can also look on it from this view:

Ambition; timeframe-future, power-source-visions, persistence-an ongoing planning phase.  Engagement; time-frame–present time, power-source-values, persistence-like a silent worker ant. Motivation, timeframe-immediate, power-source-feelings, persistence, like a cat on caffeine.

Time to Go

See ya soon

This week has been great, du to workout. A average over 27K each day. So that is really good. This included a tough hill training and a distance running of 25k so I am satisfied. 

Now the hiking & Via Ferrata season is upcoming. So here comes some small advice for getting a really good experience from it. First of all a good planning will be the basic. So by planning and packing you will avoid boredom and hardship. First of all we start with the backpack. Chose the right one for the right adventure/mission. A big one means you can bring a lot off extra cozy stuff, but it will be more weight. And be very careful to set up the backpack meticulously, really check that is fit and suits you well. The modern backpacks got a lot of settings for your body, so if you do it well, it will be much more better and easier to change the weight from shoulder to hips etc. Now to your feet’s. Start to take care of them at least a week before your hike. Cut nails and apply ointment to your feet. And you must of course been walking with you boots before so you know where you might get blisters, then you can tape it there. Be sure to have chafing equipment near to hands. The hygiene is very important as well. Bring a nature kind soap or wet wipe. This will help yo to keep you  healthy, whole and clean. Don’t forget toothbrush. The feeling of being fresh when you slip into your sleeping bag is hard to beat. Bring a first aid kit is necessary, in this is good to have medication containing loperamide and also pain-relieving tablets. A pair or one stick is good to bring, perfect in case of river crossing and it will reduce the the load on the rest of the body (legs) within 25 %. Water, be sure to hydrate, so a bottle with liquids is mandatory. Now you might be eager to get out…

I think that one of my most important experience and knowledge will be to understand that I am at the right place. From a navigation perspective this is of course basic, but what I am thinking of here is that I am skilled for what I have in front of me. If I don’t have been running a half marathon, or longer than I don’t understand how my body will react after one hour of workout. It is all the same with adventures, you must move the border step by step and become more experienced. There is no ”fast track” of this. So get out there and be in you spot, and move out from it carefully and step by step. This will be a winning concept and you step by step become a mountain man…Good luck:-). And you are you in the right spot of your life?

“More To This” From The Stairwell – Acoustic Performance

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The Easter was late this year. The good thing with that is that it can be nice spring weather, the backside is that it can be less or no snow. This year, Easter was a combination of traditional celebrations and celebrations of six decades. So I went to Jämtland and Enaforsholm with my family. And it became exactly what I really wanted it to be. The best out of two worlds, mountain activities and comfort with good service and food, all accompanied by fantastic spring weather…Skiing, snowshoeing and coffee in the sun, with Enan rapids roaring in the background. My gift was of course the staying with my family at Enafors, but I also got a nice present – a mug and a coffee leather bag, with a picture of my loved Kenai.

The spring is coming up with fast speed, and its time for new season adventure. New adventures are at the door. So in January Skuleskogen, in February Ullådalen, in March Rogen and Sonfjället, and in April Enaforsholm. So as usual a good start of the year. Via Ferrata and hiking will be the upcoming adventures.

This week I will test the Salewa Mountain trainer Lite mid Gore-Tex. This is a boot developed for long backpacking and  alpine hikes. It is light weight but stable for the long and heavy use. Underfoot, the outsole guarantees reliable grip thanks to the Pomoca compound rubber and tread pattern with deep lugs and grooves and the versatility to cope with a wide range of terrain from mud and grass to rock, ice and snow. The men’s MTN Trainer Lite Mid is a lighter mid-top, 3-season alpine footwear solution for technical hikes, and long backpacking routes in all weathers. This one will be interesting to test…

Johnny Trouble | Thirteen | Official Video

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The tale of the Mountain Whisperer…

Is all of it true, or has it just been made up? Well, it might be a combination…Only the wind can tell…

Prolog,

Here he stands. A mountain Leader so weathered that the very wind turns with respect. His face makes granite seem porous. His eyes – two lakes frozen with experience – stare out over the horizon as if he has just discovered the meaning of life, and decided to ignore it anyway.

