One of the most important thing in the mountain environment is the safety. The mountain rescue organisation in Sweden is handled by the Police. In Sweden there is four countys with Mountain Rescue; Dalarna, Jamtland, Norrbotten and Vasterbotten. In Dalarna there is 4 units with 60 Mountain Rescuer, in Jamtland there is 11 units with 175 Mountain Rescuer, in Norrbotten 8 units with 80 Mountain Rescuers ans also Vasterbotten with 8 units and 75 rescuers. So totally 31 units( 2 out of these are alpine rescue groups and 2 cave rescue groups) also almost 20 avalange rescue dogs are included in the organsiation. The mission includes two different parts, search and rescue. Then to the question is it needed? Well lets look at some statistics.

Is the Mountain Rescue organisation needed?

Between 1/1 2018-30/5 2018 there have been 65 missions for the Mountain Rescue org. 11 avalange incidents with one death. 35 out of them was missions related to rescue, and 30 related to search of lost people. So the answer is of cource yes. I’ve been talking to one of the involved of the organisation from the Police and this is his view of the area;

We can see a trend were the search numbers will decrease, and the rescue mission will increase. This is related to the fact that people have more and better navigation equipment nowadays.

The dicussion in media about people using the Mountain Rescue as a service for transportation is overblown. This is not a big problem, and it is better to get a affected person off the mountain before it escalate to a big rescue mission(for example in the dark).

The trend within the mountain sports with more ”on the edge” sport is not anything we can see that so far affects the statistics. Thouge we can see that skiing offpist has increased, but it is difficult to relate it to increased numbers of rescue missions yet.

More exterme sports does not increase the mountain rescues missions, at least not yet..

When it comes to the increaced numbers of competions and arrangement in the mountains there was a period, a couple of years ago when the arrangements organisation relayed on the Mountain Rescue organisations. But today they got there own organisation for it as a standard.

Last blog was about ice climbing back packs. Here I got one more. The Simond Alpinist 33. This one is in the lower price segment. I got a question if there is anyone less expensive that can compares to the others. This is it:-). What is important for me is that I need the back pack to be stable. The stripped ones from Bergans has saved weight, but becomes unstable. This one is a bit heavy but is quite stable.

The Alpinist 33 from Simond, a back pack that is cheap but still very good.

It got a lot of straps and easy to use. It is easy to place the Ice axes. You also got straps for the skies if you needed that as well. Lot of pockets for organisation of the equipment is also a feature. The rope is also easy to access to the back pack. With the aluminum strud it will be stable.

With its big opening the Alpinist 33 easy become a favourite.. also with the low price..

https://www.decathlon.se/ryggsack-alpinism-33-l-xl-id_8360593.html

Trangoworld is a unknown brand in Skandinavia, but it is known as quite cheap with high quality in middle Europe.

Trangoworld Manaslu pant a good choice for pulse activity..

This is a trouser you can use in the mountain environment. It is a tight traouser in alpine style. The coulor is good for the visability if needed. Soft and great for easy movement..

Nice details from the Manaslu pant..

https://www.trekkinn.com/berg/trangoworld-manaslu-pants/136403430/p

See ya soon

Ok its summer, but it is time for planning the winters adventures(I will come back to the summer adventures later in this post). First I will look into some gear. When it comes to Ice Climbing backpacks, its not so easy to choose. First it must be flexible in size. Sometimes its just a short climb, and other days there is  couple of rope lengths. From my point of view, I like if it is easy to access from the side as from the top. Colour, its also another thing I fell is important. For both safety, and for good pictures:-). The sack must be proof for cramponspikes. So here I will present some of the packs on the market.

Blue Ice White Tiger 35L

This back pack is a small one, it got straps for two ice axes. It got zippers to get quick access. A pocket for crampons etc. A good choice..thou the colour is not the best.

https://www.bananafingers.co.uk/rucksacks/blue-ice/white-tiger-35l

This is one of my favourites, Grivel has always deliver top quality.

The Grivel Zen 35L one of my favourites..

This is a great Ice Climbing pack. Lots of straps and easy to access with a opening from the ”back side”. The red one is good(also awailable in black). But I miss a pocket for the crampons..

https://www.trekkinn.com/berg/grivel-zen-35l/136492136/p

During the 80s. Bergans was one of the producers of back-pack. Not the first in line. At that time Fjallraven was the top brand. But now they have become a brand with high performance in both clothting and equipment.

