I´m back from guiding our first All Women Aconcagua expedition! It was a dream. When I imagined how it could be, when I created the expedition – this was even better. We had an amazing group of women from all over Europe. Everyone super nice, helping each other and built that team spirit.

The expedition started in Mendoza (and no one had lost their luggage! This is often a problem in South America and this is the first expedition where no one had lost luggage!)

I travelled there from Chile where I pre-acclimatised a little bit, climbing with my friend Lotta. I met up with my guide partner Vito. I know he is not a women but he share the same guide style as me and values and I trust him with my life. He have 20 years of experience on Aconcagua. 47 summits. He is a professor at the mountain guide school in Mendoza. An EMT. A rescue specialist and he have worked as a ranger in Aconcagua park for many years. He is the nicest and most competent guide I know on the mountain. He is so humble. Not macho (and that´s the most important). And all over the mountain, everyone we met who was a guide or a porter always said to us ”Vito is the best”.  And he was. He treated me like an equal. We made decisions together. He always introduced me as his guide partner. And compared to last year this was night and day. Last year was a nightmare. This year was a dream.

After a gear check and welcome dinner for the team we went to Las Cuevas for some acclimatisation before going into the park. The permit is only 20 days and we want to use all of those days for our climb. One thing I have noticed over the years is that many people get high altitude illness in basecamp. Basecamp on Aconcagua is at 4200 m and the day before you only sleep at 3200 m so the ascent is quite big. To avoid this we have two nights at 3000 m in Las Cuevas before the climb. The second day we did a acclimatisation hike to 4000 m to boost the acclimatisation even more. And it worked very well. No one had problems with altitude in basecamp on the expedition! Not on mine or our other expedition we had in December. Many teams don´t include this pre-acclimatisation (or maybe just do one night) but I think it´s important because it gives the team a better chance.

The hike to basecamp takes three days on the 360 route. I prefer the 360 route because you get to experience the whole mountain. There is less people. It´s more beautiful. You don´t go the same way up as down. And everyone I ever had in my team always says after the expedition they were glad they did the 360 route instead of the normal route. They understand that going up and down the same scree slopes on the normal route is not so much fun (even if it´s a little bit shorter).

The camps on the way to high camp have really improved their standard this year! We had hot showers in Casa De Piedra and wifi in all camps. That was not there last year. Crazy.

Arriving to basecamp is always a pleasure. You are greeted with your own dome tent and refreshments. The hike the last day is 1000 m ascent from 3200 m to 4200 m so it´s hard work. We use Grajales as our local partner. They are a premium company and the service and standard in basecamp is high. I have used two other companies on the mountain before because I wanted to test everyone to find the best partner. What I like about Grajales is that most things are included: Hot showers, wifi, no limit on luggage for basecamp etc. Even drinks in basecamp. With many other companies everything cost extra. Last year we got vouchers for wifi that we paid for. After 15 minutes they were finished and we had to pay new vouchers (that lasted 15 minutes before they ended). It was very frustrating (and expensive).

In basecamp we had a rest day the day after we arrived. We did our own medical check ups with the team before meeting the doctor (it´s obligatory to to a health check with the doctor after your carry round to camp 1). We checked the team many times during the expedition. Blood pressure, oxygen levels, heart rate, listening to the lungs and Lake Louise scale. We wanted to make sure everyone was feeling ok and it would be safe to continue.

We also had our second downhill workshop. We had one in Las Cuevas too. I don´t see many other guides doing this with their team and of course it depends on the teams experience but this was so good! Most people are used to walking on flat. If they live in a city they often walk on flat streets all their life. Many people are not so used to moving in steep uphill and downhill terrain. Specially not scree as we have a lot on Aconcagua. But after two workshops teaching the team techniques to move more efficient and safely downhill we saw huge improvements that really came to use on summit day. This was so good!

We also used the rest days for washing, knitting, hanging out, doing a mountain quiz and taking a nice hot shower. I went for y first high altitude run. Only 3 km but it was really hard when running uphill at 4200 m! Downhill was no problem tho. My guide partner Vito is a runner and last year he did Horocones – camp 2 – Horocones while fasting as a first try (he is doing research on fasting on high altitude). This year he wanted to try Horocones – summit – Horocones while fasting.

