This is nothing compared to trip reports from Hakuba or Rogers Pass or Sochi but, well…skiing is skiing and even a small vertical of powder turns and some fresh air beats the office for sure!

Here in Southern Finland we are enjoying almost all time snow conditions. Last time we had so much snow was back in the late 1980s and actually this is first ordinary winter after some seven years of frustrated waiting (at least for those of us stuck here in the flatlands with nine-to-five jobs and families or other responsibilities).

For jibbers I guess urban environment offers all kind of fun challenges at the moment but we took the old school way and just did some turns. And tried to use all the minimal vertical we had in an effective way!

Pikkis having his white moment…

Me, milkin’ all the vertical meters

Pikkis working his Hellbents

Guess who’s an old mogul skier?

Well, by our standard this is A LOT of snow…

The second reason to report from this event is that in a way it was groundbreaking: the event organizer Soul Productions combined the two unique event elements in a creative new way. A Bagjump was put together with the great Finnish innovation of Spedelinko (Ski jumping sling,  see also the video below. Btw. If you want to know more about the innovator of the system, read this, it is definitely worth checking out)

The ingenuity of the whole set-up: it seems like you don’t need any hill or even a landing to organize a jump contest/session anymore, just a little bit of open space and tiny piece of snow! (Ok, of course the electricity but let’s not start nitpicking here…)

The start list for the event was also pretty impressive:

Telemark: Joonas Karhumaa (the guy we interviewed a week ago! Check the crazy long jump in the start of the YouTube video, he almost missed the whole damn landing bag…I said he goes big!)

Freeski: Matti Räty, Roope Leppänen, Oskari Raitanen, Aleksi Laitinen

Snowboard: Nuutti Niemelä, Niko Länsiö, Matti Kinnunen, Markus Haka, Ville Uotila, Jaakko Ruha, Petja Piiroinen, Roni Rintala, Martin Kalliola, Aleksi Kuusisto, Heppu Pentti,Arttu Pulkkinen, Toni Viitakangas, Jani Isaksson, Jeppe Rontti, Juha Rautanen,Simo Rautava, Risto Mattila

(Yeah, I guess every second Finnish teenager/twenty-something is a pro snowboarder these days…heh)

Couple of my own shots from the event:

My name is Kimmo Oivo and I am a skier. I was born with skis and I will ski until I close my eyes the last time. People know me as “Skipe”, which is my nickname. As a kid I was called “Kipe”, and one day I wrote my name on the wall of a barn. For some reason my brother added the letter “S” in front of it, so since then I’ve been called “Skipe”.

Back in the early 70s I saw pictures of skiing on television. I dreamed about the mountains even though as a “flat-lander” I had never seen them in real life. I don’t come from money, so after some continuous begging I got my first ski equipment in 1976. Before that I had had a kind of plastic skis. Soon I did my very first turns at the Ruka ski resort in northern Finland, where temperature can dive down to -40 Celsius degrees.

I was stoked.

My parents didn’t understand me and my new interest at all. They thought I must be wretched. I was interested in nothing else but skiing. All I wanted to do was ski. Every day.

So I quit school.

Instead of going to school I went skiing, but I had some bad luck: I broke my knee. But in the hospital, I decided to dedicate my life to skiing the next season, and so I did. At 19 years old I became a full-time skier. Naturally I had no money to burn, so I had to figure something else to keep me alive. I joined a ski school and started teaching skiing. Some people spend years in universities to finally become a teacher. I did it overnight.

Photographer Petri Kovalainen

The next 20 years I lived my life skiing and teaching skiing at resorts. Somewhere in the middle of that time period I got enough of ski schools, so I packed my stuff and moved to the Pyhä ski resort in Finland to find something new in my life, but soon I found myself ski-instructing in Pyhä. I could call myself a teacher, a pretty experienced “ski  teacher”.

