Sunday evening, time for some reflection. pouring up the coffee, and planning for the upcoming adventures. That’s nice Sunday afternoons.
After a long day in the mountain environment, climbing, cross country skiing, hiking or mountaineering. Can you recognize the feeling when you enter the mountain station, the refuge or the cabin. In a sudden everything feels great and the blood gets warm immediately. Even to get in the tent with a hot bottle of water close to your body makes you feel comfortable. If you been there you know the feeling, I am talking about..
Even a wind shelter can feels like home, in a cold mountain environment..
When it comes to climbing, and especially ice climbing your mind sometimes will challenge you. You have to workout your mind as much as your muscle strength. At the climbing gym you need to be in the red zone. Meaning you must get in to the uncomfortable zone. You have to recognize how your mind will be affected, and how you can work with it. your inner talk in those situations. Take help with it from your partner to push and getting feedback. You will fall, for sure, so be prepared for it..Get into the red zone and stay there you will grow with it..
You will fall sooner or later, be prepared..
You need to be prepared for the times you needed it, get into the red zone..(Photo Mikael Linder)
And now over to some news in the outdoor world.
The Swedish company Houdini will start to rent out outdoor clothing. This for saving the environment, and help people to get less luggage when travel to the mountains. At Copperhill in Are, you will be able to rent the shell clothing for skiing or mountaineering.
Houdini always a step before for the environment..
I am always interested in companies that are less known in the outdoor market, but deliver with high quality, function, details and to reasonable prices. In Sweden the Stellar Equipment is one of those. With the Guide shell jacket and shell pant, they will be a competitor to count with on the market. I think it is a real good product, with a good price as well..
It has been a lot of activities last time, therefore it has not been time for blogging. But here it comes..
Three weeks ago I was in Are for skiing and to provide a mountain safety lecture. A lot o fine skiing , with a Manchester morning on Friday. Then it was time to jump on to the snowmobile for a mountain ride.
Nice morning at Areskutan, with Manchester morning skiing.
Free heel skiing at Are, nice weather and conditions..
Snowmobile in to the mountain environment..
The Mountain manager in action on a lecture in mountain safety..
A wind shelter can be the difference between life and death on the mountain with bad weather conditions..
Last weekend there was a ice climbing tour to Rjukan. Rjukan is probably the best ice climbing areas in Europe. The environment is awesome and make you want to try winter actions.
Awesome ice climboing in Rjukan Norway..(Photo Mikael Linder)
With four whole days of ice climbing your technique will be developed..
Mikael Linder working with an ice screw at the ice wall. Great technique..
Cold weather and frost will not stop a ice climbing bum…
This week I was interviewed by a student, after his question battery he asked how I have become so successful. I was surprise of the question and it was so unexpected. I thought and tried to answered him. Sometimes I think we all need to sit down and think for a while. It was very spiritual to have the conversation with the guy. It all ended up in a thought about how to become a better me. I think it is important to have role model to look upon.
Ed Veisturs one of my role model of a mountaineerer..
But it also very important to also become a role model for others, but most of all for yourself. Inspire, and motivate others and yourself to become a better you. And maybe rewild yourself a bit. Get back to were we want to be. To get that, you might can get some help for it here..
Find some who can help you to push your limits..Take on a little more then you think you can. Imagine you already reach the target. Look how others reach the target. Inspire yourself to action. Don’t stop until exhaustion. Work on your weakness. Accept the discomfort..
And this week, we got the first lesson of rewild yourself. Get out in the nature and just listen for 20 minutes. just be quite and listen on a place you like..
So we are already in February, in the middle of winter season. Today we got the record of cold of the season. -39,5 degrees at Nikkaluokta.
With minus 39,5 is good to get the knowledge of cold…
This week the ISPO fair has been held in Munich. There a lot interesting topics. One of them is sustainable textile. Ecological aspects such as recycled nylon and PFC-free bio technologies based on renewable raw materials are a focal point of the industry. Incorporating Econyl (recycled nylon) into their collection, it isn’t just the ingredients of the textiles that are pursuing a stronger sustainable push but finishes too.
It is time to take a stand about sustainable choice when buying new clothes. It is also important to not have poison close to your body..
Products that was rewarded at the fair was for example:
Tecnicas new boots, Forges. The winner at the ISPO fair this year..
Blackyak is another interesting dealer, For the past 40 years, BLACKYAK and Dongjin Leisure have developed in mountaineering, outdoor apparel and gear. From the first brand store „Dongjin Mountain“ in 1973, we have been striving to become one of the leading companies in the outdoor industry.
Blackyak, a interesting company, which is quite unknown here in Scandinavia.
