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Outdoor Tips, Tricks, Inspiration and Activities | MEC Blog

At 70°42’25.67″N and 71°29’46.83″W, Baffin Bay is a frozen ocean of crisp white and blue. This land of rock, ice and water was carved and cleaved over two billion years from the Canadian Shield. Our team of three – Marc-Andre Leclerc, Brette Harrington and I – travelled across that same frozen expanse by snow machine toward the eastern fjords of Baffin Island to climb Great Sail Peak.

Several years in the making, our expedition finally unfolded between June 17 and August 5, 2016. The sense of adventure was palpable; with no trip reports or guidebook to direct us, we stepped into the unknown.



The hamlet of Clyde River, Nunavut, is well above the Arctic Circle, so on the summer solstice we were sent off with an endless sunset. Our guide, Levi Palituq – a local outfitter and hunter – and his team navigated us towards the Walker Arm fjord. Though conditions were deteriorating on the ice as summer and the breakup approached, our sleds managed to dodge massive cracks in the splintering ice sheet. For two days we circumvented the open water, sometimes skipping across ice chunks to help bridge the icy waters when the cracks travelled out to sea. As we approached the Sam Ford fjord, the sheer size gave the impression of entering a massive canal with 1400-metre walls. A feeling of insignificance washed over the team as the fjord swallowed us like a great whale.

When we arrived at the southern edge of the Stewart Valley, silence and a low hum settled around us like a blanket. The rising talus, endless ridge lines of granite walls, hanging glaciers and sweeping canyons made the valley seem mythical in scale.



We moved gear toward the windswept beach on the southern edge of Stewart Lake, and spent five days cautiously moving across it, finally arriving at our advanced base camp with a mountain of gear and five weeks of food. We set up our tents in a meadow of moss campion and gazed up at the crown-capped summit of Great Sail Peak. These walls had seen just two ascents until the summer of 2016, and although world-renowned athletes had climbed the face, none had come to free climb.

The logistics of free climbing in the Arctic can be extensive, but after five trips to the eastern fjords, I mapped out a strategy of travelling on the ice in late June and then waiting for the melt, which would give us the best chance of catching summer temperatures. We intentionally trapped ourselves – once the breakup started, there would be no possibility of extraction without a helicopter or icebreaker from Halifax. Our team knew the consequences and recognized the importance of being self-sufficient. We had 30 days to attempt to climb Great Sail Peak.

We hauled bags of gear and food to the wall, established an approach route to the main ledge system 300 metres up, and committed. We free climbed, jugged and hauled our way up the lower wall, free climbing seven pitches of intricate and steep climbing up to 5.12. As we were team-freeing the route, not every member needed to lead each pitch.



We arrived on the ledge that breaks the lower face from the upper two-thirds of climbing. To our surprise, there was a team of climbers already camped there. We knew a pair of Belgians and three Italians were attempting the same wall that summer, but we hadn’t yet met and we couldn’t see them from our camp, so we’d assumed they were farther up the valley. Their team of five had eyed up the same line as us and scooped us in Baffin Island!

So we gathered our thoughts and decided to move down the wall to redirect our energies to a slender turret at the north edge of the wall, away from the main attraction and the belly of the giant.

> Climbing in Baffin Island can feel like travelling to the edge of the earth and falling off – a place where time is hijacked by light and shadow.
>
We mixed free climbing and aid climbing as we moved up, hauling our gear, cleaning the rock and rehearsing difficult moves as we attempted to establish a big wall free climb. In 150 metres, we covered granite, intrusions of diorite, feldspar and mica and even a wall of Precambrian igneous, the ancient core of North America.



The difficult pitches required multiple attempts. A series of discontinuous cracks led to a blank 30-metre traverse. The team free climbed pitches of 5.12 and 5.13 below the traverse, with Marc freeing a bold 12+ crack and a bouldery 5.13 section. We set a portaledge camp below the traverse and morale was high. Then, the storm hit.

A raging south wind blew in off Baffin Bay and mixed with a northern high pressure. With cold air aloft and the rising topography in the fjord, we got slammed. The forecasts had been consistently inconsistent and we were trapped. We hunkered down, tapping into our self-preservation and survival modes. We waited, sure it would pass, but soon any lingering morale morphed into festering. On first few days of the storm, the winds blew any remaining optimism out to sea – then snow and rain arrived and continued for five days. Wall life was desperate; our portaledges acted as sails and my lighter single ledge was buffeted so hard it swiveled 180 degrees numerous times. Snow accumulated below and above, turning the turret into a popsicle. Out of options, we had to make a move: up, or down.



Clad in GORE-TEX and puffy jackets, Brette started us off. She launched across a dramatic traverse above our ledge camp, establishing the team in a faint and shallow corner system. We continued upwards by freeing more difficult corner pitches and leading in blocks, with the leader and second free climbing while the third jugged with a pack. But the free climbing was short lived, as the steepness of the wall gave way to incipient seams and the sky started to transform into drifting layers of fog and rain.