Focusing on freeskiing

Back in the 90s, the freeride scene was a very small community of dedicated skiers, and the Pyhä ski resort was the “freeride mecca” in Finland. Together with all those hardcore skiers, we went to the backcountry, learned to climb rock walls and to use ice axes, and had a ton of fun.

Oh boy, those were the golden years pioneering. We skied moguls, learned sticking double flips, and truly enjoyed every single moment. One thing I never tried: ballet skiing. If you ever see me hassling on the dance floor, you can be sure that I am under the influence, with at least 3.5 thousandths of a percent of alcohol in my blood.

So back in the late 80s and early 90s I got into this freeskiing thing, but the radical change actually happened during the season of 89-90 when I landed in Chamonix for the first time. It was January, but unfortunately snow conditions were poor. We spent a lot of time in bars, but seeing all those sharp mountain peaks, steep couloirs, huge glaciers and the massive Mont Blanc was an extraordinary experience. It started a flame inside of me. I was sold on mountain life.

Photographer Mikko Lampinen

During the next few years we went “Interrailing” (cheap train ticket deal for students in Europe) across France, and naturally we stopped to climb at Chamonix. Once we decided to reach the summit of Mont Blanc with my mate. We both were pretty much rookies at climbing, but we had a burning desire to see what’s behind Mont Blanc and how the world looks from up there. We didn’t have any kind of climbing boots, just regular “winter boots” people use in cities. We argued about who would have to carry the rope, and as result we decided to leave it.

Climbing the Glacier du Bosson without a rope doesn’t sound that good anymore, but I consider it my “university” to mountain life. “If there is no risk, there is no reward”, Bill Briggs has said, and we definitely had some risk and reward. And yes, the world looked pretty awesome from the top of Mont Blanc.

It is the burning flame that keeps me going

I wake up in the morning, open my eyes and look around. It’s me here and this is my place. I’m at home. I get up and make myself some coffee. I look out of the window and see my hometown Oulu. It is good to be here, but I must get going. I need to get on my skis. It is my desire, the burning flame inside me.

I get older, it is inevitable. Despite that fact I keep on skiing, because I feel like skiing. I’ve got that burning desire. It makes me happy.

Photographer Petri Kovalainen

I have no need to show up. I finish with my coffee and pack up my gear. I’m going to hit the road. There I feel free. My world is out there.

I have spent all my money on skiing, and I have never had a car loan or such. Sometimes I have had difficulties buying even food, but I never wanted to sign a loan. I moved away from home at the age of 18, and I have never received any money from that house, and I have never asked. I survive on my own, whatever happens.

I have had some role models in the past. Back in the early days Ingemar Stenmark was the man, although he was the only one in those times. Later on Glen Plake became my role model. It is interesting because today I ski with Glen. My role model has become my friend and that doesn’t always happen.

I have never worshipped anyone, but I must say Seth Morrison is the king. Just watch Seth boy skiing and you know what I mean. He is the master.

Stenmark, Plake and Morrison are all famous skiers, but there is one man I truly respect. Jani Johanssen has been my role model since I met him. I love his attitude and lifestyle. We have spent a lot of time together, killed the mountains and seen the world. It is always a lot of fun with Jani.

I have no desire to compete – I just want to enjoy my life

People have asked me if I am interested in race skiing. No, I was never interested in competing. I am too lazy. I did ski moguls very much, but I did it for fun. Skiing moguls was close to my heart, but I never had any intention to compete with my mates. By skiing the moguls I made many new friends, and that’s what I like.

Photographer Mikko Lampinen

I love life. Although I have also seen the hard part of life, I love every moment I am given. My list of accidents is so long that I can’t even remember them all. I have wrecked my body so much, but I keep on doing my thing. I have a positive mindset.

Back in the day doctors almost amputated my leg because of a bad infection. It was so close. I spent three weeks in a hospital taking very tough antibiotics and hoping I wouldn’t lose my leg. At the same time my father was dying of cancer in the next room.

I have learned not to stress the little things in life.