A real nice back-pack for climbing is the Warthog 26L SS15. A stripped backpack for demanding routes. With no fancy details, this is just for the fast technical alpine tour..
The adventures stands like spikes on the slopes. Free heel skiing in Are, Ice-climbing in Rjukan Norway and cross country skiing in Jamtland. A perfect beginning of the year. But don’t forget to plan for the spring and pre-summer. its time for planning the Via Ferrata tours now:-)
Join us for a Via Ferrata at www.viaferrata.se for a extraordinary experience..
During the weekend we went to Alvdalen och Trangslet again. The ice has grown and it even was better this time. With a start of -18 degrees it was a crisp morning..
The team preparing for the upcoming climb in Rjukan in February. (Photo Mikael Linder)
The ice makes sculpture of icicles..(Photo Mikael Linder)
You must focus on the technique while doing the ice climb. The more efficient you are, the better you will climb. Use the naturally chubby-holes, and already used ice axe placements..
When it comes to the workout, the variation is very important. Today there was a boxing session. With just four participants I can tell Í was fully exhausted after the workout..
The workout of the day, boxercise..
A inspirational motivational video..
And a interesting pod about the Jamtlandsfjallen..
I woke up early today and went out with my husky. The temperature was showing -11 degrees. It has become winter, nice:-). So what would fit better than the cold as todays topic.
Today it will be about research of cold..
One important knowledge will be to understand how cold works in real, and how we can learn more about it. In normally condition the temperature will decrease accordingly in relation to heights. But during the winter period the condition can be reverse. with no wind an cold weather we got a situation called inversion. It then forms two layers in the air, a cold one down in the walleyes and warmer on the higher areas. It is easy to discover if there is smoke, it will raise and then widen on one level.
Inversion, can be good to know about. If you want to get away from the cold,, you now know were to go..
The layers cant be passed, so the smoke widen out. At the peaks the temperature will be warmer, which as well is important to take in consideration about avalanche factors as well..
When it comes to cold and how it will impact us as humans there has been a lot of research about the topics. One of the areas is the chill effect from the wind, in combination with the temperature. In 1940 the researcher Paul simple and Charles Passel did a test with a cylinder and measured how fast the water was frozen in it. The researcher went on to measure how long time it would take for 250g water in a plastic cylinder to freeze in different wind speed and temperature. However this research had shortcomings. It did not take into account the human skin. But in 2001 the American Randall Osczevski and the Canadian Maurice Bluestein defined a new formula. And this time the research was based on how people responded to different wind-cooling levels.
How will the wind and temperature affect a human?
With the new method, an output temperature of -20 celsius combined with a wind of 10 m / s gave a wind-cooling of -34 celsius degrees, while the Siples formula gave the value -44 celsius degrees. The new method, on the other hand, gave a greater wind cooling at weak winds just over the wind, 1.8 m / s. Wind tuning was chosen here at 0.5 m / s and therefore the formula can not be applied to winds below this.
So this is the ground we based the wind chill effect today.
The history of where the wind chill chart comes from..
But cold could also be good. In Finland another research team figured out when they used a test team for winter bathing, the health effect of cold. They find out that people who did a weakly winter bath, could show a better health. Less tension, headaches, fatigue bad memory and bad mood was a clear result. The ones in the team who suffered from rheumatism, fibromyalgia and asthma the winter bath has relived the pain.
Be healthy and take a winter bath..
Alpine Start is a new company that produce instant coffee for outdoor activities..And it will warm you up when you are cold..
A new coffee on the outdoor market, and we welome it..
So ok, my wife think I got to much gear. The house is crowded related to all your stuff she told me.
Ehh, lot of stuff? I don’t understand what you mean..
Well it was time to check my footwear, and ok there is a lot of them. At the picture the boots for the dog walks and cross country running shoes is missing as well:-).
Today it is Sunday and the training was all about strength today. 10 reps in 10 sets with 55kg bench press. Then 10 x 10 dead lifts with 60kg. And as a finisher, a Tabatha with push ups. This combined with 3,5 hours of speed walk with the husky..so we are on track.
On Sunday it is tome for some reflection. It is important to fill the life with activities and people who gives you energy. Sunday is reading days for me. Here I can develop from the literature. It is also to get control over all the gear. With a lot of different activities and adventures the gear and mind also need its time to be in shape.
A good combination, get the gear in control and the developthe mind as well..
When it comes to gear it will be interesting things on the market of the beginning of the year. The ISPO fair in Munich will bring up new stars on the outdoor market.
Bergan’s of Norway will release the new collection Stranda, A collection of fully recyclable garments,
Stranda Bergan’s new outdoor collection made of fully recyclable garment.