We did a carry round to camp 1 at 5000 m. The first carry round is always hard. It´s a new altitude and you have a heavy backpack. But the team did great! Always so positive and supporting of each other.

After 4 nights in basecamp it was time to leave the comfort. I always divide an expedition into different parts and now the tough part will start where we carry everything ourselves and are independent on the mountain. Our expedition is more independent because I want the participants to learn how to become self sufficient on the mountain. I want them to learn how their body works, what they can do, how things feel – even carrying a heavy backpack. I want them to learn to take care of things themselves. Like putting up their own tents in high winds, melting their own snow, surviving in a tough environment. I want them to build mountain experience for future adventures. Not have everything served. Of course us guides are there answering all questions, showing how to do things, teaching the team everything they need & want to know. But I also feel it´s important to be able to feel ”I did this” after the expedition.

Those who wants full service have plenty of options to choose an expedition with more support that is less independent. This year I saw many climbers using oxygen too. But it´s not my style. I like for people to develop. I think developing and learning new things is important to humans.

After two nights in camp 1 and a carry round to camp 2 it was time to move to camp 2. So far everything was on planned schedule. Camp 2 is a really nice camp. Located at 5500 m. Beautiful views and more protected from the wind than the other camps. Here is where you stay until it´s time for the summit bid. We would stay there 7 nights. Possibly a new record for an commercial expedition. Let me tell you everything!

We had the same schedule from entering the park as a local and an American expedition. So we got some new friends in camp that we were hanging out with on a daily basis. It was one really big group with 12 participants (the local one) and another mid sized group with around 6-7 participants (American). We became good friends and they were supernice. I hanged out a lot with the guides for these groups and it´s always good to get to know other guides. The only thing was that these expeditions did not have as many extra summit days as our group. Most expeditions have only 2 extra summit days. We had 6. And that can make a huge difference on Aconcagua where hard weather & conditions can last for many days, making a summit bid difficult.

So far we had PERFECT conditions on Aconcagua. Sometimes I told my team ”you have not experienced real Aconcagua winds yet” because weather had been so good. But just as we arrived to camp 2 weather turned to the worse. It was not terrible but 50-60 km/h winds in the forecast is really on the limit.

All expeditions had summits planned for Feb 1-2 and for us it was also an option. But with winds of 50-60 km/h we know that it will be really hard. Many times you won´t make it to the summit in those conditions. Or maybe just a few out of a group. It´s not optimal. At the same time waiting for Feb 3 or 4 was impossible because the wind was going up to 100 km/h and the other teams did not have extra summit days either. But our team had. And on Feb 5 the winds would start going down and Feb 6 looked really good with winds of only 30 km/h.

We kept both options opened for as long as possible. A weather forecast a week before isn´t always stabile so the weather for Feb 6 could change… But when we got closer to Feb 1 we had to make a decision. We decided to wait. It was a group discussion and decision. I think in a situation like this it´s important to let everyone in and decide together. Because it would mean we would have to spend 7 nights in camp 2.

Me and Vito talked to many guides and porters and no one have heard of this before. Both med and Vito had only spent 4 nights in camp 2 before. Other guides said it would be hard on motivation. But this year we had wifi in camp 2. That made it possible to stay connected with friends and family. To have entertainment. It was a game changer. We also decided to do something everyday. One day it was training with crampons and ice axe. Another day it was music quiz against a new American team that arrived two days later.

The other teams that we started this expedition at the same time as went for the summit on Feb 1 and 2. We got reports that some made it to the summit (strong!) but some people in the team did not. Like we thought since the conditions were very tough these days. Then the hard winds hit on Feb 3 and 4 and no one went up for a summit bid.

Finally our team got to experience the real winds on Aconcagua! They told me they had never experienced that much wind before. But everyone had pitched their tents really good so we were all safe in camp 2.

The weather forecast was holding up (it had been stabile for a longer time so we were not worried it wouldn´t) and we moved up to camp 3 on Feb 5 like planned.

Camp 3 is at 5950 m so it´s really high. We were very lucky with the weather because it wasn´t even very cold. I have stayed in camp 3 when it´s -25 and super windy and that is terrible. Now it was maybe -10 (tops) so not even that cold or windy. It was looking like we were going to get really good conditions for our summit bid.