Ten years ago a doctor was analyzing my X-ray pictures. He asked his colleague, “Does this person walk?” I said, “Yeah, I also ski the backcountry.” Needles to say, the dude was amazed.

I have gone through 15 operations. I have become friends with nurses and doctors. Sometimes I hear young dudes complain that their knee hurt. They consider quitting their career. “What? Shut up and get back to the slopes”, I quietly think in my mind.

Some people make money off skiing, but I don’t. I just make enough money to keep myself alive, but I prioritize enjoyable life, good friendships and a roof above my head more than money. I never had a need to collect money.

A kind of turning point in my skiing was when Salomon (thanks to Petri Raatinen) started supporting me. I started receiving free equipment, which was a helluva important thing to me. By getting all that equipment I started to reach a totally new level in my skiing. Right now I am supported by K2 and Peak Performance. I also work with Full Tilt, Dakine, Primex Pharma, Pro-Tec and Spy. I like K2 very much because they respect skiers like me and they provide the best skis for us. I feel that finally I have the perfect tools to do my job.

Photographer Mikko Lampinen

I would like to point out that I don’t have sponsors, but rather partners. Nobody gives stuff for free, so it is always a matter of co-operation. A skier must do a lot of work in order to reach that situation, and once you reach it, you need to keep it by working together with your partners.

Life is wonderful, so live it

Can you say you have lived your life 100%? I can’t. I have done many things and seen the world, but I feel there is still so much to do. I want to keep on conquering the mountains.

One of the most extraordinary ski trips in my life was back in 2007. We spent two weeks in Svalbard which is located absolutely in the middle of nowhere. It was pretty exotic to ski carrying a rifle on your back because you never know when you will come face-to-face with a polar bear. Imagine yourself climbing to the summit and looking around 360 degrees. All you see is white. No people, no structures, nothing but snow. And may be a couple of polar bears… It is absolutely an experience you remember your whole life.

I know life can be hard, but I don’t give a shit. I survive, whatever happens. If I don’t, then I don’t. At least I did it all by myself, and I did what I wanted.

“Are we done with this interview? I got to continue working on my bathroom renovation. See you guys on the slopes!” says Skipe Oivo, one of the most experienced skiers in Finland.

Editor’s note: This story was written by Marko Pyhajarvi and it is based on our discussion with Skipe Oivo. Skipe is one of the coolest skiers on planet Earth.  He is a soul mate and a good friend. Keep on rocking buddy!

Click the link for more photographs by Petri Kovalainen. For more photographs by Mikko Lampinen send us a message and we’ll provide you his contact information.

Four-time world champion and legendary “wild boy” Bode Miller announced his return to the U.S. Ski Team on September, saying he’s refreshed and eager to be part of a positive environment while resisting suggestions he should apologize for his controversial behavior at the 2006 Turin Olympics in Italy. In fact he seems pretty self-confident.

“I think my actions are going to speak much more loudly than any apology can“, said Bode Miller in press conference.

On May 12, 2007, Miller announced that he would be leaving the U.S. Ski Teamand race independently for his newly formed Team America. Bode cut the relationship because he felt he was too much controlled by the ski team. Now he has rejoined the team.

“I had no intention of coming back three months ago, but after some conversations with Sasha Rearick (U.S. Men’s Team Head Coach) and realizing that everyone is on the same page and excited about moving forward, I realized that this is definitely something that I want to do,” Miller said.

Rearick expects Bode to be a key player in the team’s atmosphere. He also sees Bode’s comeback good for helping younger team members to excel.

“To have Bode come back to the family is extremely exciting for us,” Rearick said. “I’m looking forward to having Bode come back as a leader.”

Bode Miller is generally unpopular with mainstream reporters who cover skiing. One referred to him as “a tedious bore given to statements that smack of hypocrisy.^” Another said that Miller’s behavior had alienated him from “pretty much everyone but those who mindlessly celebrate rebels simply for their rebellion, however misplaced it might be”. [Wikipedia]

Like him or not, he is back and ready to fight for his place on podium. Bode has got some attitude, and that’s something I like. He walks his own path and dares to do what he wants.