Also Helly Hansen will be hot on the market for ski clothing. The new collection will stand out. The new camo jacket with fur collar is one of them..
HH will be hot on the outdoor clothing ski market..
And at last a uplifting statistics result. The Swedish people are doing workout more than most people thought. Sifo together with Stadium did there yearly survey about workout habits of Swedes, and the result? Almost most of the people workout 2-3 times every week. Just 11% never workout. Men prefer ball sports and weight workout but the women rather prefer group workouts and walks.
Keep up the good work and secure to improve the statistics:-)
Now a new year has begun, its time to set targets for the upcoming year. I will come back to that later. First we start as it should in the beginning of a new year. We will take a look on the trends for 2018.
The colour of the year 2018 is purple, at least for women.
The North Face also got a new interesting jacket.
TNF will always produce good mountaineering clothes..This is the L5 ultra light storm jacket.
When it comes to work out trends the HIIT(High Intensive Interval training) will still be on top. A challenger will be the LIIT (Low Intensive Interval Training) The group-training will also continue to be on top, but her we can see a pattern with interactive workout between groups. Wearable technology will also increase during 2018. measurement of food, sleep and result of training etc. Yoga will still be interesting.
New forms of yoga during 2018..
The obstacle workout, in individual or in groups will also be a trend during 2018. This in combination or just functional fitness workout.
Functional workout for obstacle race will be one of the trends of 2018.
Also boxing workout will be one of the way of training during 2018.
Want to be right 2018, do the boxercise..
Now over to something else, the mountain rescue in Sweden has a lot to do. her comes some statistics:
The mountain rescue has a lot to do in the Swedish mountain environment.
Totally the mountain rescue did 335 turnouts. In Norrbotten 128 and in Jamtland 125. The trend is that people do not know there own limitation of knowledge. So this might be something to work with, information of what is needed from a knowledge level etc.
At last it will be a thinking about targets for 2018. So here in the beginning of the year we have the opportunity to choose whatever we want. From my own perspective I have this thoughts; I want to try at least two new challenges. I want to have a sustainable think of all adventures/challenges I will be doing. And what is the role model of a man in 2018? At LinkedIn you can see that it is good if you have the Klassikern(the classic) in your CV. But what does that show, that you prioritize yourself in the first room? Is that a good thing. The role model should be something else from my point of view. Ok, I am not the best in this, with my workout etc. But that part is a life style for me, and not something I am brag about, and I am still developing other side then the physical part I hope..
And at last, this week was fantastic by Ice climbing at Trängslet.
A great team of Ice climbers at Trängslet Dalarna..Guys I love you:-)
A nice Ice to start this ice climbing season at..
A happy climber on the ice at Trangslet in Dalarna on the way to become a good role model?:-)
This weeks music, RHCP & John Fruscicante..Enjoy there will not be better than this. I started the the day of Ice climbing with this two songs. and you cant fail with that start..
So we got a new year again. And today is the first day of the new year. This day is build for rethinking, what do I want out of my life. For most of us who’s reading this, the trinity of life consists of: social life, outdoor life and the work life. This means that we have to choose. We cant be in the mountain for all the time. And the time we can spend on adventure is limited. This means that we have to choose. I think that is good, because then we really appreciated the moments at the mountains. And from my point of view, I think I have become a better guide by working as a manager in the ”civilian life”. There is nothing as good as coming home to the family after a long demanding mountain tour. So sometimes it good that we have to choose..
And now over to 2017 and what it become..
A. Avalanches. Due to the climate changes we have to take that in consideration. We must be prepared and have good equipment. But most of all good knowledge. No equipment cant replace that. Always remember..
´BCA snow study kit will help you predict avalanches. But cant replace good knowledge.
B. Back country. Nothing is like a good back country tour. This year it was from Storulvan-Gasen-Helags-Sylarna-Storulvan, a real nice one. This time also with the husky, I like it:-)
The man, the husky in a snow paradise..Helags mountain station..
C. Chamonix. Ok, there is nothing else like Chamonix. This year we went to Finhaut in Switzerland. The Emmeson reservoir.
A nice day close to the Emesson Resrvoir.
Chamonix, always delivers…Adventures, challenges, yít got it all..
D. Drones. The drones is here to stay. They will help us with dropping explosives so people/skiers and others can avoid avalanches. Also a perfect instrument for filming and photo outdoor activities.
E. Everest, a new rule state that no one will be allowed to climb alone. This will make the speed climbers angry..
No more alone climbing at Everest?
F. Fjallraven. this year the Bergtagen collection was presented. I real nice number of good clothing for mountaineerer.
Fjallraven Bergtagen, a real good collection for hard core adventures.
