Today it was a exiting workout session. Started with 15min warm up, and then 10 Pull-ups. Run 1K and then 20 push-ups and running 1k. Next 30 sit-ups and running 1k, and 15 burpees and running 1k. 10 dips and running 1k, 10 laying rows and 15min slow running. A great workout session I can promise.

I think all got opinions of everything and I become a bit both frustrated and less of this behavior. If you have something important with a meaning then its great, but just saying for the sake is just crap. Here I will have an opinion by myself; be or become an authority in your area. Ok, you might say – what is a authority then?  power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior, a convincing force. So how do you become an authority than? First: Find your style – be authentic. Second: Focus outwardly-the attitude. Active listening-”read between the lines” Third take responsibility for all decisions. Third: Cultivate the third eye-The vision. Fourth: Lead from the front-The tone. Fifth: Stir conflicting emotions-the aura. Sixth: Never appear to take, always to give-the taboo. Seventh: rejuvenate your authority-adaptably. As I sad before if you stop developing, you stop being good. Be observant for that fact.

The Swedish Mountain leader Norm is now own by the Mountain Leader council and it was presented in the outdoor Magazine in Sweden. So now it is definite known in the  Swedish outdoor segment.

This week I will start the review of the Tierra Templet 3L jacket. The Templet 3L Jacket is a 3-layer Gore-Tex® shell jacket for men, designed for high alpine activity with a fabric with more sustainable environmental thinking. Of course, we have not skimped on functionality, the jacket has a hard-wearing outer material and is completely waterproof and windproof. It will be interesting to check this one…

Sandro Cavazza – High With Somebody (Live At Dalhalla, Sweden) (youtube.com)

Røros – Borgedalen og Storviglen. August 2022 (youtube.com)

See ya soon…

So we have stepped into June, and the summer is almost here. The tracking says 6 month and six mountain adventures.

Stared out in January with a Ice Climbing session in Älvdalen. In February it was time for a Winter examination in Stordal in Norway. March it was Funäsdalen with a lot of skiing. April it was snowshoeing in Jämtland. May a IML examination i Voss Norway and June Via Feratta at Skuleberget.  And also a lot of other stuff with the Swedish Mountain Leader organization, Mountain Leader council and the Swedish Mountain safety Council so a busy first half year of 2024. And with summer coming and plans are ongoing in my head for new adventures… When going hiking in alps in Europa you always here the ”bonjour” and meet with a smile. I think we could be much better in that in the Scandinavia. We should be more caring about our other in the nature, and help and support everyone. Let that be a promise for this summer.

When it comes ti equipment/gear I have been testing a watch, hence the title. North Edge Apache is a analogue watch. Yes I might be a bit old-fashioned here, but I really like ”easy to use gear” with basic function. This watch lives up to that motto. With four bottoms it is easy to use, and with just three presses you easy can adjust the height, that is something I really like…North Edge Apache watch 3’s Functions include an altimeter, a barometer, a compass, a thermometer, a step counter, world time, a countdown timer, an alarm, and a backlight. Barometer, Altimeter, compass so it got all you need. I will test it more before my statement, but so far very good…

Inlandsvägen norrut (youtube.com)

See ya next Sunday

This Sunday I thought I would spend a lot of time on Skäckerfjällen. This area is a bit of a hidden pearl, with a few outdoorer knowing the area. It is placed in the heart of the Kall Sami area. With just 10 reindeer keeper and about 2500 reindeers it is a unaffected mountain area. This also meaning that you really have to be careful in the area. Nothing or very little arranged here. So there are few trails and they will be sparsely marked. So you must have good navigation skills here even if there is one trail  between the two Mountain huts here.

The first choice of a hike here will of course be the trail between Kolåsen and Anjan, a trail with 34km can be hiked in two days, but use four and you can do a couple of peaks as well (well recommended) or why don’t do a detour to Rutsdalen, a valley which is the Jämtlands answer to Rapadalen in Sarek. Also the area between Manshögarna and Sockertoppen is a really good place for spending a tent night. Keep your eyes open in the area, because here you can experience seeing Great Moose as well as Golden Eagle etc.