Bode Miller is the most accomplished American ski racer of all time. Two-time Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall champion is set to open his World Cup season tomorrow here in Levi, Finland. It will be Miller’s first start since the February 2009. Let’s see how it goes.

“Are you gonna fight or are you gonna dance?“

Virne is not a high budget movie and it does not feature any big Alaska mountain faces filmed from helicopters like some TGR’s movies and its not an in depth documentary like the “Steep”. Virne is rather an action packed flick filled with fun lines and no nonsense, just a bunch of guys skiing great snow and having fun doing it. An entertaining ski movie and you can’t go wrong with free. Just sit back and click “play” below to watch it. For another free ski movie check out the “TEN”.

The Birth of Finnish Freestyle Skiing

In 1977 at Eastertime, holiday skiers at the Suomu ski resort in Finnish Lapland saw something new and strange. A huge jump had appeared near the ski lift. At the top of the jump there stood a young ski instructor with sunglasses and a fancy hat. A crowd of curious skiers had gathered around him. The ski instructor explained what kind of jumps were soon to be seen.

The first freestyle skiing competition in Finland was about to begin.

The young man at the top of the jump was Roger Talermo, the main organizer of the event.

The atmosphere at this first competition was enthusiastic. There were about 40 competitors. Many of them were ski instructors at Suomu, some were also ex-alpine racers. Many tried the new, hot freestyle jumps, such as back scratchers, for the first time. The audience was bigger than at any of the Finnish alpine races that winter.

Although the jump was very small by today’s standards, many competitors fell down. That did not matter: everyone got huge applause. The winner was Kai Tapani.

But what had happened before this competition? How did Roger Talermo find out that this new school of skiing existed?

Originally Roger Talermo became interested in freestyle skiing in the late 1960s. He saw photos of mogul skiing and jumps in American skiing magazines and became very, very curious.

The roots of freestyle developed in the USA when skiers started to compete in acrobatic skiing. Gradually freestyle developed from hot dogging to stunt ballet, aerial skiing and mogul skiing. The term “freestyle” covered all these three new ways of skiing.

In the early 1970s, the first freestyle films arrived in Europe. Roger Talermo spent hours watching them.

In the winter of 1976, he was skiing in the Alps when he heard stories about a professional Marlboro Ski Show. Talermo contacted the group and managed to get them also to Finland in spring 1976 with a little help from the Philip Morris company.

The Marlboro Ski Show amazed everyone in Suomu late in the spring. Talermo was one skier in the show, but the hottest skier was Phil Sifferman.

A Swedish member of the group, Håkan Kristiansson, told Talermo that later in the spring the Scandinavian Open would be held in Duved. Talermo had neither money nor proper competition clothing, but he decided to try get some sponsors.

And so he did.

He got the skis from Ski Systems, some clothing from A&K and a little money from several sources. In Duved, he participated in every competition and was finally seventh in the moguls.

That did it. Talermo decided to start serious training in freestyle. He learned the tricks of jumping in Tignes and bacame a member of the prestigious Salomon Professional Team. Before the first competition in Finland he was seventh in the Austrian Open.

After that first competition at Suomu, Talermo was convinced that it was necessary to establish the Finnish Freestyle Union. There was huge interest among skiers. Talermo realized that proper training and competitions would give Finnish freestyle a quick start. Talermo planned that after establishing a national union, many freestyle clubs would be organized.

The Finnish Freestyle Union was established on November 23rd, 1977. Talermo became the first chairman.

The main task was to organize competitions and in that way to spread word about the new way of skiing. It was also important to qualify the racers. The union wanted to allow only racers who could do their jumps without immediate danger of injury into jumping competitions.

The first Finnish championships were held in Jyväskylä on March 11-12, 1978. A proper mogul piste was built on the steep racing slope of Laajavuori. It was quite a shock to many competitors. The moguls were huge, almost two meters in height.

