Nordic Ski

I had plenty of time and sunshine, and I wondered what to do next. I left my contact details with the lady at the safari shop, asking her to call if there was any excursion tonight. I wanted to go for a snow mobile outing in the night. I wandered to a ski rental shop and picked up a pair of Nordic (ie. Cross-country) skis. They were very cheap, 12Eur for 24h. I think they were my best investment, finally I had a chance to exercise!

The differences between Nordic ski and the normal Alpine downhill ski was the technique and sticks. The Alpine ski that I tried in Switzerland last month was mostly downhill and involved rigid plastic boots, and the base area of the skis was larger and wider. The Nordic ski was akin to walking, the boots soft and the skis skinnier. Nordic ski was not as fast, but involved a good walkout of the whole body. You needed the arms to work the ski poles, and the legs to move-walk. There was a marked trail, essentially 2 lines of ski tracks in which you placed your skis and glided along.

I chose the easiest and shortest trail. It started with a downslope! I fumbled and skidded. Then an elderly gentleman very kindly held my pole to prevent me from flying and guided me down the slope. He even took some time to teach me the ski basics and we did a couple of exercises along a flat stretch of the trail! I was so thankful.

I explored the trail on my own. Soon I reached the destination point Laanila, 2,8km away. The adventurous side of me decided to explore other longer trails. Some sections were challenging. I fell twice into the soft snow. The down slopes were long and steep. Others had steep upslopes where one had to really trudge your way up. On a few occasions, I removed my skis and just walked the sections up/ down.

A phone call came to inform me that the snow mobile outing tonight was confirmed because there were other people interested. Great! Now I just had to find my way back to Saariselka in time. The stretches of snow were long, and white, and silent, with almost nobody in sight. I was getting a little desperate to get back, although I knew it would still be bright until 9pm. I moved along, starting to feel tired of tackling the slopes.

Finally, the colourful entrance of Saariselka appeared ahead, at the top of a long upslope. I happily made my way up and returned to my hotel. It was a good experience, and I would try it again tomorrow.