Skiing the Planet: April 2019

Monday, April 29, 2019

Today's car repair

Today's car repair: signal light wire loose. Fortunately 0€ (in a different shop than yesterday).

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Jarmo and I visited the Leppävaara area fortifications, inspired by Tony Hagerlund's excellent blogs about them. There's plenty of trenches and also bunkers! These are World War I era fortifications built in a circle around Helsinki. We also found a small natural cave under a boulder!

This was also my first biking of the year, in +20 degree sunshine and wearing shorts. Felt good.

We visited bunkers in three areas:

Laturinkallio (between Vallikallio and Galleria, the old Leppävaara shopping mall):

Bunker 1, perhaps a gun position? In coordinates N 60.22424 E 24.81525.

Bunker 2, a storage room perhaps, next to bunker 1. In coordinates N 60.22420 E 24.81539.

An almost dirt-filled bunker 3 under the hill in in coordinates N 60.22379 E 24.81704.

A collapsed bunker 4 at the top of the hill, in coordinates N 60.22402 E 24.81712.

Large concrete block covering surprisingly (at least visibly) only one small room in coordinates N 60.22414 E 24.81602.

We also found a small cave under a boulder here in in coordinates N 60.22382 E 24.816466. There's enough space for a man to be under the boulder, but we didn't have the equipment to draw a map of it.

Vallikallio:

Tunnel-like bunker (door welded shut) in coordinates N 60.22544 E 24.81858.

A second tunnel-like bunker, but with a slightly open door in coordinates N 60.22555 E 24.81839. There was an entrance room and a big storage room after it. Worth visiting, in rubber boots.

A blown-up bunker, remains only in coordinates N 60.22604 E 24.81769.

Nupukivenkallio, the hill south of the Leppävaara Urheilupuisto, between the school and fire station:

Gun station 1 in coordinates N 60.22261 E 24.80645. One photo at the top of this post and another here:

Gun station 2 in coordinates N 60.22256 E 24.80650.

Gun station 3 in coordinates N 60.22222 E 24.80667.

Warning: As always, be very careful visiting these places. There are 10 meter cliffs, dangerous objects in the floors, slippery rock, and the danger of collapses. On one of the bunkers in Vallikallio I stepped on a large boulder that started moving. It was scary.

Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. All my caving and urban exploration articles can be found from planetcaver.net, theurbanexplorer.net and of course blogspot and TGR!

So close, yet so far

I saw snow today! Outside the Leppävaara skating rink... behind bars. What did that snow do, and why is it locked up, and we're not allowed to play?

Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. My skiing stories can be found from Blogspot and Teton Gravity Research, as well as of course Planetskier.Net! This story has also appeared in TGR.

Lights on, car off

Car off lights on, because too old relay and no one makes it anymore. Fortunately, fuses work as a backup. #volvo

Saturday, April 20, 2019

El cheapo ski weekend

An el cheapo weekend activity: at Ylläs up North but since we're doing the 24 hour race, u don't need a hotel. 2 hours in, 22 to go. A lot of fun, old friends and, well, basically going fast & non-stop

Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. My skiing stories can be found from Blogspot and Teton Gravity Research, as well as of course Planetskier.Net! This particular article has also appeared in TGR. Tämä artikkeli löytyy myös suomeksi Relaasta.

Friday, April 19, 2019

Stuck in the parking lot

Didn't start. Leaving it at the office parking lot and taking the train, will return to investigate after some travel. Maybe broken, maybe fuel.

Photo and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Follow my adventures from Blogspot.

Refuel

Today's Volvo story is first two buses to get to buy a fuel canister. Then...

And a taxi ...

and ...

And it started!!! Can't say I expected that. Started... barely though and it could be just random. Let's see if it starts in the afternoon...

It runs!

Volvo. It runs nicely. After refuelling I calculated how much fuel must have been left before the canister, and got to "-2 litres", so... And all this time I have been blaming the car.

Photo and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Follow my adventures from Blogspot.

Back in the S.A.U.N.A.

After two weeks with stiches, finally got the OK to go back to the sauna again. Bliss!

Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Levi Hotel Spa

After the Ylläs competition, I first had a quick shower and sauna at the Pöllö next to the slopes. But since I had a long wait for my flight, I wanted to visit a proper spa. I had not been in the Levi Hotel Spa near the airport in a long time, so time for that today!