Before the competition the weather was warm and the slope very soft. The night before the big race the temperature started to fall and the slope became icy. The judges very quickly decided that it was best to value skiing technique more than speed.

When the competition started, there were approximately 2000 spectators in the slope. That was a huge crowd! Among the competitors were also Ari Heinilä and Hannu Mikkola, the founders of the finnish skiing magazine Skimbaaja.

Soon the audience realized that every racer had to perform two jumps during the run. After that they started to shout “Jump! Jump!” to every skier.

The hottest new skier was Risto Kanninen, a local boy. He got huge shouts when he did his first, very difficult jump. A helicopter! The audience twisted and shouted when Kanninen got the highest points. Ultimately he won more experienced skiers Roger Talermo and Uffe Tollet. Had it been otherwise, a riot probably would have erupted in Laajavuori.

The next competition was in ballet. The audience was again amazed. The performance of the skiers was excellent. Besides, they wore nice outfits, such as tuxedos! Roger Talermo won, Uffe Tollet was second and Tom Saariaho came in third.

The highlight of the weekend was Sunday’s jumping contest. A huge jump?over two meters in height—was  built. It would catapult the skiers high in the air. Many of the competitors had never seen a jump so high. It really frightened the audience.

The first round was more or less warming up. In the second round the audience saw what they really wanted: the somersaults. Michael Nyman made the first somersault, but unfortunately he fell.

The last man in the competition was Roger Talermo. He made a perfect somersault backwards. It was the best jump of the day. Talermo was awarded with a gold medal. Uffe Tollet with his high flying helicopters was second, and Kai Tapani was third. Thus ski instructors from Suomu took all medals available.

After the Finnish championships, a real freestyle fever spread all over Finland. Especially young skiers liked the relaxed and modern atmosphere which was very different from the mood of more serious alpine racing.

The first three freestyle clubs established were Jyväskylä Freestyle Club, Avalanche in Suomu and Oulu Ski Team 77. The first capitals of Finnish freestyle were Laajavuori, in Jyväskylä, and Suomu.

In winter 1980-81 there were already eight freestyle clubs in Finland. Competions were held in Messilä, Iso-Syöte, Suomu and Pyhä.

The Finnish freestyle scene had been born.

After his skiing career Roger Talermo became involved in the sport equipment business and started to work for Salomon. Now he is the CEO of Amer Sports, the owner of Atomic and Salomon.

Uffe Tollet became the head coach of the Finnish mogul skiers. A member of his group, Martti Kellokumpu won the world championship in mogul skiing in 1984.

Ylläs saunagondola is the first one in the world

I conversed with Aki Rundgren, the marketing manager at Ylläs ski resort in Finland. According to Mr. Rundgren, the saunagondola at Ylläs is the first one in the world and probably in the entire universe. There are four seats in the saunagondola and passangers can spend a maximum of 2 hours in the sauna. During these two hours passengers enjoy two rounds from the valley to the summit and back. One round takes about 15-20 minutes, and the distance from the starting point to the summit is two kilometers. During one round the saunagondola climbs 430 vertical meters.

You might think that it doesn’t sound so nice to be naked in a gondola while others are skiing all around you. Guess again! You don’t need to worry about being naked in the saunagondola because the windows are covered with dark shields. This means that the passengers in the saunagondola can see outside, but skiers outside cannot see inside the saunagondola. So you can be totally naked and enjoy a traditional Finnish sauna…

Actually, the saunagondola is not used during regular skiing hours. It is used only after skiers have left the slope, which in Finland is 7pm – 9pm in the winters and 4pm – 6pm in summer time. If it becomes too hot inside and you start feeling ill, just open the small window and breath fresh arctic air.

Unique ride in Saunagondola requires a bag of cash

So, how can you get a ride in the Saunagondola? First of all, you need to find your way to Ylläs ski resort in northern Finland. After that, reserve the saunagondola by calling +358 40 544 7743 or by sending email to yllaskammi@iso-yllas.fi. Next, enjoy the hot ride!