We left camp 3 around 4 in the morning on Feb 6. We wanted to start a little bit earlier because we knew we were not the fastest group (and that is ok – one of the goals for this expedition was to not have to rush or push so hard that people had to quit. I´ve seen that too much and it´s not my style. I don´t guide like that. To mne it´s important to have a comfortable pace that fits everyone in the group.) We had a slow and steady pace up. I was walking in the front and Vito was running around, checking that everyone was comfortable. Since it wasn´t so cold we did a few stops to adjust layers.

A small break at White Rock and then up towards Independencia. Here we were met by the sun. It was so nice to warm my feet a little bit. I had battery socks on (lowest level) but no toe warmers since it wasn´t that cold. It was -14 and -23 windchill in the forecast for the summit. At Independencia we discussed with the team that if someone feels like they need to turn around, this is a good place because here one guide can go down and then come up again and catch the team.  We were a little bit worried for one of the participants but she wanted to continue so we decided to see how it went. At 6500 m we had to make the call to turn her around.

Turning someone around is the worst. I hate to do it. But it´s always because of safety for this person and the rest of the team.

Vito went back down to camp 3 with her and I continued with the rest of the group. It was time for the traverse.

The traverse is always windy with hard gusts so you need to have focus and good balance here because a fall can have huge consequences. It´s in the shadow so it´s cold too. And that makes the snow hard (you will have a hard time to self arrest a potential fall). So this is one of the most dangerous places on Aconcagua.

When I did the summit 2019 it didn´t have this much snow. It was more gravel and scree. Specially after the traverse up to the cave. And then it was more zig-zag. Now it was a snowfield straight up instead. Pretty steep too. So it was really exhausting because it was never ending. But you could see the cave in the sun up there as a goal in front of you. I told the team we would take a long break up there.

We made it to the cave and I radioed down to Vito. He was already on the traverse so he was going to catch up with us pretty soon. We enjoyed the rest, ate some snacks, drank and after around 40 minutes it was time to continue up the canaleta. This is usually a couloir with scree so it was very pleasant that instead we had firm snow to walk on. You are not fast here. Two steps and a breathe. Repeat. Vito catched up with us halfway up the canaleta, before the last traverse. Now it was only 1 hour left to the summit. The whole team gave their everything this last push.

In the end there is a small scramble where you maybe have to use your hands once or twice but then you are on the summit! The top of all of America. The highest mountain outside Himalayas. 6962 m.

Everyone was lying down, trying to catch some rest after the last part. The air is so thin up here. After a little snack and some rest it was time for summit photos. But the celebration have to wait until we are back down from the mountain. This is only halfway.

I met Karl Egglof on the summit. He ran up from basecamp in 5 hours and down in half that time with his poles relaxed over his neck. That´s crazy. He is training for a speed ascent on Everest. For us it took 14 hours roundtrip from Camp 3 – Summit – Camp 3.

The way down was smooth. Everyone did great. Our downhill workshops really paid of and the team had saved powers for going down. We came back in perfect time for dinner & an early sleep. Tomorrow we were going back down to basecamp and everyone in the team started dreaming about real food.

Going back to basecamp is hard. Now you have to carry everything at once and our backpacks was around 25 kg. You are also tired from the summit push and the way down is sometimes steep with scree and gravel. But when you are finally in basecamp you can relax and be spoiled by the basecamp team. Refreshments were waiting for us when we arrived. Empanadas, fresh fruit, tortillas, chocolate cake. For dinner we had asado and champange. We even got spoiled with tents in basecamp so we didn´t have to put up our own (it was a mistake but we were happy).

After a nice evening and night in basecamp we had a really good breakfast before it was time to hike out. The hike out is 27 km and I always thought it was quite horrible. Mainly because I have always been in groups where we run down and push too hard. This time when we could walk in an efficient but nice speed I wasn´t even tired in my legs. It wasn´t even hard. What a huge difference these things make. Pacing for your group. We stopped in Confluencia for some pizza and drinks and two hours later we were in a van going back to Mendoza.

