Suunto announces Hoyt & Company as rep agency of 2012

At Outdoor Retailer Winter Market we announced our rep agency of 2012 which is no surprise that Hoyt & Co., Inc. took the honor. Hoyt represents the Rocky Mountain territory and has been a powerhouse for 18 years. They are recognized as our "best in class" in implementing merchandising upgrades across their dealer base.

"Patrick and his team bring such amazing energy, good ideas and dedication to Suunto every day," says David Grayson, Suunto USA National Sales Manager. "This team represents the best that Suunto can offer our dealter; dedicated service and a commitment to help retailers succeed."

"We are proud to be recognized by Suunto and look forward to another great year in 2013," says Patrick Hoyt, principal of Hoyt Co., Inc. "We love working with the Suunto team and its progressive family of products."

Congrats to Patrick Hoyt and his dedicated team.  

Suunto is the official timing sponsor of trail relay series

Ragnar Trail Relays, presented by Suunto's sister-brand Salomon, is launching a brand new race series focused only on trails--and Suunto is the official timing sponsor! 

Suunto is Ragnar Trail Relay's official timing sponsor and will manage the race start and finish times at each event. Teams will typically finish the 120-ish mile course in about 20 hours. Ragnar Trail Relays are off-road team running events at a variety of beautiful places around the US.

Each stop in the series features a two-day outdoor adventure in which teams run looped trails at national parks and outdoor resort venues. Each race has a central location where runners will take off with staggered start times, run one of the three loops of varying difficulty, then return to handoff to their next teammate.

That central area is called, Ragnar Village, and will feature a Salomon and Suunto tents where runners can check out the latest in trail running gear--including shoes, Suunto outdoor and GPS training watches, apparel and hydration packs. Plus, runners can pick up a few tips from Salomon and Suunto pro staff.

"Suunto and Salomon both continue to develop products for athletes who look to run and take their adventures off-road, so this partnership aligns directly with our core concepts," says Ashley Williams, vice president of marketing for Amer Sports Americas.

Ragnar Trail Relays will debut April 26-27 at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch near Zion National Park, Utah. Additional 2013 calendar dates include:
·    April 26-27, Zion Ponderosa Ranch (Zion National Park, Utah)
·    June 7-8, Big Bear Lake (Morgantown, West Virginia)
·    July 26-27, Sierra at Tahoe (Lake Tahoe, California)
·    August 23-24, Snowbasin (Huntsville, Utah)
·    October 18-19, McDowell Mountain (Scottsdale, AZ)
·    November 15-16, Vail Lake Resort (Temecula, California)

Sign a team up--this is going to be fun and we couldn't be more excited to be a part of the world's first trail relay!
To read the entire press release, click here. 

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Sports Suunto

A recent story in Men's Health highlighted Newark Mayor Cory Booker. This story is in the celebrity fitness section and tells the story of Mayor Booker taking control of his life in order to help his community. In the Men's Health article it says, "Booker subscribes to two central mantras: (1) Don't run from hard; run toward it. (2) Be the change you want to see in the world." And he has followed those two mantras and gotten in shape and has helped his community in multiple ways.

Booker says, "You can't preach change and teach change unless you make the decision to be the change. " As you can see in the picture Mayor Booker is sporting a Suunto Quest heart rate monitor watch--proof that he is taking his training seriously! Read the full article here.

Kim Havell in the Tetons

Check out the line Suunto athlete Kim Havell skied a few days after Christmas. Kim and friends skied the Son of Apocalypse in Grand Teton National Park, the northeast couloir of Prospectors Mountains. It sits just to the east of Apocalypse Couloir, offering 2400′ of vertical downhill into Death Canyon. It required two rappels and a cliff drop at the bottom--no small potatoes. But then, we've never seen Kim go small.

Not only is she an incredible ski mountaineering athlete who records her vertical and fitness on her Suunto watches, she is also a talented photographer.  She took the photo above of one of her skiing partners. He work has been published in a number of top ski and outdoor publications around the world.

Men's Journal Gear Lab

We swung by Men's Journal Gear Lab pop-up store on Michigan Avenue and look what we saw: The MJ Gear of the Year award-winning Suunto Ambit is front and center right as you walk in!  Check out the pictures that we snapped to document this awesome display. If you are in Chicago, stop by 520 North Michigan Avenue to check everything out. Click here to see more photos of the Men's Journal Pop-Up Shop.

Ambit wins Men's Journal Gear of the Year

 Suunto is proud to announce the Ambit has been named Gear of the Year 2012 by Men’s Journal Magazine.  The annual award is given to gear that stands above the hundreds of products tested by the magazine each year.  

Among other features, Men's Journal chose the Ambit for its above-the-bar functionality and abuse-ready frame. 

"Since it’s packed with an accelerometer, a 3-D compass, and an altimeter and built to be abused, the Suunto Ambit is aimed at high-altitude, hard-charging trail runners, climbers and hikers. In the field, its GPS repeatedly locked in quicker than that of comparable watches, and its accelerometer was responsive and accurate. The recovery-time calculator is cool, too." - Men's Journal 

The Ambit 3D GPS watch also features two software upgrades that unlock technical features based primarily off of consumer feedback making it the only watch on the market that allows you to have access to new features without having to buy a new watch.

T6 at Everest

These amazing photos came from one of our retailers, Anna Gardner of Adventure16 in Los Angeles. They are from her trip to Nepal. The T6 looks great with Everest in the background!