Last week, it was a tour to Sylarna. The target for the tur was to ascend the peak of Sylarna 1762m. I went up early, and the sun gentle caressed the mountain. A couple of minutes later it was coverd by the clouds. After the breakfast the hike started, and we passed the pyramid, and continue towards the middle peak. Here the wind was strong. The marks from the norweigen side was in the eye catched so we just continued forward. And a couple of minutes later we reached the top. The visability was bad, bud it dosen’t matter for the clients. At the way down the cloudes fade away and we got the view over the Jamtland mountains, really nice. The next day we spend in the Tempel valley and the tempel pinachles. 

Wading in Tempel valley(Photo Göran Karlén)

I love fiction books from the mountain environment. Viveca Steen has written a book about a homicide in the Åre area. It will be published at the 27th of October. The name of the book is Offermakaren. So keep the eye open for a book with the Åre environment inside.

So now I wall write a bit about gear. I’ve been testing the Ortovox Peak Light 40L. This one is very good, It is build for skiing activities, but is good for all mountain activities. The padding for the back is in Merino wool, and it really does work. So I will give this back pack five out of five NNNNN. The only negative thing is the price, 243 Euro is i bit too high...And when we still talking about gear I think it is important to reduce all gear we bring. I experiment with bringing as little as possible, with not challenge the safety. So I will write more about this topic ahead…

See ya soon…

This week I’ve been starting up the fighting workout running and done some meditation. So now I am back on track. To summing up this year summer vacation can be done in two words: hiking and workout. If there is something Ive been missing then it is Chamonix…

After a vaction period, it sometimes can be hard to get back on track. But to be honest, it is a good time for find some new track as well. So here come some suggestion of how to get a better life.

1. Every single moment of every single day, you are practicing something.-If you don’t floss in the morning, you are practicing non-flossing.
2. If it’s easy, you will be plateaued, if it’s hard you’re growing.-Comfort is the first sign of stagnancy. Get out from the comfort zone and feel uncomfortable again…
3. You don’t become disciplined. You find ways to practice discipline – And become disciplined as a result.-How can I be disciplined right now?
4. What you notice (and dislike) in others is a quality you need to confront in yourself.-When you react on another person, think of why and what is means to you.
5. To avoid feeling let down, treat every opportunity as “gravy on the top”-Don’t trust others, take command of your own. So this my help you to get the next step of your life…Why dont test a new challenge or behavior this autumn, it will help you to grow.

See ya soon…

Today I will be a bit philosofic. We can read about people whom get lost or need to be rescued in the mountain area. But it is rare to read about allof us who find home in the mountains. To understand our fragility and smallness in the magnicificent mountain environment. In the mountains the time stand still, and you will become one with the nature.

This weeks Europe suggestion will be the Watzmann-peak. Short but cool. You will need good fitness and knowledge from mountain environment. You will need to have the guts to turn if the weather conditions change or if your forces are failing. If you are prepared you will be able to do this tour within one day! Length 22,2km it will take 12-15 hours. Toni Palzer did this tour in 3 hours and 17 minutes. You will start this tour from Wimbachbrücke-Watzmannhaus and then Watzmannhause-Wimbachgrieshûtte and back Wimbachgrieshûtte-Wimbachbrûcke. If you are inexpert you might hire a mountain guide. When you leave Watzmannhaus heading for Hocheck at 2651m. after a valley you will find the first safety patch at Hochecksteig. After another 2,5 hours you will have reach the first peak. The small windshelter is a good place for a rest and catch strength for the peak. About a hour ahead you will rech the cross at the peak. Here you now got the option to turn back. If you are tired or feel it is a bit to airy, I suggest you to turn. Otherwise you will now have a real nice mountain trip ahead of you. With a couple of vertical passages down to the Königsee, and at the Wimbachgrieshûtte  you might take a well condign beer or even a bed for the night.  So when Germany open, good hiking to you…

See ya soon…

Last week I was ascending a familiar peak, the Getryggen. From this peak you have the most perfect view over the Jamtland and Harjedals mountains..always worth the effort.

This week has been interesting from a workout point of view. Hiking, cycling,  oreienteering and strengt and running. So more varied workout is hard to get. Keeping up the strength and the cardio level by hill intervalls, and the toughness. So summing up it has been real good.

With the IML (International Mountain Leader training) more guides in sweden will be able to lead groups in the Alps. One of the real treasures that will be a suggestion is the Adlerweg(sv. Örnvägen) in Austria. The Zirbenweg route between Innsbruck and Hall.   This stunning, seven-kilometre path passes bizarre granite blocks and centuries-old pines, which form the tree line at 2,000-meters.Travel up from Igls on the Patscherkofel cable car and walk to the Tulfein Alm where the Glungezer cable car whisks you down to Tulfes, a small village above Hall. Take the public bus back to Isgl. The whole route will take about 24 days, and is totally 412 km.

This week I will test the Peak Performance Light SS Carbon pants.

