Tech Watch Geek: Suunto Core Extreme Edition Everest

The Amazon product review starts with a quote:


“With the right information and the right attitude, anyone can successfully take on some of nature's greatest challenges. Enter the Suunto Core Extreme Everest Edition watch, which not only supplies all the information you need, but also includes legendary sherpa Apa Sherpa's signature engraved on the back. The attitude is up to you.”

I saw this watch in the December issue of Outside, it is one of four featured in a gift section. There are no reviews on the Amazon site yet, but Suunto’s are popular and the company has built a large following for their tech watches.

Features include the typical altimeter, compass, and barometer (although Sunnto calls this feature a “storm alarm”) – but this is the Everest special edition, and the Amazon description includes loads of features, some of which I’ll summarize in this review:

• Total ascent/descent: Yes

• User-removable logbook files: Yes

• Automatic Alti/Baro switch: Yes

• Automatic 7-day Alti/Baro memory: Yes

• Resolution: 1 meter

• Real-time vertical cumulative value: Yes

• Altimeter/barometer lock: Yes

• Altitude range: 1,600 to 29,500 feet

• Countdown timer: Yes

• Stopwatch: Yes

• North-South indicator: Yes

• Guided calibration: Yes

• Temperature resolution: 1 degree F

• Trend indicator and graph: Yes

• Temperature range: -5 to 140 degrees F



For Suunto, this guided calibration feature is an important feature. Past reviews of their watches have mentioned the difficulty with calibration – a factor that hasn’t impacted their popularity, but a challenge.

So, why the reference to Everest? First, they’re only making 8,848 of them – the mountain’s height in meters. Also, this one includes an engraved signature of Apa Sherpa, who has summated Everest 20 times.

The watch is listed at $429, a bit higher than the tech-watches I usually review in these posts, but Amazon has it for $399 (see ad link below). And maybe what you’re getting in altitude resolution (1 meter) and temperature resolution (1 degree F) is a requirement for your adventures. The high-vis orange bezel gives it a sporty look, too, so it is hard for me to say the extra bucks aren’t worth it – especially when the Tag Heuer Monaco 24 in the Outside spread lists for $10,900…

I posted an update to this review in March 2011, including some photos of the watch and a price update.  You can find that here:
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2011/03/tech-watch-geek-suunto-core-everest.html