We resorted to mixing aid and free climbing, pushing up tight corners and face seams connected by wet cracks. Brette led an ugly and wet overhanging off-width and handed the sharp end to me. The summit of the turret was guarded by a series of chimneys drenched in snow and a fresh layer of verglas – definitely the team’s psychological crux of the route. We’d been climbing in the rain for hours and were cold, wet and faced with a couple hundred metres of frosted and iced-up chimneys. Morale was low.

This didn’t feel like rock climbing, but more like mixed climbing with rock shoes. I stemmed and pressed up the cracks, and avoided the low-angle ledges covered in ice by climbing the cracks on the side walls. The pitches came together but only because we knew we wouldn’t get a second chance.



The summit of the turret jutted up in three sharp nipples and we extracted ourselves from the chimneys onto a shoulder with easy access to the glacier on the back side. The true summit loomed in the rain clouds above, another couple pitches of wet but moderate climbing. We left it for another day later in the trip. We dropped our gear and peered over the edge, swallowing our stomachs in the process, and reflected on the sheer size and emptiness that loomed below us.

The clouds parted to show the remnants of the storm, snowdrifts overflowing from the glacier, and fresh white on all the peaks. We celebrated with some forgotten food at the bottom of my pack, hugged and watched the sun rise over the black, glistening walls and snowy glaciers to the north.

*Joshua Lavigne’s Baffin Island Great Sail Peak climb was made possible by*[*MEC Expedition Support*](/en/explore/outdoor-impact)*.*

*In early 2018, Marc-Andre Leclerc and his climbing partner were reported missing in the Medenhall Towers of Alaska. Tragically, the climbing community has lost these two respected and experienced alpinists; they will be remembered and greatly missed.*



Ambassador Joshua Lavigne on the Arctic’s greatest big wall.

Baffin Island: Great Sail Peak Expedition | MEC Blog

Baffin Island: Great Sail Peak

Not so long ago, Anna Pearson woke up at 2:45am, walked 8km up to Cascade Lookout in Manning Park, BC, and watched the sun slowly creep up from behind the mountains, turning the sky shades of gold, rose and powder blue. There’s no doubt that morning’s sunrise meant something special to all 50 strangers who witnessed it as a part of MEC Outdoor Nation and [Chasing Sunrise](/en/article/chasing-sunrise-36-hours-in-the-unknown)’s [Chasecamp](/en/article/chasing-sunrise-36-hours-in-the-unknown) weekend, but for Anna, it meant something different.

As she later recapped on her personal blog, [*Daily Insanity*](https://www.dailyinsanitycollective.com/blog-1), “… taking on new adventures, meeting new people and exploring the world … was my way of showing the monsters that lived inside my head that I was in control of my life and that they would never be able to stop me from pursuing my happiness.”

The Ottawa-based McGill University grad has spent the past five years coming to terms with her clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder, following what Anna describes as a breakdown and emergency situation over a summer during university. Now, with a healthy routine in place, she bravely chronicles her thoughts on relapse, remission and therapy on the blog, and touches often on a core part of her daily practice: exercise and outdoor activity. “I’ve been doing ballet since I was 4 years old, but I kind of stopped when I went to school,” she says. “Now, being active is hugely important to my daily routine – hiking absolutely has its advantages. My friends say they’ve never seen me so happy.”



It’s a lesson those involved in Canadian charity [Jack.org](https://www.jack.org/) know well. Alexis Lahorra and Jacob Halloran are young leaders with the organization, and help start conversations to end the silence around mental health issues. “I wish people knew that we all have mental health,” says Alexis. “Although 1 in 5 young people will live with a mental illness in their lifetime, 5 in 5 of us have mental health and we all need to care for it.” It’s a sentiment that Jacob echoes. “Just like our physical health, our mental health can fluctuate from well to unwell,” he says. “I’d love for everyone to know that it’s okay to fluctuate across this spectrum.”

Truly, the two go hand in hand. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the [Canadian Mental Health Association](http://ontario.cmha.ca/mental-health/connection-between-mental-and-physical-health/) describe mental and physical health as “fundamentally linked,” further noting that key aspects of prevention of poor mental health include “increasing physical activity, access to nutritious foods … and fostering social inclusion and social support.” A recent [Stanford University](http://news.stanford.edu/2015/06/30/hiking-mental-health-063015/) study also found quantifiable evidence that “walking in nature could lead to a lower risk of depression.”

For Alexis, who has faced depression and anxiety as a result of cyberbullying, being outdoors not only decreases her stress levels, but ups her overall happiness. “There is something so soothing and relaxing about being around trees, mountains and fresh air,” says the Montreal resident. “I like to bring a journal with me. I use that time to disconnect, reflect and enjoy the moment.”