We arrived  pretty late in Mendoza so it was straight to the shower & bed but the next day we had booked massages for everyone. We also had the best Italian pizza for lunch and celebration with local wine and asado for dinner. It was a really nice way to end this expedition. The next day everyone went back home or on new adventures.

I had the best time with this team. I miss it already. I miss it already. So happy & proud for them. I can´t wait to do it again next year.

If you want to join – check out my expedition here!

Källa

1. Besseggen Ridge

• Length: ~14 km (6–8 hours).
• Location: Jotunheimen National Park.
• Highlights: Stunning views of emerald-green Lake Gjende on one side and deep-blue Lake Bessvatnet on the other.
• Level: Moderate to challenging.

2. Romsdalseggen Ridge

• Length: ~10 km (6–8 hours).
• Location: Åndalsnes, Møre og Romsdal.
• Highlights: Spectacular views of fjords, valleys, and the jagged Romsdal peaks.
• Level: Challenging.

3. Hardangervidda Plateau (Haukeliseter to Finse)

• Length: ~100 km (5–7 days).
• Location: Hardangervidda National Park.
• Highlights: Europe’s largest mountain plateau, featuring expansive landscapes, reindeer, and tranquil lakes.
• Level: Moderate to challenging

4. Trolltunga (The Troll’s Tongue)

• Length: ~27 km (round trip, 8–12 hours).
• Location: Near Odda, Hordaland.
• Highlights: The famous rock formation jutting out over Lake Ringedalsvatnet, with incredible views.
• Level: Challenging

5. Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock)

• Length: ~8 km (round trip, 4–5 hours).
• Location: Lysefjord, Rogaland.
• Highlights: A flat cliff soaring 604 meters above the fjord, perfect for dramatic photos.
• Level: Moderate.

Källa

I´m in Chile right now, climbing together with my friend Lotta Hintsa for a few days before I´m guiding my All Women Expedition on Aconcagua.

We are doing two mini-expeditions here and we just came back from the first one where we climbed Cerro El Plomo via Iver glacier. Cerro El Plomo is the highest mountain in the Santiago area and you can see it from the city, 5424 m high. The normal route is popular & easy and perfect as introduction to high altitude.

Day 1
We started by renting a driver that took us to Valle Nevado. We did not know that you could go to La Parva and there is a lift that is opened on weekends so we walked 3,5 hours extra with our super heavy backpacks. That was tough! We made it to our camp Piedra Numerada at 3400 m after 7 hours. Since we came straight from sea level we wanted to spend a few nights on this altitude to acclimatise.

Day 2
We made a carry round up to camp Federation at 4100 m to boost our acclimatisation and to carry up some gear so when we moved there our backpacks would be less heavy. It´s 700 m ascent from Piedra Numerada and it took us around 3 hours with easier backpacks. Up in the camp I ate some snacks and chatted with some other people that were up there. Cerro El Plomo is a very popular peak and right now it´s high season. Lotta continued up on a trail, she wanted to do a training session so I went back down to our camp by myself.

Day 3
When we woke up in the morning Lotta told me she was feeling unwell. She probably got something from the flight over here, it´s pretty common. So we decided to take a rest day and just relax in camp. I spent the day brainstorming and taking notes of my ideas. I always get a lot of ideas when I´m on an expedition and off wifi for a few days and have time to think.

Day 4
Time to move up to camp Federation! We packed everything we needed and then left a little stash under some rocks with things we did not need that we were going to pick up after the climb. It was around 45 min slower to go up there with heavy backpacks but it was a beautiful day and when we arrived we pitched our tents in a nice spot, not too far from the water source (pro tip to not have to walk too long to get water). We scouted the start of the route before it got dark and then we went to bed early.

Day 5
The alarm rang at 04:00 and it was as usual very hard to get up from the warm sleeping bag. I had already made my water the night before so I just ate a bar and packed my backpack and before 05:00 we were on our way. The first part is quite steep uphill in scree. You take one step up and slide a half step down. It´s desert climate so it´s pretty cold in the nights and hot during the days. I had La Sportiva Aequilibriums with a foot warmer inside and that was perfect. Still my legs and hands were a little bit cold so I could not wait for the sun to rise. Just as we reached the glacier the first rays of sunshine came on us and it was so nice.