Another suggestion of a nice tour will be if you start from Anjan and take the trail towards Mansjön. Then you turn to East towards the Anjaskutan, You take seight to the peak and then you go down and follow the winter trail. Take a detour into Styrdalen as I mention erlier, it is a real nice area. Then back to Anjan Mountain lodge.

During the 1300 the area was known as the way between Nidarås (Trondheim) and Jämtland Route 336 and it was a kinder choice than route 322 which was higher up in the mountain.

It has also been an interesting area during the World War II as well:

https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/ny-bok-hemliga-baser-i-jamtland-under-andra-varldskriget

Benson Boone – Beautiful Things (Official Music Video) (youtube.com)

See ya soon..

In the 70s I grew up in a working town. The weekend was spend with skiing and skating during the winter and hiking in the spring and summer. I cant remember all times spending looking into the bonfire, and waiting for the sausage to be grilled. The next step was to becoming member of the Swedish Outdoor Association (Friluftsframjandet). We spend winter cold night in Wind shelters, cabins and tent tipis. I think it was here I took my first steps to becoming a mountain man. The challenge to take part in tough adventures and proof to myself that I was able, that was would I think led me to the place where I am today. This was the first step to the stairway for mountaineering.

Last weekend I was doing a assessment of one of the IML’s that need to be assed. So flying to Bergen and train towards Voss which was the target.  After leaving the train and put some of my luggage at the hotel I went to hike towards Lönahorgi a real nice tour. Then early morning we took our coach towards Flåm for getting the clients of the day. Four American citizen’s that wanted to take a tour in one of the fjord and hike to a waterfall. So we started from Bakka and hike up hills. In the beginning the trail passed the pre-mountain wood and for every height meter the view become better and better. The ascending was hard and one of the participants have to stop after half way up. We other continued and a half hour later we reached the goal of the day. A fantastic waterfall with a incomparable view. The descending took a while, due ti it was slippery and steep in some of the passage. But all participant’s went down and all was very satisfied of the tour.

(A happy guide for a perfect day…)

The Dead South – Tiny Wooden Box [Official Music Video] (youtube.com)

See ya soon…

This has been a hectic week, du to travels and meetings. The week begun with a meeting with the Swedish mountain safety council. This time it was a distance meeting, but I was in place at Ostersund. The reason was that the Swedish Mountain Leader Council would now take over the Mountain Leader norm from the Swedish environmental Protection Agency, a historical moment. So from now the FLR owns the norm.

(Ulf Bergman (FLR), Ingela Hiltula and P-O Wikberg (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency)

The spring meeting in the council always contains interesting statistics, so even this time. What we can see the visitor rate for the western Jamtland mountain has decreased, due to the change of the area. At the same time it has increased in Funasdals area. Something the Mountain rescue can confirm. Due to this is a bit of change of mountain rescue efforts. Here the cross-country tracks will be high in the mountains and exposed to the elements. There will also be a work related to events and how to work in a constructive way related to this.

Wednesday was reserved for the annual meeting in the Swedish Mountain Leader organization. After six years as vice chairman and treasure and one year as chairman it was time for me to back of and step into the shadow. The selected board is very strong, and it is time for a new step in the organization so I have fully confidence for the future.

Chayce Beckham – 23 (Lyric Video) (youtube.com)