It turned out that the Levi Hotel Spa had been extended greatly in the meantime. It was a truly great place now, with outdoor pool, 2 outdoor hot jacuzzis, two new saunas -- steam and kelo -- and plenty of new pools and even a waterslide inside. Much recommended!

The visit to the spa is free for hotel guests, but if you're not a guest -- like me, sleeping in my car on this trip :-) -- it costs 22€ per visit. But there was a Plussakortti-tarjous for 15€, which was quite reasonable for this kind of a spa.

Three passports

Today I renewed my primary passport. With the recently renewed secondary passport, and the just expired one, there's now a stack of three passports in front of me! The expired has served well though, and will be decommissioned properly.

I have to say the behaviour of the police passport office was odd. Last year when I applied for a renewal of my secondary passport with a ton of supporting documenting, they called me back, saying that now that I have it, I don't have to provide any evidence when I renew my other, primary passport. Yet, of course I had to provide the same explanations again and visit the office. But, in the end the passport was given to me in two days after visiting the office. So not too bad. And the Finnish passports are very good for travelling around the world. I only wish they would be valid for longer, like they used to be (10 years).

Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Read all my travel and other stories from planetskier.blogspot.com!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Underground Tallinn

I had an opportunity to visit Tallinn for a couple of hours yesterday, and the obvious question was whether there'd be anything underground to visit. And there is, Kiek in de Kök bastion tunnels. But, they were closed on Monday. Luckily, however, we run into an old bunker under the Tallinn Meremuuseum.

The Meremuuseum is the northernmost tip of the Tallinn old town, a short walk from the harbour. The bunker turned out to be a gun shop, CitySec. It did feel weird to enter the door and not know what's really inside... a series of turns in a green corridor, until one reaches the main shop room. I have to say though, I don't like guns and people who feel like they need to have a mirror in the shop to buy riot control gear or guns have to be... a bit odd. But to each to his own, I guess.

The coordinates of the shop are N 59.4422 E 24.7503.

Also, the city walls ("Linnamüür") were open, and quite interesting to visit for only 2€. See above picture for the stairs inside the wall's towers. Visiting the walls is much recommended!

Tallinn:

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Skiareál Klínovec

While I've already skied in Czech Republic, I wanted to see if I could briefly visit a nearby ski area after my monster 8-day meeting was over. And I found Skiareál Klínovec!

This is a medium-sized ski area, that was running well on the last days of March, plenty of snow left. The ski area is right on the German-Czech border, and there's actually a German-side ski area as well, even if the actual ski slopes do not cross the border. The ski area is easy to get to from Prague, just 1.5 hour drive away. I had fun skiing in the sun, and using the yellow-bubble-covered chair lifts.

You can park either at the bottom (on multiple sides) or at the top. Ticket sales exist only at the bottom lifts, and there's more restaurants and other services at the bottom stations.

The ski runs are in general relatively easy, but the longest run, slope nr 1, Jáchymovská, is the most interesting as it winds around the forest, dropping steeply into the valley from the top of the Klínovec (see map).

Video:

More lift pictures:

Slopes:

The tower at the top of the mountain. Sadly, these old buildings are roped off and not used. Perhaps in danger of collapsing? There's only very simple cottage for a restaurant at the top.

This article has also appeared in TGR. Tämä artikkeli löytyy myös suomeksi Relaasta. And all my articles can of course be found from planetskier.net, blogspot, TGR, and Relaa! Photos, videos, and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Karlovy Vary

For afterski, I felt like I needed a shower. But maybe not just that... perhaps a sauna, or a dip into a pool. How about the divine thermal bath waters of Zámecké Lázně in the nearby Karlovy Vary?

It was divine. Very smooth, nice water.

Karlovy Vary is by the way a great find. I had not heard about it before, but it feels like a historic city center with grand buildings, except that it is tiny, and the buildings are lodged in a small valley, hidden from view. Yet, it is wonderful, and packed with spas and thermal baths.

All my articles can of course be found from planetswimmer.com, saunablogger.cool, blogspot, TGR, and Relaa! Photos and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Pool area photos taken with permission.

Skiing the Planet