In the White Room 006

Monthly dispatches from high places and wild spaces.

At Jöttnar, we obsess over high-performing outdoor gear. Our joy comes in crafting a product we truly believe in ourselves - but not for the product’s sake, rather because we love what it unlocks for us. At the core of it all is getting outside and doing hard things, in whatever form that may take.

We get inspired and excited by stories of others out there getting after it. And since we spend so much of our time absorbing these stories ourselves, we decided to share some of the most inspiring and interesting ones for you in a neat package: The White Room.

Rabbit holes await - enjoy.

FRAMES

ECHOES

LINES

SAGAS

FRAMES

A collection of stories from the mountains, as told through film and video.

Robbie Phillips & Alex Moore

Not a Hope in Hoy.

There’s a pull to sea-cliff climbing that’s hard to name but easy to feel. Longhope Direct (E10 7a) on Orkney’s island of Hoy stands out for reasons that are anything but subtle. Dubbed ‘the world’s hardest sea-cliff climb’, it leers at aspirants with unforgiving moves, serious sandstone choss, and vomiting birds. Robbie and Alex took up the mantle in 2022.

WATCH [50 mins]

“I love adventure, and I love challenge - The Longhope is both of those things in one.”

Title

Emma Nilsson

A Summer in Sweden.

The 460km Kungsleden weaves through the mountains of Swedish Lapland: a region of panoramic vistas and raw Arctic wilderness. Mountain cabins along the route - a welcome refuge for summer hikers and winter skiers - are maintained by volunteers. This is Emma’s experience of 7 weeks staffing the Tjäktja hut.

WATCH (8 mins)

British Adventure Collective

Rough with the Smooth.

Corsica’s GR20 is widely hailed the most technical and challenging long-distance hiking route in Europe. So how would an attempt to travel its length by mountain bike pan out? An ambitious plan that led to blood, sweat, and unexpected joys discovering the best and worst the island had to offer.

WATCH (13 mins)

ECHOES

Podcast episodes that share tales of adventure from the trails, the summits, and everything in between.

Jonathan de Leyser

Scottish Winter Climbing.

Jöttnar customer Jonathan wrote in with a poetic submission in praise of Scottish winter. In the space of only a handful of verses he bottles the character – the menace and magnetism – of the mountains. A sharp little ode to the places that shape us.

Jonathan de Leyser · Scottish winter climbing

LISTEN (1 min)

“Why do they fight with their toe, back, and fist
Bidean nam Bian, Creag Coire na Ciste?”

Title

Preet Chandi

Whiteouts and World Records.

‘Polar Preet’ became the first woman of colour to complete a solo, unsupported journey to the South Pole in 2022. No road to the Pole is easy, and hers was no exception. Preet’s is a story of navigating cultural expectations, and pushing through moments of fear and failure.

LISTEN (29 mins)

Jenny Tough & Kenton Cool

Outside our Comfort Zone.

Celebrated mountaineer Kenton Cool sits down with writer and professional adventure athlete Jenny Tough. Away from her Scottish home, Jenny spends a lot of time in remote mountainous regions - often solo and unsupported - searching for growth and putting herself out there.

LISTEN (1 hr 19)

LINES

Articles, blogs, write-ups: short reads inspired by exploits in the great outdoors.

Morgan Hite

After the Adventure.

A feeling many of our readers will recognise, Morgan captures the flatness that can follow a big trip with disarming clarity. Reading his attempt to settle back into ‘normal life’ is a reassuring reminder that this comedown is a common one - and that there’s value in dreaming up the next journey.

READ (3 mins)

“I arrive home, carefully carrying the thick, tattered web of bonds I had with my fellows, torn apart and divided up too hurriedly at the parting.”

Title

Alex Roddie

Wonder and Revelation.

Alex’s first outing of a new Scottish winter season – an overnight bivvy above Glen Nevis – becomes a study in paying attention: to place, to weather, to whatever rises in the margins. Written with the kind of clarity and restraint that renders every detail instantly familiar.

READ (4 mins)

Kev Oliver

Arctic Ice.

In 2023 Kev joined a small crew, sailing from Greenland's west coast into the heart of the Northwest Passage. His account recalls how "pretty challenging" sea ice conditions forced time at anchor but presented opportunities to explore the remote coastal mountains.

READ (5 mins)

Title

SAGAS

Armchair adventures, handpicked by Team Jöttnar: classic reads from mountain literature and beyond.

Barry Lopez

Arctic Dreams.

I made sure to read this after Robert MacFarlane’s high recommendation in his equally White-Room-worthy Mountains of the Mind. I’m glad I persisted through some of the meticulous early chapters on Arctic biology and accepted that some of the science and detail would fly unimpeded over my head.

Two themes made this an ultimately fascinating read. First, his resisting Western science’s assumptions that an environment so vast and mysterious can be neatly ordered and mastered.

Second, the latter chapters navigate the Age of Discovery, as explorers and governments sought to fill in the maps and charts of the high Arctic. A gripping account of their heroism and ill-judgement.

Chosen by: HARRY, Jöttnar COMMUNITY MANAGER

"Arctic ecosystems have the same elegant complexities, the same wild grace, as tropical ecosystems; there are simply fewer moving parts."

Title

the Jöttnar Community

OUT & ABOUT.

Nearing the end of another busy year for the Jöttnar community, here’s a look back at some of our favourite submissions sent in or tagged on socials.

We love seeing our gear put through its paces out in the wild. Enabling users to get out and feel confident to tackle any kind of challenge is what it’s all about for us. So keep on sending these in - prizes for the best submissions in the New Year…

Have a restful festive period and see you raring to go in 2026.