Jacob is adamant that people should not have to suffer in silence because of the stigma that surrounds mental health and mental illness, and sees himself as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. “Love is love, and health is health,” he states. As a marathon runner based in Halifax, he sees activity as his go-to for mental health self-care. “I love distance running because it offers me a chance to lose myself in the moment and let go of daily stresses. Spending time outside helps me keep my life in perspective.”



Youth from Jack.org’s national network recently met with their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Victoria, BC, while the couple was on their second Canadian tour; an event that will surely help quell lingering public stigma about mental health.

Continuing the discussion is something that is vitally important to Alexis, Jacob and Anna. “I always knew I wanted to share [my story],” says Anna, who first divulged her personal experience in a McGill student publication before starting her blog. “Total strangers wrote to me, sharing similar stories,” she says. It’s something that happens more frequently now as a result of *Daily Insanity*. “It’s not always about giving advice,” she says of being there for strangers. “I just try and listen and be there as a support. I let them drive the conversation.”

One piece of advice Anna is quick to give, however, is not to introduce activity at a vulnerable time. She admits to initially taking up running as a coping mechanism for her depression and anxiety, eventually developing an eating disorder and an injury. She suggests recreational group activities as a first step because they come with built-in community and support. “When you recover from a downward spiral,” says Anna, “you realize all the little things you take for granted, and the outdoors has a way of really highlighting that.”



Having recently reconnected with a friend from high school who had reached out and said she’d faced similar struggles, the two are back from a hiking and camping trip through Lake Louise, Banff and Field. At home, she donates her time as a karma yogi at her local studio and gets outside often at Gatineau Park, which she calls a hidden gem. The active moments afford her the clarity she needs to see her mental health clearly. “It makes me think about what matters,” she says. “What I really want.”

*MEC was proud to provide youth mental health organization* [***Jack.org***](http://jack.org) – and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – with [***MEC Alpine Ally***](/en/product/5042-392/Alpine-Ally-Jacket) and [***Hydrofoil***](/en/product/5053-812/Hydrofoil-Stretch-Jacket)* jackets for an official Royal Tour event in Victoria Harbour, BC.

*Top photo credit: [Ivan Calderon](http://www.ivancalderonphotography.com/).*

Forget the 6-pack – being active has serious benefits for your mental health. Anna Pearson and Jack.org's Alexis Lahorra and Jacob Halloran share their personal stories.

Why being active outdoors matters more than ever | MEC Blog

Why being active outdoors matters more than ever

When you surround yourself with outdoorsy types, your notions of what’s normal become skewed. In the MEC community, it seems like there’s always someone sending a crazy peak, crushing a half marathon or organizing a lunchtime party in the park – you’re pretty much guaranteed to meet people who are into the same good times outside as you are. So, while I might have found the idea of a one-night midweek camp-out crazy just a year ago, now I get giddy at the thought. 



Our crew of five left from the office to summit [Mount Seymour](http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/mt_seymour/) on a foggy Wednesday evening in early August. We grabbed our [overnight packs](/en/products/packs-and-bags/backpacking-packs/overnight-packs-35-55l/c/1340) followed the twisting trail up from the main parking lot, and Missy frequently pulled out a GoPro to film the first of many memorable moments as we navigated into the backcountry, the sun peeking through hazy clouds at the top.   



Tents pitched and sleeping bags unrolled, we found a small circling of rocks and set down for a potluck dinner. Local brews, cider and wine washed down our tapas-style hummus and fixings, plus kale and quinoa salads and a bar of [chocolate](/en/products/camping-and-hiking/camping-kitchen-and-hydration/food-and-drink/snacks/chocolate-bars) to share. Elyse, Senja and Rebecca brought out [glowy lanterns](/en/products/camping-and-hiking/headlamps-and-lighting/lanterns/electric-and-led-lanterns) that lit up our little spot, and we were up till nearly midnight laughing. 

The morning sun softly lit up the sky from under low clouds as we packed up and headed to Mystery Lake. After a refreshing morning dip, we dug into rosemary rocksalt bagels and toyed with the idea of breaking out the [Aeropress](/en/product/6009-760/go-travel-coffee-press?colour=Black%2FRed), but there was no need – we were all wide awake from the swim. 



For 15 sweet hours we’d seemingly had the mountain to ourselves, laughing over dinner, listening to the wind sweep through the trees and snacking on sun-warmed blueberries. I’ve lived in Vancouver for nearly a decade and always saw the outdoorsy stuff as a weekend endeavor – but even if it takes an hour or two to get somewhere, random nights with friends out in nature under the stars are worth the distance, no matter where you are or what day of the week it is. 

