Monotanssi

The boss & I have come back from Tahko after a great weekend. It was another first in terms of our exploration of Finland and we had a great time with good company and excellent skiing conditions. Our bus left Helsinki at 4pm on Friday and we got to Tahko some 6 hours later.

On Saturday morning I went and got my lift pass and my hire skis and met up with the others to begin skiing. We had a great day exploring the mountain. The weather was a rather brisk -15C but it was a dry cold and there was very little wind. Eventually this Englishman was coaxed into taking on the jump park which after my initial worry that I was embarking on a suicide bid turned out to be quite exhilarating. We finally called it a night after darkness had fallen and we had sneaked onto the slalom slopes the resort had prepared for the following days competition.

The final surprise of Saturday night was a visit to a bar on top of the hill. I have now seen Finnish culture in all its glory! It goes something like this. Take several million Finns, give them a ton of beer to drink. Then stuff them into a small shack in the middle of nowhere not quite big enough to swing a cat. Play loud music and let them dance on the table. Preferably in ski boots.

On Sunday it started snowing and we were on the first lift up to enjoy the fresh powder. After a little while we spotted an Atomic test centre & I had a chance to test ski the Atomic SX 12. Oh my dear lord they were quite simply the best skis I have ever put on my feet.

Now only two weeks to the Finlandia ski race and then 4 weeks to the Tiger Ski Tour in France. It looks like the winter isn't over yet!