SUUNTO is timing ITU World Championship Series

TRI WORLD CUP SERIES LIVE ON TV and as WEBCAST!

The Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series (WCS) is set to kick off on May 2, 2009 in Tongyeong, South Korea and Suunto will be there as global official timing and data partner.

Suunto's leading-edge technology will be integrated into the WCS events and TVcoverage. High performance data collected by Suunto from competing athletes will be displayed on screen as the race progresses. Real time heart rate, speed and distance as well as GPS tracking information made possible by Suunto "will significantly enhance our television viewer's experience," according to WCS Managing Director Paul Coleman.


Suunto's Foot, Bike and GPS PODs coupled with a t6c training watch via disturbance free transmission technology, ensures that data collected has an extremely high level of accuracy. Among the favourites taking part in the eight-race series are Suunto Ambassadors Jan Frodeno (GER) and Emma Snowsill (AUS) who are both the reigning Olympic champions. Current world champion Javier Gomez of Spain is also aiming for the title, as is 2008 world champion Daniel Unger (GER). Other Suunto Ambassadors with a good chance of success include American Matt Reed, 2004 Olympic champion Kate Allen (AUT) and British sensation Helen Jenkins (née Tucker). The elite women start their race at Friday night at 1:10 AM EST (2:10 pm local time on Saturday May 2), followed by the men a day later (Saturday night 1:10 AM EST. You can watch the event live on UNIVERSAL, and for those unable to watch on TV, there will be a live internet streaming service available. For the first time ever, fans will also have access to high quality, on demand race replays and highlights. Visit http://www.triathlon.org/worldchampionshipseries/ for more information.

Heybrun Couloir by Andrew McLean

"Here's a link to some helmet cam footage from skiing the Heyburn Couloir in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho last Wednesday (April 22). This was one of many couloirs in that area and I'll definitely be going back to ski a few more! We stayed up at the Bench Yurt for three nights and this line is about a one hour hike away. The couloir itself is about 1,500' long and a true classic."

Happy turns,
Andrew

This came in from Andrew McLean. Not only is Andrew one of the longest Suunto Ambassadors in US but known for being one of the most influencial skiers in US history. Andrew got awarded POWDER MAGAZINES most influential skiers for the year 2003.

ANDY POTTS WINS THE ST. ANTHONY’S TRIATHLON

After two second place finishes this season, Potts breaks through for his first win

Andy Potts battled wind and waves to pull out his first win of the season at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in Petersburg, FL. Potts emerged 4th from the water, but took over the lead on the bike after fellow Suunto Teammate Matty Reed suffered a flat tire and withdrew from the race. No one could catch Potts on the run and he won by a minute and a half.

“I’m really happy with my win today,” said Andy “St. Anthony’s is a huge race on the triathlon calendar and I’m glad I could put my name on the list next to the great previous winners.”

“The day seemed to get better for me as the race progressed,” explains Potts. “I had an okay swim; the seas were really rough out there. I followed with a solid ride and a really strong run. My running legs felt the best they have so far in this short season. I’m really please to pick up the W!”

Reed, who was defending his title at St Anthony’s, says he was feeling good and liked his chances of repeating before getting the flat. He vowed to come back next year and take back his crown.

The win for Potts is also the 3rd in a row for Suunto Athletes. Reed and Potts finished 1-2 in Miami and Oceanside before Potts grabbed the win at St. Anthony’s. Both train and compete with Suunto’s t6c wristop, heart rate monitor belts and PODs.

Rebecca Rusch stops by in Utah

Celebrating a store opening in Downtown Salt Lake City, Rebecca shared her latest adventures with the guests.

Signing posters, posing for pictures and always presenting her t6c Red Arrow Ambassador model.

We hope Rebecca will have another great season to make it 3 WC titles!