Notice that you cannot reserve only the Saunagondola. Instead you have to reserve the Café Gondol 718 sauna department located at the summit of Ylläs hill. The sauna department includes regular sauna services such as showers, a sauna and a fireplace. The price of the sauna department is 500 euros (maximum 12 people).

The price for the Saunagondola is 1000 euros, but as mentioned above, in order to get a ride in the Saunagondola you have to reserve the sauna department as well, which has a price tag of 500 euros. So the total price for the Saunagondola ride and the sauna department is 1500 euros, which might sound pretty high. The reason for the price is that the Saunagondola requires at least three people to operate it. And hey! It’s the only Saunagondola in the frigging world, so you got to be ready to pay for the unique ride.

Saunagondola. Oh man… This is pure Finnish craziness! Damn cool idea.

If you have tested the Saunagondola, please leave a comment and share your experience with us!

Although we write our blog in English, the interview article is written in Finnish. It is titled “Old school dudes write a very popular ski blog in Kerava (my city)“, and the focus is in me and this blog. Pictures of the story are shot by me. I’m glad those two skiing photos from Dream Forest (Chamonix – Argentiere) finally found their way to printed media. The small picture of myself was shot by a friend in Couloir des Cosmiques, one of the classic off-piste runs of Chamonix.

I started writing this blog about 1,5 years ago. After few days it was indexed by Google, and the first visitors found their way in. I started from absolute zero. I was a complete newbie with blogging and media things, but I had a desire to write about the sport I love. Since those days we have not only learned a lot, but also grown a lot. Today we gather +120.000 monthly visitors and our traffic keeps on growing. Our aim is to become the most popular and highest rated online ski magazine in five years.

Although my background and experience as a skier is much discussed in the article, they also mention my partners Jarkko-Juhani Henttonen and Janne Niini. Unfortunately they forgot to mention our American dude Matthew Keränen, a HomeboySki partner as well. May be I did not make it clear enough. Sorry, Matt.

They write how everything started from Chamonix. This is something I really like, because it is nothing but the truth. Without Chamonix there would be no HomeboySki. We met with Jarkko and Janne in Chamonix back in 1997. Our friendship is a good example of strong friendships skibums have. It was obvious for me to ask fellow skiers to join this endeavor.

Newspaper also points out that our aim is to write this blog for living. There is a well-thought business idea behind this blog, and our goal is really to write to live. I hope we can make it, because what could be better than write this ski blog all day long?

Well, may be skiing the backcountry all day long would be better…

I just recently bumped into that slogan, as a “signature” of a bike event organizer. I liked it so much that I selfishly stole it for my own purposes here – writing about outdoor sports in the internet can feel pretty stupid at times…

What the heck I am doing here at my computer, shouldn’t I be out there, having fun and living the life?

Well, we have been enjoying the rare autumn high pressure here for a while and the nights have seen some freezing temperatures already, but I am pretty sure that we will still get our fare share of rain and continuous low pressures soon, and are maybe not going to see the “real” winter until January or even February…

So, with these current perfect mountain biking conditions, I jumped onto my bike and rode some in the weekend. I was still pretty exhausted from the previous weekend road ride, Tour de Helsinki 2008. But after a while of serious huffing and puffing I just paused and looked around for a little bit and decided to just take it easy and shoot a few photos. And what did I see… Holy pale autumn light Batman!

We don’t have an ocean or high mountains here but it is good to notice at times that your local woods can be absolutely beautiful. Don’t you agree?

Oh boy the autumn is such a depressing time of the year…

Woods, water, woods, water, woods, water, woods, water…I guess that’s what Finland is all about?

An autumn single track

Grassroots view of the trail…

Sure beats the office, vol. 100 567

The race was my first big “marathon” event. I took part on the 60km (just over 37 miles) route, the most popular class. Other classes/routes were 25km, 45km, 120km (75miles) and 180km (112miles). The longest race, 180km, the participants have to apply in advance to get a permission to ride – you have to somehow prove that you can ride that distance in requested time limits!

