Spring | An absurd sight – the forests of the capital region will soon have ski trails winding up to half the year

Helsinki The ski hall in Kivikko closed its doors in the winter and will be turned into an ice rink, but next winter the skiing season in the capital region may be longer than ever.

The outdoor skiing season started last mid-November in Oittaa, Espoo, where the first slopes in the capital region were opened. And the season isn’t over yet.

In Paloheinä, Helsinki, you can ski at least until May Day. The more than half-meter-thick slush, which was shelled from the beginning of winter, has lasted until these days as skiable.

The sight is even absurd. The snow-white track still winds through the forest, even though spring temperatures have been there for weeks.

Skiing can be done well, because the snow is clean where there is. The track is run a few more times.

There have also been enough skiers every day, although less and less all the time. All that’s left are the bravest, who advertise their thousands of kilometers of skiing on Facebook.

“On Wednesday, there was a total of about 1.5 kilometers of slopes suitable for skiing in various sections,” said the team leader of Helsinki’s sports and outdoor services Reko Junnonen.

The lengthening of the skiing season in the capital region is the result of the determined work of Espoo, Helsinki and Vantaa.

Each city has developed its own capabilities to build tracks right in the fall.

There are a total of around 30 snow cannons at the sporting activities of the cities of the capital region. In addition, a year ago, a system was completed in Helsinki’s Paloheinä forest for snowing a three-kilometer track.

Latest a development step in improving snow conditions is in Vantaa. There, next to the ski slopes of the Hakunila sports park, a large artificial ice rink will be completed during the summer, with a skating area the size of an ice ball field and a rink.

Hakunila’s snow reliability improves considerably when the ice slush that is created as a byproduct of the maintenance and grinding of the artificial ice track can be dumped directly onto the track.

Hakunila’s ski season can therefore start earlier than in previous years.

In January 2020, Vantaa’s sports department built a 2.5-kilometer track in Hakunila from ice slush and cannon snow from artificial ice rinks.

It is not far-fetched to think that the capital region will have the opportunity to ski from the beginning of November until May, i.e. six months.

“The half-year long ski season is almost here. Even now, there would be so much snow here in places that the slope could be driven even with a big machine”, says the person in charge of Vantaa’s ski slopes Juha Savolainen.

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“We are giving up and cross-country is now taking over Hakunila. And even if we were to ride the trail, there aren’t many skiers there anymore.”

Helsinki, A certain division of labor has emerged between Vantaa and Espoo. The first track in the capital region is usually completed in Espoo Oittaa.

The weather there is cooler than Vantaa’s Hakunila and Helsinki’s Paloheina. The snow is allowed to melt from the previously cold lake water and the snow can be spread directly on the flat asphalt track.

This season, the track opened in Oittaa in mid-November. The last tracks in the capital region are run in Paloheinä.

“The track will still be run on Friday morning. After that, the track will be renovated for May Day skiing,” says Reko Junnonen.

Then the skiing season is over for the groomed slopes in the capital region, even if you can still find snow in sheltered places.

“We are giving up and cross-country is now taking over Hakunila. And even if we were to ride the trail, there aren’t many skiers there anymore.”

On the first weekend of May, the cross-country championships will be held in Paloheinä, and part of the route may have to be cleaned of debris from the ski track.

In Vantaa, the number one places for skiing are Petikko and Hakunila.

Hakunila is also a regular organizer of the Finnish Championship and the Finnish Cup, and Vantaa therefore wants to improve the snow conditions of the sports park.

Now they are improving as if by themselves, while the conditions for ice sports are being developed.

Juha Savolainen, who is in charge of Vantaa’s slopes, estimates that the ice slush collected from the artificial ice rink improves the snow reliability especially in early autumn.

The work on the artificial ice rink will be completed in July. Then we are still waiting for the arrival of the components for the refrigeration machines.

The project has been delayed by a year due to material problems, but now it looks good.

“Ice making should start at the beginning of November,” says Savolainen.

“We will turn on the machines as soon as it is possible.”

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“We use everything we can to make the track.”

As a Southern Finn as track master, Savolainen has a long experience with special snow conditions.

For example, in January 2020, a group from Savolainen did a small miracle and built a 2.5 kilometer ski track in a completely snow-free country for the Finnish Cup competition.

Because of the early winter in Lauha, there was also little snow. A large part of the snow and ice slush was carted to the site from the ice rinks in Vantaa and from the Oulunkylä and Kontula artificial ice rinks in Helsinki.

There is no need to undertake such a project anymore. The snow cannons are put to work as soon as the frost is enough and the ice rink of the artificial ice rink can be found right behind you.

“We use everything we can to make the track. The track goes about 50 meters from the corner of the artificial ice track, so it doesn’t take time and energy to drive,” says Savolainen.

Everything is carefully planned. There are three asphalted storage areas around the artificial ice track, from where the snow can be dumped directly onto the tractor and transported to the track.

“I myself have thought that this confirms the construction of the track. We will turn on the cannons as soon as the frost permits, but you never know the weather in advance.”

Savolainen rejects the idea that the piste makers of the capital region would compete with each other for the longest ski season or the first piste.

“We laugh at the idea. Everyone is doing a good job.”