See ya soon…

Corona with Hemester makes us to explore our own country, which is really good. After a visit at Are I can conclude it in this; very popular and crowded. The trail towards Areskutan was like a ant trail. But I think its good, and Are is going towards to be the swedes Chamonix…But due to this it become more imporatnt to get new areas to go for, when the others is crowded. One suggestion will be a tour in the eastern of the Jamtland. Oviksmountain is really nice. Drive to Hallen and from here you drive towards Bydalen and park here. Take the trail towards Drommen and Dromsskaran. This is an 800 meter long , 150 meter wide and 50 m deep ice river canyon. Follow the trail towards Falkfångarfjället, and here you can spend a night (close to the wind shelter) in the tent and continue the next day.

This week the workout has been a lot of aerobic ones. Running uphills, and hiking. Today I started early and took the trail from Görveln towards Gaseborg. And after 2 hours and 12K i was back. So that was a nice start of the day.

When it comes to equipment the GSI coffee perculator has been tested. I  think it is very good. It takes a bit of time to brew though. But the taste of fresh coffee is unbeatable…

See ya soon…

How to become the optimal outdoor athlete? This question is always on my mind. I think it is very important to have a varied scheme. This for avoiding injueres and for not being bored. It is also good for the capabilitie of increase your adaptability. If looking into the five traits sucessful endurance athletes got, and what we can learn from it? First of all they got resilience, the ability to turn adverse circumstances to their favor. The second consitency, establish the frequency of workout, a behavior that makes them do it and do it again. Organized, planning and got a detailed plan and they will always be prepared for the upcoming race or competition. Brutal,Successful athletes have a brutality about them—a drive and burning desire that won’t let anything stand in their way. These athletes almost welcome adversity because they know it will make them stronger, and they thrive on training in a masochistic way. Brutal athletes have no idea, and that’s the true beauty of it. It’s a power trait for coaches to capitalize on when exploited in small doses. Present,  Being present can have short-term parameters—it can simply be a single interval within a session. It can also have long-term parameters, which includes staying aware of the season’s big-picture goal. If you have an athlete who during the first interval is thinking about the third, or an athlete who is planning for the next “A” race during a taper, give them a reality check and keep them focused on the task at hand. So this might help you to think like an endurance athlete, This can feels hard, especially for us over the 50s, so what willbe important for us? First of all train consistently over the year. Use training periods to prioritize your training time. I suggest Base-phase, peak-phase, taper-phase, recovery-phase, maintenance-phase. Continue strength training at high intensity. trength training after 40 has tons of health and performance benefits. As we age, our muscle mass and bone density gradually decrease. Consistent weight training slows down these processes and helps us maintain strength and function. Continue with HIIT and aerobic interval workouts. Allow more recovery time after hard workout. Use cross-training. Get more sleep, with aging you will need more sleep for recovering after a hard workout. And at the end: Focus on your abilities over your limitations…If you need some more inspiration, this book might be a good suggestion.

This week I was at Jamtland and visit the Fettjafallet in Klovsjo area. I really enjoy this small trips with experience..

See ya soon..

A research study tells us that, running 50 minutes (and the speed does not matter) a week will give us 6,5 years more to live. So just go for it and count in some more good years to live. When it comes to workout, this week has been varied. Mountain bike, running, hiking and running with strength and also fighting. So more varied workout will be hard to do. The highligt i must say was the hike at Graso at Vastervik in the south east of Sweden. The trail was close to the sea all the time and give us the possibility to take a bath.

When it comes to the Dyatlov Expedition that I have wrote about before, the Russia  prosecutors rule the skiers died of hypothermia after stripping off their clothes and fleeing in terror. The explanation of why they were running from the tent was that they were cought by a avalanche. But there still are some things to needed to get explained, so lets wait and see. And I also hope the film about the Swedish expedition will come during the autumn.

The Corona virus will now hit me directly. Not that I am will be sick, but the https://utefest.se/ and https://utehelg.se/ is canceled. So no guding there, so sad…But I have some ideas i will try to get the organizers on there mind.

Another news is that climbing will be new Olympic sport in Tokyo. Speed, lead and bouldering will be the three diciplines. In the next Olympic games the diciplines will be devided instead of a must of the three as it is in Tokyo.

And in this Corona times I miss Chamonix, no trip to the cradle of mountaineering…but enjoy this movies and dream yourself away…

See ya soon..

The vacation time is coming up, and we will all rest ourselves. But after the vacation the melancholy will be present. Therefore, it is better to prepare already for how to reduce it. One thing that I have find out is to plan for a mountain tour close after the summer. This will mean that you have something to look forward to. And another good thing to strive for is to have a weekday and longing for. And what cant be better than make the Tuesday so something extra ordinary. Monday is the start of the week, Wednesdayis  the middle, Thursday it is almost Friday and Friday is special by itsself…So way don’t get yourself the perfect Tuesday. The day when you listen to that pod or reading that book you have been thinking of to read. Or take that hike to the place you never been to. But as mention before, without planning, the Tuesdays becomes as every Tuesday. So, use the summer for finding out what to do the first five Tuesday, then you are home…

What is the diffrence between a doer and a dreamer.

The difference between dreamers and doers. One of the big differences is the words vs action. The dreamer paint rose picture of how it would be. The doers believe less in talking and more efforts towards achieving their dreams. Doers basically express their words through their actions.