#### What was worth the weight 

**1. A camera** 
Missy was our resident videographer, filming a bunch of mini-clips that resulted in a sweet souvenir video of our overnight. While her particularly teeny camera didn’t weigh much, it definitely made me look into a new mirrorless camera for the next one.



Wednesday Warriors: 15 hours in the Wild



**2. Cheers-worthy drinks** 
My pack definitely would’ve been far lighter without the few cans I’d stuffed in at the parking lot, but raising some adventure mugs over dinner made it worth it.

**3. Good food** 
Or at the very least, some hot sauce or [spices](/en/product/4014-607/Multi-Spice-Pack) to give your dehydrated stuff some zip. Tip: make sure it all fits in your [bear bin](/en/products/camping-and-hiking/health-and-safety/bear-safety/bear-canisters) before you leave including toothpaste, gum and anything else with a scent.

**4. Mood lighting** 
From dinnertime to our tent hang later, the [lanterns](/en/products/camping-and-hiking/headlamps-and-lighting/lanterns) beat our headlamps for keeping everything dreamily lit. Next time I’d grab one that turns your water bottle into a lantern. 

**5. A cushy sleeping pad and pillow** 
For me this is an absolute must-have. Before I got my light [camp pillow](/en/product/5046-842/VectAir-Pillow), I’d bring a heavy airplane memory foam one, and that was still worth it to not have a sore neck. An [insulated sleeping pad](/en/product/6008-339/vectair-insulated-sleeping-pad) means extra warmth when the sun goes down.

**6. Breakfast and coffee** 
Okay, we didn’t have coffee (the lake woke us up), but if you’re a [coffee addict](/en/article/a-coffee-addicts-guide-to-camp-coffee), it’s pretty essential. Plus the post-swim bagels totally hit the spot. If you’re into big camp breakfasts, don’t forget your [cookware](/en/products/camping-and-hiking/camping-kitchen-and-hydration/outdoor-cookware).

**7. Swimsuits and camp towels** 
That morning dip was definitely one of the highlights of our little adventure. If you’re near a lake on a summer hike, you’ll want your [suit](/en/products/clothing/swimwear) and [towel](/en/products/camping-and-hiking/health-and-safety/bath-and-sanitation-products/towels) handy. 

#### What wasn’t worth it (this time) 

We packed a few extras with every intention of having the most awesome camp-out ever, but when you’re only doing a quick overnight, sometimes there just aren’t enough hours to see all your plans through. We didn’t end up setting up our hammock, I didn’t read the book I brought along, and we didn’t break out the playing cards.

Lesson learned: don’t underestimate the power of good conversation and good company outside. 



There's always room for bagels. Find out what made the cut – and what we could’ve left behind – on our midweek camp-out adventure.

Wednesday night camp-out: 7 items worth the weight

We go outside, initially, because our parents make us.

We protest of course, longing to stay inside and watch TV or build furniture forts, but they point unflinchingly towards the door. And reluctantly, we trudge out.

But soon we discover puddles to jump in, bugs to catch, and trees to climb. Then we are off, pasting maple keys to our noses, blowing dandelion fluff on the winds, holding buttercups to our chins and tasting clover. Notably, we need no instructions or encouragement to engage with the world beyond our walls. If one ever needs proof that we are all, at the core, creatures of the wild, just watch how instinctively children explore a forest or wander a shoreline.



As the years pass, a slow yet undetected metamorphosis occurs, until one day we wake up, and realize we are heading for the door voluntarily, instinctively, even longingly. A fondness for nature is both innate and universal, posits E. O. Wilson. One might even call it an addiction – of the healthiest variety, I’d argue, for both mind and body.

Gradually, as cement walls and daily obligations rise around us, we begin organizing our schedules to include a bike ride in the park, a walk through the forest, or paddle on the lake. We dream of the weekends when we set off, along with a posse of like-minded friends, towards mountains or beach, national parks, secret spots and roadside camps. Leaving our beds and residences behind, we return to another home; to sand between the toes, sun on the shoulders, wind in our hair, and at night, the solid earth beneath us.

We go outside to rinse ourselves of worldly stress, and to taste again that simple life. In our escape, we leave behind Facebook and Twitter for a brief time, choosing instead face-to-face time beside the campfire, and the tweet of the kingfisher along the riverbank.



We go outside to recharge. To sweat. To ingest a healthy dose of dirt. And learn lessons that cannot be taught in any book or website. We go to test ourselves, and our instincts. To enjoy our friends in a different light. To set our imaginations alight. We go to taste freedom.



Amid those cathedral groves, blue waters and high peaks, we glimpse the insignificance – and the ephemeral beauty – of our own precious life. In the process, we unearth a kinder, gentler incarnation of ourselves. It seems an inescapable truth that we are always a better person for having been outdoors.

In an increasingly neurotic, stressed, socially isolated, sedentary and suburbanized world, we go outside to make sense of what’s going on inside. To lose ourselves, and to find ourselves. We go outside for reasons that transcend words.