Around him the snow whips as if the world is trying to blur his silhouette. But he stands still. Inescapable. Like a memory from a forgotten expedition or an unspoken “I told you so” in the wind.

Chap. 1. The whisperer awakes…

This story begins about 60 years ago, no one really knew were he came from. Some say he was born in a wind Shelter under the Nordic Light, others claimed he just stepped out of a snowdrift one day. But some say he grown up in the west, raised of pair of wolf who gave him the experiences to best adapt to a life with nature. On skies or skates or hiking, when they stopped a bonfire was burning within a couple of seconds. With a certainty like dawn, he ended up in the army. Here his training continued with an avalanche of knowledge and snow caves to live in.

Chap. 2. Seven Mile Look

It is said that he once stared at the horizon for so long that time itself became unsure whether it was moving forward. His gaze could see weather four days in advance and group dynamics problems before they arose. Hiking groups followed him like mythological companions – not because he talked a lot, but because he could find a dry spot to sit without using an app. Its no mystery that he is a part of the UIMLA (United International Mountain Leader Association). An organization that you might think is a secret order, a mountain whisperer association were they all wear fleece jackets and cross there ice axes over exciting decisions. But they mostly make decision of how to train Mountain Leaders and avoiding school classes to get lost in the mountains…

Chap. 3. The snow Blizzard Waltz

He once led a group through a blizzard so intense that reality itself began to lag. Snow fell horizontally. Compasses spun like fidget spinners. The clients cried silently in their Gore-Tex jackets. But the mountain leader stood there. Back straight. Thermos unshaken. He pointed to a lonely tree in the distance and said: ”There.” And there they went. Because if the mountain leader said that safety lay behind a tree, then they didn’t question it. And this even if he have forgotten one pair of skies for the group at Kläppen.

Chap. 4. Enaforsholm and the last coffee

He sometimes returned to Enaforsholm Fjällgård. Not for rest, but for the coffee. It is said that he could determine the water level in a boiler just by listening to the steam. Staff knew that when the Mountain Leader appeared, there would be a need for more coffee beans and fewer questions.

Chap. 5. The horizon is calling

One day he just stood there, silent, staring out over the mountains. The snow was falling steadily. A young hiker asked: ”Where are you going now, Mr. Mountain Leader?”

He didn’t answer. He smiled, picked up his backpack – and walked out into the fog. The seven-mile gaze remained in the wind. No one knows where he went. But sometimes, when the storms howl over the mountains, they say you can glimpse a figure. With snow in his beard. And a thermos in his hand.

And you know – he’s still out there, the Mountain whisperer…

Carolina – Sons of Legion

See ya soon…

It soon will be time for Put the skis on the shelf and take out the boots. The hiking season will soon be here, so what would be better than bring up the topic of what to think of when choosing hiking boots? Trails hoe/approach shoe or boots? The trail shoe is to preferable when you got light pack and the trails are well-groomed and maintained. In tough terrain and trails the boots will be a better choice. You will get support for your ankle’s and in wet condition the got higher shaft. Chosen Gore-Tex can be good in moister conditions, but can have the disadvantage due to ventilation in hot condition. Light weight, get you faster, but at the same time you got less support. Secure you got enough space for your toes. And check so you got a sole with a good grip – such as Vibram or Contra-grip.

In the Swedish Mountain Leader Council the work with the Swedish Mountain Leader Norm continues in a real good way. Above you also can see the logo for the council as well for the new norm. The symbolic is the compass rose as a frame, the pole star and the Charles Wain for leading. To the left the small glacier Crow foot (Sv. Isranunkel) and to the right the snowstar.

Starting the day you can do in many way, and as John Muir quoted; And into the forest I go to lose my mind and to find my soul. It will never be as good as after a nice cup of fresh coffee. Well, you can take the easy way with the instant solution, or a bit better with the Brewers cup. Or why not try the pressed coffee solution from HelikonTex. A really nice field solution for a fresh start of the day. I will test this and get back to you with the result….

Weeping Willows – Let Go

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