First publication in a UK caving magazine!

Jarmo and I managed to get a picture of the Högberget cave in the cover of the Cave Radio and Electronics Group (CREG) journal!

You can read the journal here. You'll need a subscription to read, but it is only 4£ per year. You can also subscribe to the more general Cave and Karst Science journal at the same place.

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2021 by Jari Arkko and Jarmo Ruuth. All rights reserved.

Clutch is fixed, properly!

 

Volvo is now ready to be picked up! The clutch is properly fixed, finally. They had to replace the parts rather than repair them.

Not the only crazy Volvo owner at the office

 

And if you thought I was the only crazy person at the office … pic from after lunch parking.

What a wonderful blue-white moment!

Back to the office!

First day at the office in 18 months. Also booked movie tickets for next month. Enough dangerous living for the rest of the year?

So good to see my friends and colleagues, although only a couple people at the office. And a beautiful day!

New reliability numbers for Volvo

 

.... now I've managed to do 66% of the summer cottage trips with the Volvo. It will just be a small matter of turning those numbers around and I'll have a "two nines" reliability already!

Feeling lucky

For 1000€, the handbrake now works (cable was fine, but the hull around had disappeared) and clutch replaced. Previous fixes were, e.g., welding broken clutch parts. Feeling lucky so I took the car to the cottage, 200 km away. It could be a long tow.

This is better skiing than last week

 

Last week I skied on my own yard, with snow carried in cardboard boxes. This week I'm skiing in Austria's glaciers. Not too shitty, as we say in Finland!

Weather varied from bright sunshine to impenetrable soup. Snow conditions ranged from a mixture of ice, water and small rocks to, well, fresh soft snow :-) Again, not too shitty!

Hintertux is Austria's only ski resort that is open year around. I think I've been here now for 6 or 7 years in a row. It is easy to get to from Finland, and reasonably priced. Especially when compared to the alternative, Zermatt :-)

Corona practices: Finnish citizens with two vaccinations can enter Germany and Austria with no extra requirements. In addition, while there is some amount of "I ignore the mask rules" -people around, the processes everywhere were pretty strict and sensible. Masks were required in ski lifts. Ski area restaurant required registration for contact tracing and either recent test or double vaccination. And then you get stamped when you show your papers! Same requirements were also applied at the hotels. Some shops had started to require FFP2 masks for entering.

This article has also been published at TGR. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2021 by Jari Arkko.

Madseiterhof Saunas

 

While skiing in Hintertux, I stayed at the Gasthof Pension Madseiterhof. A remarkably good quality/price ratio! I paid only 80€ per night, which included breakfast and dinner. The rooms are not the newest, but they have a VERY nice sauna at the basement.

There's a nicely lit Finnish sauna, an infrared sauna box, and a relaxation area. And the infrared sauna door handle is made from an old ski! They do not have a pool though, if you're looking for the ultra-luxurious experience, try the Adler Inn (across the street, same management), the Spa Neu-Hintertux (next to the slopes), or the Berghotel Hintertux Wellnesshotel (between the lifts and the Madseiter, but perhaps the best saunas that I have experienced in the world).

Much recommended. The prices of course depend on season, number of people in your party, etc. I was very happy with what I got!

Infrared sauna:

Relaxation area:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2021 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of other saunagoers or swimmers and try to visit at times where there is simply no one else around or the facility has been booked only for me.

Adler Inn Saunas

While skiing in Hintertux, I stayed across the street from the Adler Inn, and was lucky to be able to visit their saunas and spa as well. What a wonderful experience! 

They have four different saunas (herbs, steam, Finnish, and sauna by the pool). I particularly liked the Finnish sauna. A big area, with the most amazing view from its large window.

Much recommended!

The Finnish ("hot glacier") sauna:

And the view from that window:

Steam sauna:

For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot and TGR! The photos and text (c) 2021 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of other saunagoers or swimmers and try to visit at times where there is simply no one else around or the facility has been booked only for me.

Bus parking

 

So this is where the busses are parked in the summer...?

Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2021 by Jari Arkko.