With time, we begin dragging our own kids outside too. Or our friends’ kids. Or nephews and nieces. To sniff fresh-cut grass, cherry blossoms and budding poplar. To carve sticks, ride bikes and skin knees. To feel the soft belly of a gasping trout, and marvel at a fluttering hummingbird. To light a fire with birch bark. Roast marshmallows. And watch the Milky Way drift across the heavens.



Call us a crew if you like – the outdoorsy ones, the dirtbags and granola munchers, treehuggers, nature lovers, and fitness freaks – but we go outside simply because we love it.

If you’re not already out there, playing around too… well, we’re sure hoping you’ll join us. There is always room for another beside the campfire.



## Related articles
- [Day hiking for beginners](/en/explore/day-hiking-for-beginners)
- [Backpacking basics: How to plan an overnight hiking trip](/en/explore/planning-for-overnight-hikes)
- [How hiking has changed my life](/en/article/how-hiking-has-changed-my-life)



For the outdoorsy ones, the dirtbags, the nature lovers and fitness freaks. MEC Ambassador Bruce Kirkby explores what drives us to get out there.

Why we go outdoors

The task was simple: move from Ottawa to Vancouver in five days. With those instructions, it would have been easy to think of it as nothing more than A to B, and a 5500 km straight shot across the continent. And why not? A new job, a new city, and a new life were waiting out west. It could have been little more than one long ride.

Five days of the driver seat and the fast lane. An endless number of billboards, truck stops, and little white lines, blurred together by the vision of a single destination. But it also could have been a lifetime worth of opportunity, slipping through our fingers with each kilometer traveled. A world of adventure, passing by as fast as the road we traveled over.

See, if there’s one thing I’ve come to believe, it’s that the greatest experiences are not exclusive to the grandest plans. The moments we so deeply long to live are in no way reserved for only the most exotic trips. They are held for those who search for them, who step out of the everyday routine, and who take them. It was this simple belief that made those five days so much more than a long drive. It transformed them into an opportunity to explore, adventure, and connect with a world we then knew nothing about. It turned a car ride into a road trip, and turned the kilometers into opportunities to seek the unknown. The journey became a destination in and of itself.

Because of that simple shift, I don’t have to tell you what I think it could have been. I can show you.

It was taking moments to get back to the things that matter most:



and chance after chance to embrace the unknown.



It was taking time to make new friends:



and learning lessons in history, without stepping into a classroom.



It was places that looked like different planets,



and waking up on the side of a mountain.



knowing full well it would likely lead us astray.



It was landscapes that left us looking at this world differently



and moments we still can’t find the words to describe.



It was a reminder that some of the best things are not on the well-travelled path



and that sometimes you have to go where there is no path at all.



And coffee just about anywhere we could get our hands on it.



It was a reminder that the “little moments” really aren’t so little.



And that we should spend just a little more time kicking back and taking it in.



It was Ottawa, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, Minnesota, Badlands, Rushmore, Black Hills, Big Horn, Yellowstone, Butte, Columbia, Seattle, home and everything in between.



We saw things we didn’t know existed and learned things we didn’t know were there to learn. Felt emotions we didn’t know we could feel and created memories that will change the way we live our lives.

It was anything but A to B.



*This post was submitted by Julian DeSchutter from [Chasing Sunrise](https://www.instagram.com/ChasingSunrise/). You can keep up with Julian on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/deshoots/).*



Vancouver to Ottawa: Finding adventure at every turn | MEC Blog

Vancouver to Ottawa: Finding adventure at every turn

For the past six years, Canada’s current fastest marathoner* and New Balance athlete Reid Coolsaet has spent 4–10 weeks training in the small Kenyan village of Iten. This year, his sights are set clearly on Rio.

Iten, Kenya, is the “Home of Champions.” Runners from all over the world come to train at this rural town 2400m above sea level, and this is where Reid Coolsaet comes to test his limits. He runs with locals who’ve finished a marathon in 2:06 and a half marathon in under 60 minutes, and he regularly runs a half marathon’s worth of kilometers in one day, ranging from 155 to 170km in one week. *Whoa*.

When you have just a few months to go before you race alongside the world’s best athletes in Rio, there’s a necessary predictability built into your daily itinerary: fuel, train, recover.

To give us an idea of what life is like leading up to such a big event, Reid shares an in-depth look at what goes into two days of his training stint in Iten.

## Hours 0–24
##### Fuel
My goal here is to leave fitter than when I arrived – it sounds simple, but because I’ve been doing this for so many years I can tell a lot by listening to my body, and it starts with fueling.

The High Altitude Training Centre (HATC) where I stay caters to Western athletes, and today’s breakfast includes eggs, porridge, bread and pancakes, plus tea and juice. Later I dip into Club Iten, a restaurant where the wifi is good and the mango juice is fresh.

