Invasion of the Golfers

Lebensraum for skiers is shrinking

Sunday, April 12th at the Peuramaa ski area. There's still plenty of snow, its +10 degrees, and the sun is shining. But this is the end. Snow is melting fast, nights are not cold enough for snowmaking, the cliffs in Peuramaa's playground are no longer covered by snow -- not that it prevented me from skiing them -- and the afterski restaurant has run out of Pepsi Max.

But more importantly, the little green men are invading. I mean the little men on the green are invading. Sorry, I meant that the men on the green are invading... Whatever. I'm talking about the golfers. Peuramaa hosts also a golf area, and everyone's focus seem to be in starting the golfing season. With the spring and sunshine even the local skiers have forgotten that skiing might still be possible. Thus, this is the last day of the season at Peuramaa.

Not Just Peuramaa

And this is not just Peuramaa. My home hill, Kauniainen has already been closed for

The parking area has turned into a lake

a week. So is Serena. Vihti might still be open for a couple of days, but the little green men seem to be taking over there, too, as they are hosting a ski-golf tournament. This is the end of the season in the nearby areas.

I Need to Find More Skiing

The end of the season has caught me unaware. I am of course hoping that I'll find some more skiing in the coming months. I am traveling again in my work, maybe that helps? Unfortunately, Brussels, Amsterdam, Ljubljana, and Stockholm are unlikely to offer any skiing in May.

I'll also visit Quebec City in July, but

They butchered the deer (peura), too

its again the wrong season. Any ideas on what I could do to still get some skiing this season?

48 Hour Challenge, Take Three

By the way, I discovered the destination for my next 48 hour ski tour: Baltic countries. The season is over there, too, but next year it should be possible to visit perhaps even as many as four countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and maybe even somewhere in Russia. Kuutsemäe, 230 kilometers from Tallinn, Estonia, would be a good place to start from. They offer a couple of runs with the "sharpest one" being 15 degrees and the "gentle one" being 13 degrees :-)

Photo credits (c) 2011 by Jari Arkko