I just got back from the Pirkan Ura/ Pirkan Taival/ Satakunta Reitti trail (yes, several trails on top of each other!) where I was with Xavier. Bushwacking, snow, minus degrees, testing new gear. I'm taking my time to collect my thoughts on it, and leave you with this teaser from the weekend. More during the coming week.

If you're following this blog with some regularity, you know that I dream of walking the Nordkalottleden, from Kautokeino in Norway till Kvikkjokk in Sweden, and climb Halti in Finland on the way. I read the only book on the complete trail from cover to cover, I have the maps here at home, and am just wondering when I will have the time window of four to five weeks to walk it. Imagine thus my excitement as I happened to stumble upon an Norwegian TV show called "Nordkalotten 365". The story is quite easy: Lars Monsen, an Norwegian adventurer, spends 365 days alone in Northern Scandinavia, filming himself during his adventures. The result his spectacular, beautiful landscapes which make you want to leave asap. Here is the first part of Episode 1:



But now the highlight: Norwegian Broadcasting has made the show available as a high quality BitTorrent download, completely legal! You can even get English subtitles for the show! I wish more broadcasting agencies would take this approach, and make their shows available as a BitTorrent download.

So while Monsen isn't UL on the trail, quite the contrary actually, I am already really in love with the show, because of his unique humor and the interesting people he meets, not to mention the spectacular landscapes. If you're looking for a documentary which showcases the beauty of Northern Scandinavia, look no further and download Nordkalotten 365!

In October I wrote about the awesome Merino Buff I bought, and which now is used by my girlfriend (because its so warm and fits under the bicycle helmet!). So I got in touch with Buff in Finland and they were so kind to send me three of their Merino Buffs for a raffle - a big "Thank you!" for Buff for making this possible!


Three new Buffs looking for a head and neck to keep warm. Colours are, from left to right: Cru, Navy and Stone.

Participation is very easy: You leave a comment underneath and explain why you should get a Merino Buff and in which style you like to wear it. At the end of the raffle, which will be the 16th of December 2009, I will randomly choose three lucky winners and contact them for their addresses. I ship worldwide, so everyone can take part.

In case you can't wait to get one, check out Buff.es for some videos, and if your in very much of a hurry you can get one at Partioaitta and Retkiaitta. I also got some other new items from Buff, which I'll show you in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.