I have lunch at my friend Thomas’s house. He lives with his wife Doris and daughter Grace in a one-room apartment adorned with race medals and posters; Doris has an upcoming marathon in Tanzania. There’s no running water, just a well outside and outhouses. Their small television plays dubbed over Spanish soap operas (very popular amongst Kenyans) as we sip a sweet milky tea with heaps of sugar. We also eat pawpaw fruit, which tastes like cantaloupe, as well as potatoes and beans. It seems crazy to me how simple their life is, and although many people don’t have much here they don’t seem poor in the sense North Americans are used to – they don’t stress about things they don’t have and aren’t in debt for a lifestyle they’re trying to capture but can’t afford.

For dinner at HATC, they serve Kenyan specialties. *Ugali* is close to polenta and made from cornmeal and there’s the nutrient dense and kale-like *sukuma wiki*. Kenyan runners swear by *ugali*as a big source of energy and even cook it in hotel rooms abroad before races.

##### Train
Today I’m running at my own pace. I pass children bundled up as though it’s the dead of winter. At 10–12°C in the early morning, the locals find it very cold. There are athletes of all different speeds out running, and almost all have tights and a jacket. I’m one of the few wearing shorts (very Canadian). I run 18km in an hour and 20 minutes, which is quite routine for me. My legs are fairly tired from the last few weeks of intense training, but a little soreness and fatigue is just part of the game. Later I do another 10km in 45 minutes with fellow Canadian John Mason.

I spend some time at the gym at HATC and go through my core routine, which I do 2–3 times per week. It consists of functional movements on my feet, work with a medicine ball, planks and injury prevention exercises.

##### Recover
I’ve been running up to 170km per week lately, which isn’t really high for me, but it’s enough that I feel like taking a nap. I feel very comfortable in Kenya, it’s like a second home to me. The weather, the trails, the people and the atmosphere are great.



## Hours 24–48
##### Fuel
Breakfast is functional tea and oatmeal. I dive into my stash of protein bars mid-morning and round things out with lunch of vegetable soup, fresh bread rolls, rice, lentils and salad.

*Ugali*, *sukuma wiki* and salad are on the dinner menu tonight, as well as beef stew and roasted potatoes with watermelon for dessert. It was a solid day, so I decide to treat myself to a mango and beetroot juice, too.

##### Train
Over 200 athletes use the track at Kamariny Stadium between 7 and 11am. Today’s work out begins at 9:10am and it’s hard. I prep by going through my stretching routine, listening to music and applying some much-needed sunscreen.

I lace up my [New Balance](/en/products/c/300/brands/new-balance) 1400v1 racing flats and finish off my 5km warm-up around the track. I brought a slightly used pair of runners so I could give them away to a local athlete at the end of my training camp. I came here with 16 pairs and will leave with just three.



There are typically 40–50 athletes in the group I train with. About 10 guys who all have experience racing abroad are doing 15 x 1000m and are targeting 2:50–2:55 for each interval, with just over two minutes rest between them. I join in, averaging 2:55 for the first six intervals while hanging on to the back of the group.

Martin Matathi (2007 World Championship 10,000m Bronze Medalist) picks up the pace on the seventh interval and I trail the group by a few seconds. I’m pretty tired and I’d rather run with the group than fall behind, so I decide to run the first 600m of their 1000m for the last eight intervals, embracing the extra rest. They ask me to pace the last two. I’m a little nervous about screwing up, but I hit the splits right on and run 1:43 and then 1:42 while leading the remaining seven guys still in the workout.

Later, I do an easy 6km run to get my daily running volume up to 26km. I run some drills and a bunch of kids come over. They mime my running drills, lunges, high knees and jumps.



##### Recover
I venture over to Dan’s apartment for a massage. He’s a really good masseuse and only charges 500 shillings (about $7 CDN) for an hour. I’ve heard different stats but it sounds as though the average income is about $1000 CDN a year in rural Kenya, plus I’ve seen world record holders getting massages here.



In the 12 weeks leading up to the games in Rio I’d like to average around 200km per week. Physiotherapy, stretching and pool running will keep me in training mode. My goal for Rio? To finish in the top 15 in the marathon or top 10 if training is going really well.

*We’ll be rooting for you in Rio, Reid. Thanks for the behind-the-scenes look at life training in Iten. – MEC*

*Reid Coolsaet is the second fastest Canadian marathon runner ever, after Jerome Drayton (2:10:09 in 1975), and is the current fastest at only 10 seconds behind Drayton at 2:10:29. That’s pretty darn fast.*



Road to Rio: 48 hours in Kenya with Reid Coolsaet | MEC Blog

Road to Rio: 48 hours in Kenya with Reid Coolsaet

This winter we hooked up with Canadian free skiers Mike Henitiuk, Joe Schuster, Riley Leboe, and Matt Margetts from the web series *Seeking Nirvana*. Sit back and enjoy three episodes of vast powder bowls, big lines and good-time skiing with friends.