See ya soon…

The Swedish mountains stretch from Dalarna in the south to Tre riksröset in the north, and when we talk about Jämtland we often mean the western part.  But the Jamtland mountains has much more to contribute with. The Oviksfjallen and the Offerdalsfjallen and also the Skäckerfjallen and of course the Vålådalsfjallen. With that as a starting point, there are so many variations of tours you can do. You can start from Vallås, the sami village and hike toward Lunndörren or Anaris mountain cabin. Or why don’t you start from Hoglekardalen and hike towards the Anaris cabin or towards the Arådalens cabin. Another really nice tour is to start from Tossåsen and hike into the Lunndörrs pass, this will be a tour you want forgot. If you start from the Ramundberget towards Fältjägarstugan and Helags, you will get the opportunity to have the view of Helags from the backside.  From Helags I will recommend two nice trail choice. First you go from Helags toward Vålåstugorna. This is one of the trail with longest distance in the area. Afer 12km you passes Ljungan and now it will be uphill’s. But when you reach the cabin you can take a bath at ”Sturebadet” A creek near to the cabin. From here you can chose to go to Gåsån. This two trails you will be almost on your self. So as you cans see you got a lot of trails and path to try. And if you already know them all, try to find the old Sami paths in the area, with a compass and a good read at the map, you might find interesting trails in the area…

This week it has been a good training week, and ended it up with a orienteering workout today. It is good to wrap up the skills, and it worked out good. One miss, related to that I read the map badly.

The upcoming week will be hectic related to meeting in the Swedish mountain council and a annual meeting with the Swedish Mountain Leader organization and a trip towards Moss in Norway…

Skarra Mucci – Roots Rock Reggae Ft. Yaniss Odua (Official Video) (youtube.com)

See ya soon..

Many days/night spend in a tent on a glacier, cold and snowy just waiting for better weather for fast climb to a peak, often even with a light AMS and just dried food. Do you recognize the feeling?:-). So why just try to go away from the extreme for a while…

Today’s blog will be about tenting, and how to go from to feel reluctance to perhaps even long for it. But first as l ways say -this is my thought and suggestions, you don’t need to do it. In the mountains we can stay in mountain station/lodges or in cabins/huts or we can tent. All different types got there advantage as well as drawback. To be honest the cabin/hut is really  nice, you got the comfort and you still very close to the environment. But ok, why tenting then? For the first, now you will be in the environment. You probably will follow the natures pulse, and live with the light. So ok, now we got a good reason so now what? Let’s try to see how we can get it comfortable. I will not lift up the choice of tent that you can read all about int the blog of 21th December 2023. But first of all will be to choose a good sleeping pad. Now it is time so spend some money. Choosing the right sleeping pad will be one of the most crucial thing for comfort in the tent. Here we got a system to help us out the R-Value. The higher value = warmer pad. R-value 2-3,9 (cool conditions) 4-5,4 (cold conditions) 5,5+ (extreme). So choose a good sleeping pad, spring/summer/autumn I use a air pad and winter time I supplement with a closed cell foam pad. If you slide on the pad, use a couple of rubber fix strings on the top of the pad. Now you choose a good sleeping bag, and we’ve come a long way with the basics. A small thing, but not to forget will be a pillow. Now we have got a real good start for sleeping good with comfort. Now we will add some cozy things. Boil water and pour it in a bottle and you can put it into the sleeping bag. But before you go into the sleeping bag, make sure you 1. Do some exercise a couple of push-ups or burpees. 2. Pee. 3. Put some nice candy or snacks you really like, never go to sleep with empty stomach. 4. Check your feet. 5. Put the breakfast easy to get so you can grab it when you wake, and fill up the thermos. Now the breakfast will be easy to fix. Now it is just to slip down into your sleeping bag, but first a biscuit with a nice good cheese, now it is cozy…  I also bring a Primus lantern for nice and cozy heat and light. In the morning I can use for get rid of the condensation, a Wettex towel is also very good to have for that reason. Another thing that can be used for more comfortable can be a “bear-seat”. Now you get a nice place to sit, and a good support for your back. Enjoy and sleep well…

When it comes to the review I can inform you that the Silva Strive mountain pack 17+3L is fantastic for trail/sky running. The volume give you a lot of opportunities for packing, and no worries all will get in place. This will be a NNNNN the reason: Price-Volume and the fit. A thought trough design make this to my first choice of running back pack so far…

See ya soon….

