First I thought of driving to Jyväskylä's Laajavuori (4 hours away) to experience one melting slope.. but then I found out that I can drive only 1.5 hours to another melting slope in Messilä near Lahti... win! And it only rained a bit. But it was actually quite a lot of fun!
And the tickets were only 15€ during the opening season. Well done!
Here's was the appealing alternative, Laajavuori:
As my friend Mark noted, it wasn't clear if there was four hours of melting time left on that snow...
But back to Messilä. While the ticket was cheap, I of course had to have a small sandwich and a bottle to drink something, and that was 10,70€ And this wasn't a gourmet dinner, nor were there any proper options for it. Fries and sausage... or pizza/pasta in the mansion restaurant. But it isn't Messilä's fault... the problem is that Finland is not France, Switzerland or even Italy or Austria. Finland is more like North American ski food... blah. See my comparison of Peuramaa and Chamonix (article, alt. link).
But then I drove up to Lahti for a swim in the Lahti swimming hall. It was a surprisingly good experience as well. For sure it was cramped in the pools and even in the saunas and dressing rooms.. but the hall was in the middle of the city and had some history. And on the proper swimming lanes it was plenty of space, just the jacuzzis and jumping tower were crowded. Well done, Lahti. I had previously visited the Saksala swimming hall (alt. link), which was a good experience as well. Apparently there's more, I should make visits, as long as I have a working car...
Skiing:
Swimming hall:
City:
This article has also appeared here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko.
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