We climbed the glacier solo. First we had to battle penitentes (but I loved it, was so much fun) and then it became more icy with hard ice so you had to do a good route finding to avoid the blank spots of ice. Conditions were overall very good but you still had to be careful and make sure every step was good because a fall would mean big consequences. Lotta is very strong and fast in the mountains so she climbed ahead of me. I catched up with another person halfway up that started from camp at midnight and climbed passed her and continued up alone.

It´s very hard to secure a face climb like this: There is not enough ice for screws and the snow is a little bit too hard for snow pickets. And to just climb roped up makes no sense since if one fall, both will go down. Maybe you could short rope the whole thing. I guess if it´s guided that´s the way you would do it but in our case it made most sense to just solo and climb in our own speed. I felt comfortable but at the same time I had a big focus during the climb.

The face is long, about 600 m high and in the end it was never ending. But I finally made it up to the col where the normal route goes to the summit and Lotta was waiting for me there. It was another 200 meters uphill from there to the summit and the altitude really made you slow up here. We finally made it and enjoyed the views, ate a little snack and talked about JP Mohr (a local climber who died on winter K2 a few years ago) who had a memory plaque on the summit. From camp to summit via the glacier it took us 7:45 hours.

The clouds started to build up from the valley and it was time to go down. We slided down the scree on the normal route and halfway down it started snowing and there was thunder in the distance. It was nice to get back to camp and my 1€ noodles have never tasted better.

Day 6
Time to pack up the camp and head back down to La Parva where our driver Carlos picked us up and drove us back to Santiago. It was so nice to sleep in a hotel bed and take a shower. I ordered some room service and spent the evening eating snacks and watching Netflix. Tomorrow Lottas boyfriend arrives and we will go on another little mini-expedition here in Chile before I take the bus to Mendoza in Argentina.

Källa

New year and here are my goals for 2025! I have divided them into three categories:

Emma Svensson

AMGA Alpine Guide course – I’ve been accepted!
Train hard for the AMGA course – I’ve set aside 6 weeks this spring to train for it.
Start saving for a down payment on a house – my van was paid off at the end of 2024 so now this is the next savings goal for the coming years.
100,000 meters of altitude – I didn’t really manage it in 2024 so I’m taking this up again for 2025!
Create more content – spend more time blogging / making reels / talking business as a small business owner
Have your own adventure – plans are being made
New Sweden tour!

Topo Travel

Hold our first conference – it’s planned and ready
At least 20 trips – we did 12 last year
Expand our guide & coach team – we recruited at the end of 2024 and are almost done with it now, so exciting to have more people in the team!
5000 followers on Instagram – if you don’t follow already, please do
Several new travel destinations – We have already launched Lofoten, Grövelsjön and a running trip in Chamonix!
New website – we have started a little bit with the project to make a new website, hopefully it will be launched at the end of Q1

Mountain Guide Travel

Here I feel that I have worked very hard the last three years so it is really mostly to continue on the same path in the future. Last year I launched All Women trips. I will work on developing that part more in the future. I also invested heavily in social media and creating content and took MGT from 5000 followers to 27k on Instagram in one year. I hope to reach 40k there in 2025!

Källa

Det har blivit dags att skicka ut nästa nyhetsbrev inom kort och den här gången kommer du kunna läsa om mina mål för 2025, en förändring på Topo Travel och mycket annat!

Som vanligt skickar jag bara ett fåtal nyhetsbrev per år så du kommer inte bli spammad.

Källa

Let´s follow up on my goals for 2024!

Development/courses

SVELAV Advanced avalanche rescue course – I did this one and it was so good! I learned a lot but I also remember it being very cold with -35 during the days. That was tough!

International Mountain Leader winter exam – I did this one too and passed and became the first female IML from Sweden together with Simona. Very happy & proud moment!

AMGA Alpine Guide Course – I got in to this course but decided to not do it. I needed a break after all other educations I´ve been doing the last years. Also they were going to change their system on this education so I wanted to do the new course instead.

NOLS Wilderness EMT – Did not do this one either. There was no time and I had no money for it. I do however hope to do it in the future. I would love to take this course!

Guiding & Work

Become the best guide I can be at my level – This is of course a work in progress. I feel that I´ve landed and become more calm and grounded in the role so that´s a good thing!