Marathon races are mostly concidered quite untechnical. Tahko MTB is a exception to that rule: about 1/3 of the trails are fairly technical, maybe 1/3 some easier single track & fire roads and the rest is gravel roads/asphalt. The amount of roads has been increasing through the years though. This is a bit sad but on the other hand, the area developes all the time (lots of new construction) and the organisers have to somehow deal with the growing rider figures – it is not easy to figure out how to let some thousand bikers onto the same narrow trails and avoid bigger “bottle necks”.

Hectic feeling at the Start, photo Jonna Keskiaho

Still, the above fact leads me to my only complaint: as a first timer I wasn’t quite sure about how to deal with the different “tactics” and how to divide the power onto different sections etc. My only “tactic” was to maintain steady pace and not to rush it too hard on the first third of the course. This was a slight mistake. The start was divided into three groups and I was in the second group, which is the biggest one, with riders who aimed at around 4-5h end time. I should have maybe gone to the first “hot” group or, optionally, sprinted into the lead in my group and tried to maintain a good position for the trails. I didn’t do this and after the start’s quite long road sections was kind of forced to ride the more technical trail sections in a long line / “traffic jam”. My bad. This lead to a feeling that I rode slow where I am usually relatively fast (technical single track) and faster where I usually take it easier (roads / mellow sections through the “real” trails).

Kinahmi Trail, can you dig this? Photo: Touho Häkkinen

I guess that all is also a question about the riding style / personal character. I once took part in Finnish Enduro race where the idea is to race timed short technical sections, ranging from about three minutes to around 15 minutes, and the transitions between the sections are not clocked. That was fun as hell and I think I might get into those later on again. Note that the British term “enduro” means pretty much what we call a “marathon” here. The Finnish “enduro” is totally different animal, based on the motor bike enduro races.

Anyway, the event organisation was top quality, the weather was nice although the trails were slippery from the previous week rains, the views quite stunning which is a bit of a suprise in Finland, people were having fun and the best trail sections were super good. I especially remember one long downhill which started a bit more technical then changing to more even, very fast single track. I got lucky and was able to ride that particular downhill mostly by myself and got only chased by a guy just behind my back. I was just having fun and tried to took air on every possible bump etc. The guy behind me was on some “normal” full suspension trailbike and I have my hard tail 29er. After the downhill trail we got into the gravel road and slowed the pace down a bit and the guy was asking “does the big wheel really go THAT well…?”. Well, I guess it was either the bike or the fact that I was having those rare “flow” moments where you just ride as fast as you can and totally feel in control with the bike.

Ok, let’s not get too “zen” about riding and whatnot but I guess you know the situation…in a way you are totally focused and totaly relaxed at the same time! Good powder skiing comes to mind as a comparison.

And, yes I can totally recommend the 29er bikes, especially for taller riders. But let’s not get into that too much at this post. Let’s just say I dig the concept, eventhough it is definately not for all riders.

Slippery when wet… Photo by Touho Häkkinen

All in all Tahko event was a very positive experience. I guess I might even to train some for real next year and try the 120km option – just to get to ride the emptier trails in peace on the second loop, hehe… The route consist of a 60km loop, and 120km = two rounds on the same loop.

And yes, if you are interested the results can be found here. Click “hae” with empty fields and you get all the results at once. Btw. check out the time of the winners…those guys are fast!. My time was a modest/average 4.45 for the 60km. But who cares really, I wasn’t there to win anyone but myself. And after all I got the feeling that I might even ride a bit faster and/or longer, which is good if you think motivation to participate in the next year’s event!

And at last but not as least; this guy’s bike, see below – Surly Karate Monkey 29″ Fixed Gear, 32-18 gear ratio, front disc brake and 100mm of front suspension. And yes he rode the 120 km route. Talking about dedication, skill and pure crazyness!