Cycling the Pacific Ring of Fire expedition: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Adventurers and Suunto Ambassadors Janick Lemieux and Pierre Bouchard completed their cyclovolcanic quest, achieving another mega-MTB trek that led them this time towards the peoples and volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
« By returning from Hawaii and landing in Vancouver, starting and finish line of this rather unusual circumnavigation of the Pacific ocean, we put an end to a true pedaled odyssey. We're still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that we finally patrolled on our bikes the Pacific Ring of Fire, where 75% of our planet's active volcanoes hiss, puff and explode, so overwhelming the scale of the whole undertaking really is. Now that it's over, we know that we dedicated a full decade to this project, spending 6 years in the saddle, riding some 60,000 kilometers...it's been quite an adventure and a pretty thick slice of life! »
We travel with Suunto X9i and t6 Wristops, the latter used in conjunction with Bike Pod, that give us accurate and reliable data about our rides and treks under the most daunting conditions…one knows how exposed to the elements nomads on wheels can be! Allowing us to save this data, pedalled or climbed topography and distances, and create detailed graphic files, make it possible to share invaluable info about these sorties in remote parts of our world…
While climbing up to the summit craters of Mt Canlaon, one of the Philippines most active volcanoes, our young local guides were ready to call for an emergency bivouac over a pretty uncomfortable slope amidst prime cloud forest, not too sure how far up we were as we've been progressing through the thickest of fogs for hours. Having monitored our ascent with both our www.suunto.com/X10 and t6 www.suunto.com/t6c from the trailhead and knowing at which altitude culminates Canlaon's crater rim, where base camp lies, we could assure our guides that the flat and grassy platform they were deeming of was only a mere 15 minutes away or some 75 meters higher up…the Wristops were not lying and we enjoyed our pastas under a starry sky as clouds dissolved and made way for a very glorious morning!

Rarely jumped cliff in North Salt Lake City, UT

Tuesday, myself and two buddies made a trip up to a little known cliff north of Salt Lake City. It doesn't get jumped very often because you have to do a decent amount of hiking to get to a pretty small cliff.

Not to mention there is basically no place to land and you MUST fly out of the canyon to avoid a very rocky, steep hillside that funnels into some rapids fresh with melting snow. Using my trusty Suunto Core, I was able to track our altitude gained/lost as well as how long it took us to get to the top. We were fortunate enough to have near perfect conditions at the exit point and I was able to fly back during a 2+ minute parachute ride and land within feet of our truck :) Gotta love it!

Cross Country BASE jump from neil amonson on Vimeo.

Personal Best Half Marathon - Run for the Shelter 14th Annual

I had a great race today. More than just a personal best run time. I enjoyed being part of something much bigger than one person. 13.1 miles in 1:38:24. Going into the race my plan was to run a 8:30 per mile and let the miles roll by. I was able to stick with the plan until the half way point at which time my competitive drive took over. There is something about people in front of me that makes me go fast.


I kept checking the Suunto t6c and before I knew it I was running 7:30 min per mile. Finish 1:39:24, new personal best in the Half Marathon. Overall 29 of 339, Age Group 7 of 37


See here how Jonathan lost 155 lb and dedicated his life to triathlons and endurance events

Jacqui Gordon raced at her birthplace in SA - results in a PR

I went into Ironman South Africa feeling very good about my winter training. The East Coast had a very cold winter so to prepare for my Ironman I went to Claremont Florida for 3 weeks and then to Tucson Arizona for a training camp 3 weeks prior. With a week to race day I made the trip to South Africa. The race is held in the small town of Port Elizabeth. This is actually where I was born and I love coming back here. The whole week before race day I felt very fatigued. The 40 hours it had taken me and the lack of sleep, the humidity and the heat was finally catching up to me and I found my Suunto watch giving me high heart rate readings in my workouts all week.
Race morning I put that all aside and was confident and felt prepared for whatever the day was to bring! The swim was a mass start age groupers and pros's together. With a 10 meter gap it did not take long to have guys swimming right over me. The first 400 meters is always a panic until things start to spread out. I felt good about my swim and was happy to see my halfway split around 28 minutes when I ran up onto the beach.
I knew the second lap would be a little slower as the swimmers had thinned and the run back out through the waves was slow! I swam hard though looking for people to draft off of. I was thrilled to see a sub 1 hour swim. 59.15 to be exact for the 2.4 miles. The swim is always hard work for me so to finally see a sub 1 hour in an ocean swim that is notoriously slow was great.
3 years ago I swam this course in 1.07 so I was extremely pumped up running into T1.
I headed onto the bike feeling great! I was hoping I was higher up in the positioning and was a little disappointed at the turnaround to see that I was in seventh place. I was still very positive as I saw girls pretty close to me. My plan for the bike was to try ride steady and controlled. The bike pod is a sure way to guarantee that you don't push to hard. I have been feeling strong on the bike so by holding back I would have more energy for the run. I stuck to the plan! They had been predicting a heat wave all week and by the second lap on the bike I could feel it! Temperatures were rising and were already in the 90's. I started using half my drinking water for dumping over my head. By the third lap my head was baking in my helmet. I felt OK though and very strong! I knew my bike was going to be pretty solid at that point and was happy to see a 5.08.for the 112 miles