Bergans helium 40L a back-pack to relay on..

This one is a light back-pack. It got one big storage and also two stretch mesh side pockets. It has adjustable torso length. Due to the stripped model, the stability will be affected. The coulor is ok.

https://www.outnorth.dk/bergans/helium-40?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn5fvy6ju2wIVR4wZCh0rXg_aEAQYASABEgLYC_D_BwE#SolidcharcoalKoiOrange

The Mystery RanchPitch 40 Alpine..

From a Swedish perspective this is a new brand, but a interesting challenger for the Nordic market..

A perfectly comfortable pack to haul all your gear and then some to the base of a climb, the Mystery Ranch Pitch 40 is top-notch, but if you want to climb with it too, look elsewhere. Other external straps are designed for the securement of a helmet and ice axes, and an outer front pocket provides a place for snacks, guidebook, a rain shell, and phone.

https://www.outnorth.dk/mystery-ranch/pitch-40l?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkam8rKju2wIVA0kYCh3-1Al9EAYYASABEgI7rPD_BwE#Nightfall

On the market there is a couple of things going on. Lundhags skomakaren will change name to Brav Sweden AB.

Lundhags a part of the BRAV brand, including Swix, TOKO, Ulvang, Helsport..

Activities to do during the summer:

Zip-line Åre..

Zip-line in Åre might be a choice of action during summer..

 Muskox safari in Norway might be a activity?

http://hittaupplevelse.se/presentation/myskoxsafari-2/

And about the workout, yesterday was a interesting day. two times one hour speed walk with the husky. One hour at the gym and 190 push-ups. Yea, a tough day I can promise.

 

 

Early morning, the guide has been up for a couple of minutes. Everything is checked and loaded in the vehicle. The sun has been up for a couple of hours. Time to pick up the clients. The ride to the cliff will take about 5 hours. A buss full of expectation and excitement. We arrived before schedule, but that dosent matter. There is a bugbear in the ”air” black clouds and thunder. The routes are closed. Well, it mean a couple of minutes to take a coffee break. 34 minutes later we got a ”Go” from the staff at place.

Finnaly we got a go…

Todays crew was homogenius, and fast. They followed the instruction perfectly, and there was no problem at all. The white route was done in just 40 min.

First time Via Ferrata and a happy face…

A perfect tecnique, look at the arm holding the Via Ferrata set…

The guide lead and give instruction. Secure safety and helping pushing limits…

Just when the climb was done, and we started the way back, the rain and a new thunderstorm came in. Meaning time to go home…But a coulpe of clients, happy and excited to come back for another session..

Happy clients at the top of Skuleberget…

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

See ya soon..

Research shows that Sweden will become more popular from other countries related to visit/vacation planning. The Norwegians looking for hotels/spa-hotels. The people from Netherlands’ looking fore traveling to Nordkap and wilderness/untouched nature, when the Chinese rather search on the web for ice-hotels and glassblowing. Don’t forgot the beautiful Sweden, be a tourist in your own country. Summer is the best time in Sweden

The wilderness of Sweden, is popular.

When it comes to our life,  we got the responsible to make good. So here comes some thought about how to think about it…

Live the day with a fresh new start. What happened yesterday or the week before doesn’t matter it is here and now..  Live more consciously each day, stop sleepwalking trough your life. Become committed to your growth. In the map of consciousness there are 17 levels. from shame to enlightenment, Achieve a higher level with your commitment of growth. Design your life and set goals. The next step will be to defined action to get to your goals. Discover your passion in life. Spend time with people who enable you. Try new things, get out from the comfort zone. Embrace new ideas, do not mentally limit yourself..

Becoming a better you, next week we will build your self confidence..

This week I’ve been testing the Simond Rock mens jeans.

Simond Rock mens jeans.

Simons is a brand from France, Chamonix. Its not the most fancy brand, but have a lot of stuff with good quality. This trousers is for bouldering, but can be used for climbing and other outdoor activities. Its a nice and comfort trouser. As you can see on the pictures, its a nice design. The local climbers in Cham. will for sure use this one. To normal pockets, one for the map and one for the brush will be good enough. the price 48.51 Euro is fine. So what score does it got? 4,8NLA:s size 40 suits me(180cm tall, 74kg)

https://www.decathlon.se/jeans-rock-herr-id_8386829.html

And today some workout music:

See ya soon..

