Snow

There has not been much snow about the last few weeks. With the longer days and some finer weather the temperatures have been warm (er – like edging above zero) and the sun has been melting away all the snow and ice on the roads. So in an attempt to make the most of what snow there is before it disappears I went to Ruka last weekend and went Snowboarding for the first time.

I went up there with Barny (one of the Crew from Visione – a boat being Refitted at Baltic at the moment). We left Baltic at about 1615 and with pretty clear roads the whole way up made it to check in to our hotel at about 2230 which was pretty good time for the trip. After checking in we checked out one of the local pubs quickly and then got off to bed so we could hit the slops first thing in the morning.

After a very nice European breakfast we got the to the ski hire place just as they opened at 0900, this wasn’t difficult as it was the next building across from the hotel. We collected some gear we were out waiting for the lifts to start by 0930, just enough time for Barny to give me a quick snowboarding lesson before we had a real slope to look at. After taking the lift to the top of the main runs and strapping myself in, Barny persisted with a lesson and kept giving me pointers as I half slid and half fell down the slop a couple of time. After this I figured he probably couldn’t help much and I just needed to practice. So I stayed on the gentle slops while Barny went to explore the hill (there aren’t really any mountains in Finland).
We meet up about 1300 and found some lunch, I had been falling allot but was managing to stay relatively in control and I could stop well enough. Barny told me I had to go and check out this other run so I followed him round to one of the other lifts and up over the top of the hill was an Igloo with a Bar inside. We sat and had a Hot Chocolate with Minttu which was very nice, surprisingly it did not feel cold inside, as the walls obviously keep the wind out very well. I was a bit disappointed that the lens on my camera kept fogging up so I didn’t get the best shot from inside.

After a full day of falling/boarding I was very tired and bruised but I had great fun. We got cleaned up and warm and eventually went to find some dinner which ended u just being at the hotel, but was still very good, and almost exactly what I wanted.

Again we were up in the morning before the lifts started and were greeted with light snow and less than 100m visibility at the top of the hill. I had much more success and enjoyed myself even more, much less falling on my second attempt. By the time we had to leave I had managed to go down over half of the runs available and most of them a few times. I got some air over some bumps without hurting myself and even weaved through some trees.

Although the drive back was quicker it felt longer due to tired and bruised mussels. I was very stiff while at work on Monday but gradually loosened up over the week.

It started to snow here last night and it still hasn’t stopped. I went for a ride this morning in about 50mm of snow which was fun although very slippery at times. The snow is easy enough to ride in, what’s under it is the problem. Randomly hitting frozen puddles or completely iced up bits of the path made for an interesting balancing act at times. When the paths were wide it was even more difficult as the extra light meant that you could not distinguish the highs and lows of the ground in front of you because it was all bright white. But it was fun and it’s nice to not have to worry about washing the mud of the bike, just let the snow melt and it’s clean!