G. Gåsen. This mountain cabin in jamtlandsfajallen is real nice. It got the best view of all. In good weather you cans see the Sylarna peak and the Helags peak at ones. No place in the area can beat that. Possibly only a view from Sylskalsstoten.
Gasen mountain cabin, a must for the saved..
H. Hotel Alpina. In Chamonix I’ve been staying at a lot of hotels. But the best one will be alpine. In 2018 it will be renovated, which means event better. So Alpina will be my choice this season..
A renovated hotel Alpina, nice we like..
I. Ice climbing. Ok I got it, the fever. Fever of ice climbing. The material ice is a living creature and you have to understand it. It never look or are the same. And I am stacked with it. So challenging, and fun..
Brudslojan at Trangslet Dalarna..
J. Jarvso. This village has become interesting at the adventure map. With a terrific down hill cycling park, and a lot of different water activities such as rafting, canyoning etc. they will be a centre for adventures activities.
K. Kebnekaise, I hope I will get there this year. I really miss the area. And I got a thought about what challenge I got there…
L. Long distance. Nothing is like a long distance trail run. With just a lite pack the freedom really feels. Running in the beginning of July and you probably will be quite alone on the track..
Running to Anaris mountain cabin, will means you will be on your own on the trail..
M. Music. This year I think it must be the White Buffalo who got it all:-)
N. Never stop new thinking. Try new challenges, try new angels. This will develop you and enrich your life..
O. Outdoor
P. Pods. There are some real good pods and programs for getting inspiration. Here you got some suggestions:
Q. Questions, you must always requisition your own knowledge so you can develop. Keep up the good work and strive for become better and more skilled. that will help you when you are in distress..
R. Real good workout will be the cardiovascular ones. So with Platini and in combination with Marcus from the police force, I think I got a good base to lean on..
S. Sauna at Sylarna?! Simon Jaktlund showed that is possible to use a sauna at the peak of Sylarna. Here you can see have a drone can workout fine as well..
T. Telemark skiing. Free heel skiing is the best way of workout, outdoor experience and go with the flow..
Skiing in Åre…
U. Ueli steck. 2017 was the year when Ueli Steck went out of time at Mount Everest. The speed climber still got the speed record of Eigers north wand. 2 hours and 22 minutes. The climbing world miss him..
Ueli Steck died at Nuptse at Nepal 30th of April this year..
V. Via Ferrata. A summing up of the year without mention Skuleberget would be sin. I am still supriced every time I go there. It is a really nice activity with a real professional crew. Thank you Tero and Latte for what you are doing. And for you who haven’t been there yet. You really got something to look forward to..
Today we open the 24th door, and it is time to close this years calendar. We start the last quiz of this year. First we search for the person that first discovered the magnetic south pole. This person also died close to an island. Which one was that?
This day will be about the best tour ever. It will be tough to pick one special tour among all others.
(Photo Ulf Bergman)
A tour to Sylarna will never be wrong, but is the best..?
Or is it Blahammaren with ’its three-course dinner…?
Land light house at Blahammaren. (Photo Ulf Bergman)
Or maybe a trip to Lappland and the high alpine range of Kebnekaise..?
(Photo Ulf Bergman)
It must be a winter tour, one I have done on my own to Gasen and Sylarna..?
(Photo Ulf Bergman)
No, the best one was from Storulvan-Gasen-Stensdalen-Valastugorna-Lunndorren.
Mattias Jansson close to Valastugorna.(Photo Ulf Bergman)Lunndörren…
See ya soon..and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Today we open the 23rd door. The X-mas closing in. Today it will be all about stoves.
There are three main categories of outdoor backpack stoves. The traditional with white spirit or meta tablets. The second is gas of all sorts. And the third category is stoves with liquid fuel.
The classic spirits stove, I think we all have tried. The advantage with this stove is that it is very easy to use. It works under the most conditions. The disadvantage will be the weight, and that it ponderous. It will take long time to get things boiled.
The second category the Gas stove,is very clean. It is quite easy to use and it will take small space and is very light. The disadvantage is that it works bad on the winter. Even that is now possible to buy winter gas, it still does work 100%. Don’t trust the pietzl lighter, always bring a fire steel to be safe.
High quality, easy to use and will take small space. There also is a new category in this area. The reactor technology. Here you can se how it works. This one will take less gas, and will heat the water or liquid very fast..
The third category is the expedition stove, with liquid fuel, or combination with gas. This stoves are very powerful, but the disadvantage will be weight and it is always a risk with liquid fuel. It can start do burn etc.
MSR MGK EX one of my favourites among stoves. It will always work, it feels like it is unbreakable. But, you must know it well before you go to the mountains..
and how it works:
The tube goes through the flame to warm up the liquid…