#### Seeking Nirvana | Part 1: Home


This is the mountain village of Whistler, 675m above sea level. Forested with old growth fir and cedar. An important black bear habitat. Criss-crossed by deep valleys making way to endless glaciers. There are few paved roads but instead many miles of intersecting logging roads and dirt trails. It is an El Nino year. We are on the far edge of the Howe Sound, famous for fierce storms, which will make landfall from the west, come December.

4 men make haste into the storm in search of vast powder bowls, to which the mountain village has garnered a reputation. A difficult task, travelling the unchartered terrain, requires the groups combined wits. Only persistence and a spot of luck will reward success. The adventure begins in the mountain village they call home but foreign lands beckon. A journey awaits and a feeling desired. We follow this group, through trials and triumph, Seeking Nirvana.


Created by:
Mike Henitiuk
Joe Schuster
Riley Leboe
Matt Margetts

Cinematography by:
Taylor Loughran

Edited by:
Leigh Powis

Narration by:
Colby James West
Jay Henitiuk

Graphic Design by:
Alex Viau

Seeking Nirvana 1.1 - Home



This is the mountain village of Whistler, 675m above sea level. Forested with old growth fir and cedar, an important black bear habitat. Criss-crossed by deep valleys making way to endless glaciers. There are few paved roads but instead many miles of intersecting logging roads and dirt trails. It is an El Nino year. The far edge of Howe Sound is famous for fierce storms.

Four men make haste into the storm in search of vast powder bowls, to which the mountain village has garnered a reputation. A difficult task, travelling uncharted terrain requires the group’s combined wits. Only persistence and a spot of luck will reward success. The adventure begins in the mountain village they call home but foreign lands beckon. A journey awaits and a feeling desired. We follow this group, through trials and triumph, seeking nirvana.

#### Seeking Nirvana | Part 2: Cabin Fever


Childhood friends embark on a journey past roads-end. Far from civilization, deep in the wilds of British Columbia, time slows as they align with their surroundings. Battling blizzards they quest towards untracked landscapes of powder glory. Through trial and triumph they tirelessly press on. The snow falls, the angst builds. Fever has set in...

Strange adventures await, Seeking Nirvana.

Created by:
Mike Henitiuk ~ @mikeheni
Joe Schuster ~ @joe_schuster
Riley Leboe ~ @rileyleboe
Matt Margetts ~ @mattmargetts

Follow us:
@seeking.nirvana 

Video Editing, Sound Design and Color Grade:
Leigh Powis

Cinematography:
Taylor Loughran

Aerial Cinematography:
Dylan Ross

Narration:
Colby James West
Jay Henitiuk

Graphic Design:
Alex Viau

Seeking Nirvana 1.2 - Cabin Fever



Childhood friends embark on a journey past road’s end. Far from civilization, deep in the wilds of British Columbia, time slows as they align with their surroundings. Battling blizzards, they quest towards untracked landscapes of powder glory. Through trial and triumph they press on. The snow falls, the angst builds. Fever has set in. Strange adventures await.

#### Seeking Nirvana | Part 3: The Lucky Strike


This band of seekers have found a treasure, a mother lode if you will... it's time to stake their claim and strike it rich! This treasure.... it’s not the conventional kind ... gold, diamonds or other such things ... this treasure is much more rare. Found only in the alpine, an land of unrelenting rock and ice, caped with soft and endless snow.

Created by:
Mike Henitiuk ~ @mikeheni
Joe Schuster ~ @joe_schuster
Riley Leboe ~ @rileyleboe
Matt Margetts ~ @mattmargetts

Follow us:
@seeking.nirvana

Fellow Traveller:
Josh Bibby

Video Editing, Sound Design and Color Grade:
Leigh Powis

Cinematography:
Taylor Loughran

Aerial Cinematography:
Dylan Ross

Narration:
Colby James West
Jay Henitiuk

Seeking Nirvana 1.3 - The Lucky Strike



This band of seekers have found a treasure, a mother lode if you will… it’s time to stake their claim and strike it rich! This treasure…. it’s not the conventional kind … gold, diamonds or other such things … this treasure is much more rare. Found only in the alpine, an land of unrelenting rock and ice, caped with soft and endless snow.

*All videos via [Seeking Nirvana](https://vimeo.com/user48494445) on Vimeo.*



3 episodes of vast powder bowls, big lines and good-time skiing. Features Canadian free skiers Mike Henitiuk, Joe Schuster, Riley Leboe, and Matt Margetts from the web series Seeking Nirvana.