Guide fun adventures and tours – OH YES! Some of my favorite trips last year was Jotunheimen, Tour du Mont Blanc & Everest Basecamp. I choose what I want to guide myself and of course I go for things I feel are inspiring and fun!

Do fun social media & sponsor collabs – I did do some fun ones but this was also the year when I took a step in another direction. My collab with The North Face ended after 5 years and I just felt that I did not want to have sponsors for a while. I want to be free. That does not mean I won´t do collabs but I want to be free in my role as a guide and be able to work with everyone and try everything so I truly can recommend the best things.

Keep developing Mountain Guide Travel & Topo Travel – I spent a lot of energy & effort this year to do this and I feel like I´ve only started. Exciting things happening right now with Topo Travel.

10 000 Followers on Instagram & TikTok for Mountain Guide Travel – Last year I got resources to do more social media for MGT and we had like 5000 followers when I started with this a year ago. Now we have 27 000 followers on Instagram so I succeeded with this goal! We keep growing each day but not as fast as we did for a while. TikTok on the other hand have not been quite the success, only 1200 followers. I guess it´s because we are not so active on there. Even if we get 500-1000 views on each thing we post we don´t really interact and maybe the app think we are a bot? I have to work on that for next year!

Launch All Women trips for Mountain Guide Travel – YES I did! So proud over this. We did a ski touring trip to Lofoten with Kajsa Larsson. We had our first All Women Mountaineering Skills camp in Chamonix and tomorrow I go to South America to guide the first All Women Aconcagua expedition.

Start a podcast – I had meetings. Me & a partner made plans but I just did not have time for this. It´s still something I´m thinking about, how I can possibly fit this into my schedule & life in a good way…

Training

Do 100 000 vertical meters – I only did 70 000 that I logged. 52 000 with my GPS watch and the rest on my treadmill.

Climb 5+ with confidence – I did do a few 5+ climbs during the year and some of them was with confidence. Others not so much. This will be work in progress for next year.

10 Days of ice climbing – Did not happen. Maybe two? I will try again this year!

Be in better shape than 2023 – Yes I have to say that was the case. Even if it can always be better.

Not be injured – Managed to pull this one off except minor stuff

Personal

Roadtrip workcation trip with my husband – Yes we went to Italy for the spring and it was very nice.

Bike adventure with my friend Emma & my sister Sofia – Did not happen. New try this year?

Expedition with Lotta – We didn´t go to Nepal as planned. Or we went at different times but I will meet her in Chile in two days so it will happen soon!

Haute Route – Yes I did my first Haute Route, Silvretta and it was amazing!

Spa at least once with my husband – We went to Yasuragi in February so check

Summer vacation with my husband – We went to Bohuslän for 10 days

One new solo hike – I can´t remember this happened :/

Källa

1. Höga Kusten Trail (The High Coast, Ångermanland)

• Length: ~129 km (7–9 days).
• Highlights: Coastal views, high cliffs, and the dramatic Slåttdalsskrevan gorge.
• Level: Moderate.

2. Padjelanta Trail (Lapland)

• Length: ~140 km (7–10 days).
• Highlights: Europe’s largest national park, mountain lakes, and Sami culture.
• Level: Moderate.

3. Sörmlandsleden (Södermanland)

• Length: ~1000 km (divided into stages).
• Highlights: Forests, lakes, and cultural landmarks like Tyresta National Park.
• Level: Easy to moderate (suitable for beginners and experienced hikers).

4. Kungsleden (Lapland)

• Length: ~440 km (the entire trail, but popular sections include Abisko–Nikkaluokta or Abisko–Vakkotavare).
• Highlights: Majestic mountains, Kebnekaise, and Abisko National Park.
• Level: Moderate to advanced.

5. Bohusleden (Bohuslän)

• Length: ~370 km (27 stages).
• Highlights: Rocky cliffs, archipelago views, and serene forests.
• Level: Moderate.