Special thanks go to fellow riders Touho Häkkinen and Jonna Keskiaho for excellent pictures and the permission to use them. For more pictures click here.

See you on the trails! The fixed gear guy and all the others on single speeds inspire me to just go out and ride – it is all about the ride, not the technology and gear IMHO.

That is some great news for the Finnish skiing. We have had intenational level alpine skiers like Kalle Palander and Tanja Poutiainen already for a while, not to mention the mogul guys but the bursting new school skiing scene has waited this moment already for a couple of years. Everyone that follows the “scene” here has known that there is talent here that is as good as in international teams. Iisko Heiskanen’s 2nd place in Orage Open 2006 was one clear indication of that fact (the guy was only beaten by the man himself, Candice Thovex!).

Kalle Leinonen, on the ther hand, was a promising alpine racer only a few years ago before he concentrated 100% on freestyle. I believe he was ranked first in his age group in Finland and quite high on the FIS list too. So, you kids out there: don’t judge the gates too hard. Knowing a solid turn never hurts you later in your skiing life! By the way, Kalle’s sister, Sanni Leinonen, is on the Finnish women Alpine Ski Team and has done quite well lately, despite her young age. I believe we are going to hear more from Sanni in the near future as well.

But back on the topic. Kalle probably didn’t have a very high international profile before this great move. He has concentrated on the FIS events and won almost every competition he entered. A quote from the 4FRNT’s site says:

“Well, if I told you that we had a rider that finished in the top-5 in competition over 80% of the time, you’d think Tanner Hall or Jon Olsson. If I told you that this rider stood on the podium at competitions 9 times in a single season you’d probably think about TJ Schiller or Simon Dumont. You wouldn’t change your mind when we told you that he beat out more than 10 X-Games competitors throughout the season or that he finished second overall in the World Cup standings or that he won his country’s National Championship and was named Freestyler of the Year. In fact, you’d probably bet a fair amount of your bank account when I told you that you weren’t even close. But, that’s exactly what this young phenom did this past season – at the ripe old age of 18. Didn’t see that coming, did ya? Check out Kalle’s team page.”

Check out also the impressive merit list on the 4FRNT’s site.

Again, congrats Kalle! We are going to follow what this young jedi master is up to in the next season for sure.

Below is a video of Kalle on one of his latest standards, a double rodeo 900 (and I thought daffy-twister was the s**t when I was 18, heh).

While the Sports Institute has a wide variety of activies to choose, one quite unknown factor is that the mountain biking in the nearby trails is pretty damn good. In fact I wonder that they seem to have dropped all kind of outdoor sports from their marketing, at least for the individuals. There are several companies that offer horseback riding, trekking, ATV riding etc.

All in all I think that the marketing of Finland’s travel oppurtunities is pretty limited. Finnish tourism marketing seems to forget several outdoor activities and beautiful nature we have, or show them in a pretty limited way, in my humble opinion of course.

Anyway, pictures talk more than thousand words. So, do your own evaluations. I will add some more information to this post later (trail maps,trail information, accommodation etc.) but right now I am so busy at work that I have to delay this job a bit later in the summer.

What is also quite funny that only about four or so years ago I would have probably laughed to this kind of riding and “riding” pictures, as I started as an “angry freerider”. I thought dh/freeride would be perfect summer sport for the skier, and kind of dispised all the “traditional” aspects of cycling. But as a beginner I was maybe a bit too keen to learn “all” at once, and hurt myself quite badly couple of times. After one semi-serious neck/back injury I started to give a more xc-ish riding a go, got myself a set of clipless pedals and a longer seat post, and since that I’ve figured out that Finland has a wide variety and huge amount of GREAT trails and “just” riding in the wilderness can be very fun too. You still always have the technical sections, where freeride background is great and you can kind of combine the best of both world. Well, I guess there is even a name for this kind of riding, namely All Mountain/Trail riding (do’h). Btw, these days I also enjoy all the other kinds of cycling: road, cyclocross, urban commuting etc. too.

Ok, let’s move on to the pics…