Seeking Nirvana captures backcountry ski radness | MEC Blog

Seeking Nirvana captures backcountry ski radness

*What does it take to capture a one-one thousandth-of-a-second, once-in-a-lifetime shot? Reuben reveals how he teamed with Salomon, trekked to the Arctic Circle, and captured a skier in a solar eclipse.*

A third of the way through Salomon’s latest episode of [Freeski TV](http://freeskitv.salomon.com/en/episodes/eclipse?intcmp=mainmea_vertical_us_hp_eclipse_FW15#eclipse-1), viewers meet the dreamer behind a questionable chase to the Arctic Circle. His ambition: to capture a skier in motion during one of nature’s rarest phenomena – a total solar eclipse. The subject is photographer Reuben Krabbe, who wowed ski fans in February 2015 after capturing fellow ambassador Tobin Seagel skiing against a backdrop of the northern lights.

“There’s a Grant Gunderson photograph of a skier amongst a trail of stars,” says Reuben, citing the Gunderson work as the inspiration for his Aurora Borealis shot. “After that photograph of Tobin, I was looking at maps available through NASA that show all of the different places where solar eclipses are going to happen in the next 20, 50, 100, 200 years.” So where was Reuben to find his white whale? Svalbard – a Norwegian group of islands sandwiched between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Rugged and teeming with glaciers, frozen tundra, and a fellowship of polar bears, it’s the very definition of remote, and one of just two places where the total eclipse could be viewed in 2015.



Roughly one solar eclipse appears per year, but typically in places where people won’t see them, such as the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Worse yet, they often occur when the moon is too far away from earth, so it doesn’t fully cover the sun.

Eager to bring his dream to life, Reuben pitched the idea to the director of Salomon Freeski TV, Mike Douglas, in late 2014. He recognized the hook of the story immediately: this had never been done before. But, there were risks. “We both knew the chances of it working out were so low – if you miss it through the clouds, it’s not that interesting. It’s completely boring actually. You’d just be able to show a time lapse of a cloudy day getting dark and bright again.” Salomon came back to Reuben with a green light. “They said, ‘we love this idea, let’s do everything possible to make this happen in the best way.’ I was completely taken aback.”

The team consisted of skiers Chris Rubens, Cody Townsend and Brody Leven; director and filmmaker Anthony Bonello; on-slope videographer Bjarne Salen; guide Steve Lewis; Reuben; a camp cook; and two ski guides (one an ex-trauma doctor). They spent three weeks on Svalbard and winter-camped while scouting locations for an additional 12 days. Reuben credits Bonello as the coordinator behind the trip, allowing Reuben to simply make sure he was winter ready. His set up included the MEC Radiator Parka, boot warmers, and essentially everything a person needs to not freeze.



Leading up to the eclipse, the team had no idea of the elements they would face. Clear days were used to scout the right location, leading to some frustrated skiers. “We were burning these bluebird days that have stable snow and perfect light and we hadn’t got to ski great stuff yet, just two little chutes. They were all looking at all the stuff they wanted to ski and the pursuit of this single photo – a photo we don’t know whether or not will turn out – is preventing them from skiing,” Reuben sympathizes. “It’s just this impossible thing to deal with. They went through with it, but were vocal, which is good. I was just as frustrated that I was the person standing in the way.”

When the day of the eclipse finally arrived, the team was elated to see the weather was working in their favour, and Reuben’s dream was realized. Bonello shot some stunning footage of the total eclipse: waves of light gently rippling around a massive black orb. As the light changes, Svalbard appears as an alternate world with two moons; one bright orange, the other heavy ebony, both filled with quiet contrast and mystery. For a short time, the sky goes black, and moments later dawn-like rays careen into the scene, blanketing sheets of fresh white powder in light.

“It was pure elation. Everyone finally understood why this is such a dramatic thing that people fly around the world to just watch,” says Reuben. “We got to create something with it. The success validated the entire pursuit. And then, finally, we got to go skiing. We went back to camp, grabbed some food, and went. We got some beautiful shots [of that] right away. It was nice, to go back to simple shooting in the Arctic.”



Salomon’s Freeski TV episode recently screened at the Banff Mountain Film Festival to great acclaim, taking home the grand prize for Best Film in the Snow Sports category. “I had no idea going into it that it was going to have this kind of reception outside of skiers. It put this huge validating stamp on this concept and the entire project,” says Reuben. “It’s been a beautiful way to kick things off.”

For now, Reuben is enjoying the afterglow. “Regardless of whether you’re a skier or not, when you see the solar eclipse photo, you can’t help but stop and look and start trying to figure out ‘What is this? The moon? The sun? How on earth did they do this?’ I think the fact that I can do that by capturing one-one-thousandth of a second is just so cool.”

*– Photos by Reuben Krabbe. Check out MEC’s selection of [Salomon gear](/en/products/c/300/brands/salomon).*



The photo of a lifetime: solar eclipse | MEC blog

The photo of a lifetime: solar eclipse

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