T2 went perfectly and I ran out with heavy legs but feeling pretty happy with my race. I was now in 5th place and knew I had work to do! It took me a mile to get my running legs but then all of a sudden I felt unbelievable. The crowds were great and the announcer was shouting how smooth I looked and how I was running so well. I seemed so light and was really enjoying the race. The miles went by easily and I could tell I was getting closer to the girls in front of me. I was getting a lot of media coverage and this was exciting but it may have made me push too hard. I started to feel a little dizzy and for the first time the heat and dehydration was setting in. I had to slow my pace and focus on my breathing. My legs started to get heavy and I started chugging big mouthfuls of coke at each aid station. I tried to push the last ten km but I did not have much in the tank. I definitely pushed though and was thrilled to get to the finish line in 4th place I was the first American athlete. I finished in 9hrs 46min with a new PR for me. Overall a successful day for me in very HOT conditions!

Doug Stoup reached the North Pole for the 9th time

Tonight at 2:46 am MST Doug Stoup informed us that he and his crew reached the most northern point of our planet.

It's Doug's ninth trip to the North Pole. Check out updates on his website.

Here's an archive image of an earlier expedition of
Doug struggling over huge pressure ridges on the Arctic Ocean.

Here his comments sent from the pole:
"April has been a busy month as I guided 2 Expeditions (11 total
persons) to the Geographic North Pole. We encountered extremely cold temps diping -40F (= -40C) on most days and even ecountered a dip into the Arctic Ocean. You can learn more about Ice Axe adventures and getting to the poles as well as the Ice Axe Ski Cruise Nov 5-17, 2009 http://www.blogger.com/www.skicruise2009.com or http://www.blogger.com/www.iceaxe.tv
Thank You SUUNTO!
cheers,
Doug"

Congratulations to Doug from all of us here at Suunto!!!

Doug last year at the South Pole.

Matty Reed and Andy Potts do it again

MATTY REED USES A RECORD RUN TO OVERCOME EARLY ASTHMA ATTACK AND WIN THE IRONMAN CALIFORNIA 70.3
Reed and fellow Suunto teammate Andy Potts finish 1-2 for second straight race

A record run caps off a come-from-behind victory for Matty Reed at the Ironman California in Oceanside. Reed smashed the run course record by 1 Min 27 Sec on way to his second victory of the season.
It didn’t come easy for Matty. He lost his goggles and cap after getting kicked during the swim. He then suffered an asthma attack and fell way behind the field. Reed almost dropped out at that point, but regained his composure and fought all the way back for the victory.

“I’m happy to get the win after a tough start,” says Matty. “I got nailed at about 800 meters and then had an asthma attack. I’ve never lost that much time on the swim in my whole career.” Reed said he had to struggle to refocus on the race, “I just tried to keep my head on straight and get back in the race at whatever it takes. It’s a four hour race and I had three hours to get it back.”

Check out his interview on Competitor Radio http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=314

Fellow Suunto teammate Andy Potts finished second after a quick start in the water. Potts broke the swim course record by 47 seconds and finished number two for the second time this season.

“I am happy to set the swim course record” said Andy, “I just wanted to push all the way to the finish line and didn’t want to let off the gas at all. That’s my racing style.”

It was the second 1-2 finish for Suunto’s Reed and Potts this year. The pair also dominated the field last month in Miami finishing just three seconds apart. Both are hoping their strong starts are a good omen for 2009. “My goal is to be as consistent as possible and improve on last year’s performances” says Potts, “I’m spending more time training on my bike and building strength on my run. I want to be as strong on mile one as I am on mile six and mile 13.”

Both Reed and Potts use the Suunto t6c in their training, something they say helps them get the most out of their performance. “I am out every day to improve and to be my best” says Potts. “I have strong partners behind me, like Suunto, helping me to be my best. If you don’t have the best behind you, you don’t have a chance to be your best.”

Both Reed and Potts will compete at the St. Anthony’s Triathlon in Florida April 26th. Reed will defend his title and go for his third straight win.