Källa

Since the death of FATMAP (RIP) I´ve been trying out different apps for navigation in my job as a guide. One I´ve tried the most is Outdoor Active because I was told as an International Mountain Leader we would get a pro deal for free with this app. I´ve used it for a few months and I´ve paid 60€ for a year with PRO+ and now we just got the deal from Outdoor Active:

Your 5 major contributions as a professional guide:

• Maintenance of your business account including complete company data, logo, picture etc.
• 5 published tours per calendar year with pictures, texts, and GPS data.
• Active use of the Outdooractive website and app in daily business and proactive communication of Outdooractive in contact with guests during guiding or training in an authentical manner.
• Placement of the Outdooractive logo in the partner area of your website, social media profile or print media.
• Proactive reporting of bugs and returning Outdooractive´s short online feedback survey.

This is crazy!

What they ask for is worth a lot more then 60€ per year and I´m very upset that a company do this. Instead of giving it for free to professional guides they put so many demands on the deal and take advantage of us in a way that is not cool. I see a lot of companies doing this and they don´t seem to understand that it has the opposite effect. Instead of gladly recommend the app to clients I´m upset with these demands from the company to the grade I don´t even want to support them.

The person responsible for this deal at Outdoor Active should really rethink this deal because it will scare away all guides. The people that you want using your app, recommending it. My inbox on Instagram was flooded when I posted about this. I´m not the only one thinking this is totally unreasonable.

I used to have FATMAP premium for free. There was no demands from their side and I ALWAYS recommended their app to everyone. That´s how you do it right.

Källa

I´ve been going around Sweden this fall talking about how to start climbing mountains and how to build experience step by step to become independent. Climbing mountains is much more complicated then going to the climbing gym or the crag. It requires a lot of skills & knowledge:

Tour planning
Navigation
Route Finding
Weather & Mountain conditions
Mountain Safety
Avalanches
Communications
Glacier travel
Glacier rescue
Crampon techniques
Ice axe techniques
Ice climbing
Belaying
Trad climbing
Building anchors
Rappelling
Rescue techniques on rock
Short roping
Pitched climbing
Rock quality assessment
Camping in tough conditions
Gear – how everything works
Strategies for climbing mountains
Training for the mountains

And to build all this experience and really be able to put everything together, if I started new from the beginning I would do this, if I was a regular person with no experience & in this order. Goal is to become independent but at the same time learn all the skills and get all the experience along the way so I know what I´m doing and I´m ready for the next step. Not rush. It takes time to build experience and alpine terrain is complex and with huge consequences.

I have also included what I did the first three years and as you can see I put in a lot of time to build my experience and climbed many mountains every year and did many guided trips & courses to learn how to become independent. Of course it goes faster the more you climb but I never skipped any steps when it comes to building my experience. I did it from the bottom and up. And I´m still building that experience. I still climb with guides every year to learn more and develop as a climber because alpine terrain is complex and you never get fully learned. Is a journey and I love this journey!

Year 1

Take a expedition course and climb Kebnekaise – Here you learn about tour planning & navigation and build experience in the mountains & get a training program
Go on a multi day hike with camping with a partner where we plan everything ourselves.
Climb a super easy mountain or two
Take a basic climbing course to learn how to climb outside / belay / build anchors
Climb a lot on top rope with my partner outside & at the gym
Do a lot of endurance & strength training

What I actually did my first year:

Guided expedition to Mt Whitney via Mountaineers route
Guided expedition Mt Toubkal
Guided alpine course in New Zealand
Guided expedition to Elbrus
Guided expedition Mont Blanc
Two Guided climbs in The Alps grade AD (way too hard for me then)
Guided expedition Aconcagua
Climbed 30 mountains by myself grade super easy & very easy & easy
Basic climbing course in Stockholm

Year 2

Intro to mountaineering & Gran Paradiso with a guide – climb my first 4000 m peak, learn basic crampon and ice axe techniques, learn about glacier travel
Climb one or two very easy mountains with a partner – build your own experience in a terrain where consequenses are not too high
Go on a winter camping multi day trip – to build knowledge for future expeditions, about weather & conditions and how to take care of myself in tough conditions
Take a lead climbing course outdoors
Climb a lot of lead climbing sport outside with my partner & at the gym
Do a lot of endurance & strength training

What I actually did my second year:

Alpine lead course in The Alps with a guide
Climbed 40 mountains by myself or with a partner grade easy & alpine F & PD
Climbed four 5000 m peaks in Peru with a partner grade PD/AD
Climbed ten climbs in The Alps grade AD with a partner
Guided expedition to Ama Dablam
Solo expedition Aconcagua
Lead climbing course in Stockholm
Ice climbing course
Learned multipitch climbing

Year 3

Climb Weissmies with a guide – second 4000 m peak but more difficult & a good learning experience
Take a basic glacier course – take the first steps to become more independent on glaciers in very easy terrain
Climb one or two easy mountains with a partner – build your own experience in a terrain where consequenses are not too high
Take a basic avalanche course – learn about avalanches
Take a basic ice climbing course
Do a high altitude expedition – Aconcagua or Island Peak & Lobuche East together with a guide
Climb a lot of lead climbing sport outside with my partner & at the gym
Practice glacier rescue with my partner
Do a lot of endurance & strength training

What I actually did my third year:

Alpine lead course in The Alps with a guide
Climbed 20 mountains with a partner in The Alps grade F-D
Did 15 expeditions & climbs in Central & South America by myself / with guides
Led climbs on three 6000 m peaks
Climbed all 2000 m peaks in Sweden with a partner
Did a rescue course
Climbed a lot of multipitches

Year 4

4000 m peak week in The Alps with a guide – getting more experience in more challenging terrain together with a guide & learning more skills
Take the alpine climbing course in The Alps – to learn more about glacier travel & climbing in alpine terrain independent
Climb two or three alpine climbs grade F together with my partner – build tour own experience in a terrain where consequenses are not too high
Take a trad climbing course – learn how to place my own gear on rock
Climb a lot of lead & trad climbing outside with my partner & at the gym
Practice glacier rescue with my partner
Do a lot of endurance & strength training

Year 5

Climb some more advanced routes in The Alps with a guide – to get experience in more difficult terrain
Take the advanced alpine climbing course in The Alps – the perfect playground for learning
Climb two or three alpine climbs grade F together with my partner – build your own experience in a terrain where consequenses are not too high
Climb one or two climbs grade PD with my partner – build on your own experience in a more complex terrain with a more difficult route
Take a rescue course – learn rescue techniques for the mountains
Take a multipitch climbing course – learn how to climb longer routes
Climb a lot of lead & trad climbing outside with my partner & at the gym
Climb a few multipitches with my partner
Practice glacier rescue with my partner
Do a lot of endurance & strength training

Year 6

Climb some more advanced routes in The Alps with a guide – to get experience in more difficult terrain & learn from a guide to become more secure in the mountains
Climb one or two alpine climbs grade F together with my partner – warm up for the season on easier terrain
Climb four climbs grade PD with my partner – build on your own experience in a more complex terrain with a more difficult route
Climb one or two climbs grade AD with my partner – you should be ready to challenge yourself a little bit more now
Go on a big expedition like Denali or Ama Dablam with a guide
Climb a lot of lead & trad climbing outside with my partner & at the gym
Climb a few multipitches with my partner
Practice glacier rescue with my partner
Do a lot of endurance & strength training

Källa

For the second week of running the motivation for a new project was gone. I had to be really disciplined so get out there and do the runs. But I did and what I noticed was that it was easier for me to stay in a lower heart rate zone. During the first week it was all over because I was not used to running.

I started the week with the same run as I ended the first week with: 5 km to Arginonta (I was still on Kalymnos) and it was a huge difference! I felt stronger, like I had more of a ”step” with power in it. It felt 30% easier than the first time and I was 3 minutes faster.

The rest of the week was tough and I only ran shorter runs because I was working on our climbing camp the whole week so I did not have much time or energy for running. Still I made three runs and the last one was the longest and it had a really steep and long hill that was never ending…

1. 5 km run to Arginonta
   Total distance: 5,23 km
   Total elevation gain: 62 m
   Pace: 07:19
   Time: 38 minutes
2. Total distance: 4 km
   Total elevation gain: 53 m
   Pace: 07:54
   Time: 32 minutes
3. Total distance: 6 km
   Total elevation gain: 106 m
   Pace: 08:13
   Time: 49 minutes

Totals for week 2:
Distance: 15,23 km
Total elevation gain: 221
Time: 1 hour 59 min

Källa