I’m living a two world life. One with a 100% normal work at the office and one with a lot of the rest of time in the outdoor. From my point of view I think it is the perfect life, the very best out of two worlds. The outdoor activity  can then remain a hobby and not just a job, meaning it will give a lot of energy instead of take. The last weekend it was a tour toward Jämtlands fjällen and the Enafors/Storulvån area. With a peak tour towards Getryggen at Friday, Storsnasen Saturday and Västerfjället in Bydalen on  Sunday. The tour towards Getryggen was fantastic, almost no others on the mountain, and with the sun sparkling in the eyes. The tremendous view of the landscape of Jämtland  spread out in the front of our eyes…The peak of Storsnasen would prove to become a challenge. The reason therefore was both the wing and the snow. The rotten snow become hard to walk on, an d close to the peak the gusts of wind was closed to 30m/s. The peak of Västerfjällen was a really nice trip and all was satisficed when we summing up the weekend. Worth mention is also the stay at Enaforsholm Mountain lodge, it is incomparable one of the best stay in the Swedish mountains..

The trail running season is upcoming, and there will be a couple of tours the summer. I will test some trail products and first out will be a pair of shoes, the Inov-8 trail talon, a shoe that looks and feel nice. With a good grip and also a bit more build up for the feet then normally of a trail shoe it will become interesting to review. Silva has always come up with some nice gear and now I will review a back pack.  Running in the mountains means you need to bring some stuff, so you really need some space for gear. The Silva strive mountain pack 17+3L looks perfect due to size. You can bring some clothes to change with and also a sleeping bag etc. This will become interesting to see how it will feels on the back. So now you got some feedback for gear to look out for…

The next upcoming planned tour….

Rimstigen – Aurland (youtube.com)

Capleton – Dubplate – Little Lion Sound – Rockstone / Raggy Road (youtube.com)

See ya soon…

 Our life consists of a variety of things that we do habitually. In a study, it was concluded that everyone in a test group wanted to exercise more and feel better, but only 25% out of them made the change. The other wanted to do it as well, but did not. How is it that? The reason is that we have a hard time seeing the little things and behaviors that we do in a day. We need to take time to think to reflect.

Our brain is a bit like a cloudy bottle, and we want and are trained to make quick decisions, that result in short term happiness. If the bottle is allowed to stand for a while, the contents will stay clear. It’s the same with our brain. We need to take the time to sit still for 30-60 minutes and ”just” without noise, and think…So it’s just as easy to break a good habit as it is to create a bad one. Lets do a thought experiment -afterword’s a workout session, have you ever regret it? Regretted that you decided to work out? Now we come to the conclusion that we can build god habits, but it is more difficult than bad ones -why?

Because we need 1. Motivation and we also need 2. Discipline. And when it comes to this two there will be a divide. You will not always have the motivation – let’s take the workout session as example again, if you not are motivated -it can result in that you don’t do it. But when you got the self-discipline you will be doing it anyway…

The interesting thing if using the self-discipline you will be rewarded immediately. How you may ask -because you do what you have set to do. And a fact that we can recognize is that everything is hard until it gets easy. So if you keep doing tough and challenging tasks it will become easier. Overcoming obstacle also will give you some good advantage. When we do hard work or hard and tough exercise your brain will release endorphins, this will make you happy to practice self-discipline, to take control of yourself and do the right thing. You will feel good in the moment, and the effect in the future can be tremendously.

Now I might get you hooked on the way of live with self-discipline. But why it is so hard to get it? I think it is because you don’t have seen the good result, and that makes it difficult. So here is a plan for starting the way forward, first of all; create a habit takes 21 days, so for changing your life to something better something different all you need will be: yea the self-discipline. Well, its sounds easy so how to? Here I will give some help on the way forward, but why don’t start with the 30-60 minutes of just quite still thinking. This might sort out just your way ahead. Always remember your mind steer your body, so it all starts with your mind. Always do a day plan, when you have the habit of planning your day, you will for sure achieve your wishes for your life.  Distinguish between what you want to do and what you need/should do, Do the hard, tedious tasks first…

Myles Smith – Solo (Lyrics) (youtube.com)

See ya soon…

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…)