Another fantastic day. After a walk with the dog i Went to the lake for a morning bath. I will try to keep the mind as relaxed at that time..

One of this mornings…

This time of the year is good for trail/sky running. You have to be aware of the water flow, just so you don’t get a surprise.. There a lots of fine trails in the Swedish mountains. My favourite is in Are and the Valadalsfjallen as well. If you want to race, you got the mountain marathon at the 4th August in Valadalen. 43km with 2100 altimeter.

Ready for a mountain race?

Another thing I’ve been thinking of is the question -all is well? A question with expected answer..were did the question ”How are you?” Because then you can get a honest answer…

Some nice Swedish music today..

 

See ya soon..

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency(Naturvårdsverket) has during a couple of years upgraded the whole trail system in Sweden.

The Jamtlandstriangle trail..

The trail system over all includes almost 900 bridges. 170 of these are hanging bridges and 300 are beam bridges(balkbroar) Lots of the haning bridges are old, and they are very expensive to replace.

The hang bridges are expensive, but important..(one out of almost 900)

On the other hand those are very important for the availability. When it comes to wind shelter there was 84 from the beginning. Today there are 176 of these. The whole cost for the upgrade is going to someware around 27 milj. Swedish crones. So think about that when you enter the trails:-)

The brand Meindl has started a cooperation with the outdoor bureau Systrar I Bergen. A organisation that will get more females out in the wilderness. Maybe this is a trend, that there will be organisations and companies in the outdoor business chose to work with different niches and areas of interest.

And now to the workout. Now its the perfect time for trail running, at least in Europe. The light is up at 04.00 so you cant complain of that. And if you use the terrain, you can find 100 different way of workout methods.

The ”force path” is one of my favourites.  Find a trail that is maximum 1000m. When you pass a stone or a bench, stop and do 10-20 push-ups. After another 300m stop and do 45 sek hollow body rocks..

Hollow body rocks position..

Just continue like that and add your favourites core exercise..

 

And you take care out there, always safety first…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrFgvoL0MLk

See ya soon..

 

Yesterday the alarm went on 05.30. It was time to go for the first Via Ferrata of the season. Just over five hours was the travelling time with the car. But it was a awesome trip. A Sweden when it is as its best, springtime. Mirrored lakes, no wind at all. A rising sun and spring green trees. I really enjoy it. At Docksa north of Harnosand the sun was still shining. I gear up, and begun to climb..

First ”clip in” of the season..nice…

The red trail, a fabulous view over the High coast of Sweden..

So after a couple of hours on the cliff, it was time for go home. Five new hours by myself in the car. Well, it might sound weird, but I like it. Just listen to the music, and let the mind and thoughts just go there own way.

We are so focused on work, on what do to after the work or when we got spare time or vacation. I think it is good to take a common day and make to something different. Challenge yourself and grab your self a Wednesday or Thursday, and make it special in any way..I will for sure. Otherwise the days and weeks and month just blow away..Keep it simple, Just do something wise verse what you normally do on Thursday..

And now over to some news and tests.

For the surfers..

Billabong and Quicksilver get together. This will be the perfect match for all the Surfer bums..

The Teleferique to Aguille du Midi will open for the season at 28th of May..

I have been testing the Montura Yaru Tecno GTX.

This boot is build for easy mountaineering and Via Ferrata. It has good comfort with is Gore-Tex lining. It got a good grip with its Vibram soles. The price 110 Euro, its quite ok. I would recommend this for Via Ferrata. I can give it 4 out of five NLA:s

I also been testing the Stealth helmet from Grivel.

The Grivel stealth comparing to Grivel Salamander. The stealth is much lighter Salamander = 380g. Stealth = 190g. The Stealth is a light and ventilated helmet. You can see the difference of the lining in the helmets on the picture above. I really like the Salamander. It fit perfect and is easy to set size. The light Stealth have a real nice design, but is very slimmed version. When you put a action cam on it feels real nose-heavy. So for the price 84,40 Euro I expect more. So sorry Grivel, you got a 3,5 NLA:s from me..(Grivel is one of my favourites brand)

And at the end some good music

 

See ya soon..

 

This time of the year is magic. The vacation period is in the front of us, and the nature is in its all splendor. The daylight starts at 04.00 so what is your excuses for not training or explorer new activities and Challenges?

The bench-press program work out fine so far. With bench-press, pull/push ups and deadlift and squats you got it all. So with the base exercise combined with cardio workout, the mix will be good.

