Road rage | Can I walk on the track? Direct words from the city of Helsinki

The people of Helsinki skiers and walkers seem to be strongly divided into two different camps.

HS said on Friday, that there are a lot of walkers on the ski slopes of Keskuspuisto. The story has sparked a lot of discussion about, among other things, where you can walk and where you can't, why the routes aren't better marked and why there should be so many ski trails in Keskuspuisto.

Outdoor sports manager of Helsinki To Stefan Fröberg the debate is very familiar. According to him, it's an annual phenomenon, and the city receives two thousand feedbacks about the tracks every year.

“But where you can walk and where you can't is by far the biggest hot potato,” he says.

Let's give Fröberg initially twists the iron wire. Can you walk on or next to the track under any circumstances?

According to him, the instructions are clear: you should not walk or travel on the maintained section of the piste except by skiing. Sometimes you can walk next to the track, but in that case you should basically be on the side of the forest.

“The instructions are that if the tracks have been drawn, you shouldn't walk there.”

In some places, Keskuspuisto has been laid out as a traditional ski track, with a narrow, paved strip next to it. You can't properly ski in it, so you could imagine that walking is allowed in it.

However, according to Fröberg, combining walking and skiing on the same route is dangerous for two reasons. If a walker breaks the track with his shoe, the skier can be thrown off the track. On the other hand, a large difference in speed can cause dangerous situations.

“If a skier comes down a hill hard, he may not be able to stop, even if he tries. That's why skiers and walkers must be separated once and for all.”

And why not even make a wider lane for ice skating instead? According to Fröberg, the routes in Keskuspuisto were made at a time when it was not even known what ice skating was. According to him, widening the routes is not an option in Keskuspuisto, because the forest needs to be nurtured.

Hard the route markings in Keskuspuisto have also received criticism. Many people think that they are incomplete and do not indicate clearly enough, for example, where a pedestrian should go.

Fröberg admits that there is still a lot to do with the markings. However, according to him, the problem is that Keskuspuisto is full of intersections and small paths, and therefore it is not realistic to put a sign on every corner.

“Keskuspuisto would then be full of hundreds of prohibition signs. Sometimes you just have to appeal to people's cleverness,” he says.

The signs on ski slopes are also not strictly regulated by law in the same way as, for example, in road traffic.

According to Fröberg, however, the partly critical feedback about the ambiguity of the labels “hits and sinks”. According to him, improvements to the markings are constantly being made, starting from the northern part of Keskuspuisto and moving towards the southern parts.

Although the extensive trail network is praised by many Helsinki residents, it is justified to ask why in Keskuspuisto many routes used by commuters, for example, are designated for use by skiers only in winter.

According to Fröberg, it is undeniable that there are many more walkers than skiers in Helsinki even in winter.

However, he says that as the city gradually builds up, the maintenance of many connecting tracks has had to be stopped completely. Consequently, the tracks are now concentrated in certain areas, such as Keskuspuisto, Paloheina, the Tali region and Vuosaari.

According to Fröberg, the city has not forgotten walkers and walking in the forest is just as important as skiing. According to him, however, the focus in the above-mentioned areas is on skiing, because the skiing season is so short and there are so few other possible ski areas.

He reminds that there are also routes in the city designated only for walkers and cyclists, such as the plowed track from Haltiala to Pitkäkoski and Torpparinmäki that was opened this winter. You can look at the winter routes of Keskuspuisto, for example from this link.

Above all, Fröberg calls for patience from walkers. Although this winter has been a good skiing season in terms of snow, it may be that next year only a few kilometers of slopes can be made.

“The skiers must now be allowed to enjoy themselves, but the walkers have not been forgotten either. I know it's nicer to walk in the forest than on the side of the road, but Keskuspuisto is the promised land of compromises.”