Dreamers spend most of their time in contemplating about a probable situation. They spend their time planning for situations that may or may not arise. But planning is a good thing, right? Yes, but experimenting is better. Doers risk experimentation and improve their attempts if meted with failure; they have more practical knowledge than the dreamers, who just rely on their theory and explanations.

A very clear thing is the action to lift the phone and do the call. The talk will open the opportunities. Be addicted to your goal/s.

So ok, you define your self as doer, then what is the difference between a doer and a planner than? You need to define the broad strokes of your goals. This can prevent you from wasting your time and effort. But perfectionism is a paralyzer, and there is a risk to “over” work the thing. So take the best from the planner and the doer and you will gain the best.

This weeks review will be the Ortovox Back pack. As you already know I really like the small refinements. This is a perfect from that point of view. This pack have built in pockets for avalange equipment, and also ice axe holder in lot of different ways to do it. You can trip of the hip belt and the stay, this will reduce the weigt to just 720g. So this one will get NNNN+

This weeks book review will be the Mountain Leader book from the US Marine Corps in Mountain warfare. So this is more of a tactical book then a technical book. But you can find a lot of good solution of diffrent things. A lot of distinct pictures of ”how to” is real good. I would compare this as a military version of ”The freedom of the hills” So this one I can recomend for thus how want to have premium.

See ya soon…

Summer and hot, the workout this week has been hard. At the fighting gym the heat has been lamentable. But the planned workouts have been done. 30 days challenge with 50 push-ups/day is on going, and the heat will not be a stop…I also have start to do some mountainbiking as a completion an variation of the workout. So meet my new training partner..

This weeks suggestion of short mountain trips will be quite easier as I promised. First out will be the trail to ”Vindarnas tempel”.  This one starts from Storlien. The lengt is 6,8km. You park the car close to ”Le Ski” at Storlien. Follow the sign towards ”Blomsterstigen” at the path grounds our suggestion here is to take the left path. With this choise you will have exellent views over Norways Mountain environment. The winsshelter is build out of stone, and it will protect from the wind from all directions. The panorama over Ann sjon, Storsnasen, Getryggen  is magnicificent. From here you turn away southworth towards the stubborn 200m ahead. Be sure you turn left after about 1km, and follow the blue marking. You will pass another windshelter.

My next suggestion will be a pearl. At the winter this place a a good choice for ice climbing, so why dont visit in teh summer. Fettjeåfallet close to Klovsjo. With o adrop of 70m it is fantastic. The length of this hike is 4km. You start at the parking spot 5km from Klovsjo ski area. Follow the Fettjån toward the waterfall. And my suggestion is that you hike to the topp of the fall, here you will have a view worth the effort. Worth to know is that the trail has been renovate of sherpas from Nepal, so now there are nice steps of stone to walk on…

And my third and last one. Here we start from Storulvan. We will now turn our eyes towards Getryggen. The lengt of this one is 8,2km. You follow the trail toward the peak of Getryggen. With the 1380m over the sea, this one is a bit challenging. But the view make it worth is all days in the week. When you reach the firts peka the view will help you to find the other two. Between the the first and second peak, there is a plateu. Turn to right slowly and carful, here you will have a perfect view over Noder and sonner tvaraklomp and Storsnasen. Continue to the third peak and then the same way back.

And now over to the question: what is the perfect backpack. For me  I need to have one that can be used for skiing, ice climbing, hiking etc. So I have figured out that 35-40L will be a good size. For a longer activity I will ahve to choose a bigger one. But with the size of maximum 40L I will not bring to much stuff, which might be a risk otherwise. Yoy really have to prioritize:-). I will also have a bakcpack with a signal colour, and I also want to have one zipper going over the whole pack so I easy can get stuff when I needed them. And of course it should fit good as well. So I found one backpack that can live up to this expectation. But observe, this is for my needs.

See ya soon…

It will be a lot of hikers in the Swedish Mountains this year. This means it will be hard to get a bed at the cabins and the mountain stations. So from today I will give some suggestion of easy alternative solution if you cant book a bed.

My first suggestion for today will be Kolåsen mountain station, the gate to Skacker-mountains. From here you can take nice tours towards Sockertoppen, among other hikes. My second suggestion will be to stay at Enaforsholm and take a transport towards Rundhogen. From here you hike to Blahammaren Mountain station. Make sure to book the dinner at 1800, eat and hike back. You can also use Wanseths cab service for the transportation. The third and last suggestion for this week will be; Helgs mountain station. Book acommendation in Ljungdalen or at Funasdalen(the ski in and out is very nice and value. Then make sure to book the dinner at Helags Mountain station, and hike back in the evening. You will make it in a day if you are in good shape. 3-5 hours one way… The suggestion this weeks is for skilled hikers. Next week will be for more of beginners…

And at the end some new gear, I Think it is interesting with new innovative solutions. Here comes one if you are camping for a longer time and need to wash. Here you got a portable wash machine..

https://www.smartasaker.se/sv/artiklar/portabel-tvattmaskin.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD6xXWBCfXs

See ya soon..