And when it comes to endurance and cardio trail-running will be the concept. Sky running is good. There are a couple of good trails I can recommend. From Vålådalen to Lunndörr cabins trough the issjödalen is very nice.

Trail-running to Lunndörren passing the pyramids and issjödalen

It is important to be prepared for the adventures. One thing that is important is to have the leadership in place. Lots of reports and research indicates that its important to got a leader when the ”shit hits the fan”. Someone that can have the overview and can steer all activities with a accident or problem with someone got injured. So have the role in place..for the safety..

https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=78&artikel=4604774

For reporting to adequate clinician staff you can use this template.

I also been on vacation for a while in Greece. There is mountains and gym there as well..

Mountains are calling and I must go…

This week I will test the stealth climbing helmet from Grivel. It looks fine and is very light, though I think the inside of the helmet is a solution I’m not trust at the first sight, but I will test for sure

Grivel stealth helmet is under test at the moment..

The music this week will be two different kind of taste..and you the text is worth listen to in the both of them..

See ya soon..

Well, during your adventure in the outdoor, it is important to have focus of the safety. One of the main reason for it, will be that it will take time before you can get professional medicine support.

It will take time for the mountain rescue to be in place. So you must be aware and prepared for that in the mountain environment.

So how to handle that issue? Well, good planning and thinking three step ahead.

Three step thinking, this will help you..

Plan for always have an escape plan. In the army we did  a very good form of this. A well thought decision plan, and what can/will happen in the next step, and what will happening after that. Translate this into the business thinking it is like a regular project planning with a risk workshop. Using that for adventure will suits fine..

Planning your adventure as a project, it will work out fine and you will be prepared..

When it comes to statistics and what we can learn about it, it is I little tricky. The reason for that  is that there is no aggregated figures. But we can look into one region, and from there we can get some facts to take under consideration. From Germany we got an example from the climbing association. From their figures we can see that a climber is 313 times more likely to die in a traffic accident than climbing.(on the other side we travel in car for the adventures, don’t forget that). 33 people die in a year directly related to mountaineering accidents. 12 related to hiking, 7 related to via Ferrata, 7 to climbing, skiing 7 people(avalanche etc.,) and 1 caused of crash with another skier.

The human factor will be in the main focus here. When it comes to Via Ferrata for example, the victims have not used the equipment in the right way. So we as adventure must be able to do real thoughtful. With a good planning of the healthcare and exit plan you will be prepared.

Buy a empty first aid case, and fill it after your activity. Then you know you got the right stuff. And you, when was the last time you train the first aid knowledge…

And now over to some testing. I have start the test of Stellar equipment’s pants.

Stellar Shell pants.

Here comes the findings..Shell pant can have two different focus. Mountaineering or skiing. This pant is for the first focus for skiing. I normally like mountaineering pants better related to they get more slim fit. But I got impressed of the pants. From a design point of view they got a 5 out of 5. The knee pocket is low, which means that you can put your smartphone there and it probably will not impact the avalanche beacon.(this need to be tested). The pant is in Dermizax NX and feels like a 2 layer Gore-Tex pant. The zipper at the foot is a bit short, but that will also be good if you using gaiter. Less of textile. Price is ~250 Euro, and that is a real good price for a product with this quality. So overall the pant get 4.5 out of 5..Just a heads up from the article above. Be careful with injured people with Gore-Tex/Dermizax clotes. They can hidden a bleeding because of its compact…

When it comes to the workout I will test a six week bench press program. It will be interesting to se what I can achieve..

 

See ya soon…

 

 

Three day of avalanche course at Åre. A real good course in the basic of avalanche knowledge.

The instructor Martin Alzén explain the impact of angle of the slope and how it will affect the risk of avalanches. practice practise and practice will be the rule..

The three areas: snow, terrain and human will be the three areas that impact the risk of avalanches. With both theory and practice, the course was very well planned. First aid and transceiver search was also included.

Testing the Avalanche air bags, and understand how they really works in the real…

Mårten Johansson UIGMA mountain guide explain, train and test the knowledge of the group…

The transceiver will help you with the search of people being caught by a avalanche. But then you really need to practice to be ready when its necessary..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6840kqTk74

And this is to honour avicii, we miss you..

When it comes to new stuff, I will test the Stellar equipment’s the Shell pant. It will be interesting. There will also be a article about safety on the mountain..

Will it be good enough? Stellar equipment The shell pant.

See ya soon..