Wow. I did not plan for this. But when I learned that this was possible, I just had to go. One hour of my Sunday.... spent skiing in downtown San Francisco. In what looks like a garage. And a sloping treadmill. But, make no mistake. Contrary to my usual style, this is not a crackpot hobbyist scheme, but a commercial operation, the Adventurous Sports. And a place to spot and correct your technique, for the treadmill gives you no room to be sloppy with your form.
Full story
July 2023, Adventurous Sports, San Francisco, California, USA
Skiing (Indoor, Substance-Other)
This is a difficult month. Again. But, Leppävaara to the rescue! A constant stream of fresh snow is being delivered outside the ice skating rink. So why not make a ski hill on the nearby slope?
Full story
July 2023, Leppävaaran jäähalli, Espoo, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking)
Traditional 1st of May celebration, on skis. This time on my local hill.
Full story
May 2023, Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking)
A tale of three ski … attempts. First, the nice one was in the evening with Dan and Tero in the Snova Shin Yokohama, an indoor facility with interesting “polymer snow” that is complete harmless to human but should be thoroughly washed before leaving 🙂
Full story
April 2023, Snova Shin-Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan; Sun Meadows Kiyosato Ski Area, Yamanashi, Japan; Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland
Skiing (Snow, Indoor); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, None); Skiing (Snow, Outdoor)
It was a great plan. Take trains to the Sun Meadows ski resort in Kiyosata, Nagano prefecture, Japan. And then come back at the end of the day, pick up my luggage from the hotel and head to the airport. In the words, I was on a deadline. And I was illiterate...
Full story
April 2023, Sun Meadows Kiyosato Ski Area, Yamanashi, Japan
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, None)
My March was super busy at work, and I was also away for extended part of the month. I had to put in my March skiing in early. A Saturday with decent weather seemed like what I should do. I opted for going to Swinghill in Nuuksio, a small but nice hill. The visit turned out to be really nice. The restaurant was booked for some private event, so no snacks for me. But there was a fire in the fire pit outside, which I loved.
Full story
March 2023, Swinghill, Espoo, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
I've been here before. But now I was again in Yokohama for conference, and also had some friends eager to go skiing. After our meetings were over in Friday evening, Dan, Tero, and me got into a taxi and headed to Snova Shin Yokohama.
Full story
March 2023, Snova Shin-Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan
Skiing (Indoor, Snow)
... ski boots in the morning.
Full story
February 2023, Helsinki-Vantaa, Vantaa, Finland
Skiing (None); Travel; Flying
Greece: I have always pictured it as a land of sunshine, warm beaches, and white sand. I clearly had no idea. It is those things, too, particularly in the summer. But in the winter it is surprisingly cold, has a lot of mountainous areas, and yes, IT HAS SNOW AND SKI RESORTS! I tried two of them in February 2023...
Full story
February 2023, Kalavrita Ski Resort, Kalavrita, Greece
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Apparently, there's "no winter maintenance" at the Grani ski hill in Kauniainen. Weird. But ok...
Full story
February 2023, Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Early morning by the olive trees. Too early, but I have a long drive, 3-4 hours from my hotel to Mount Parnassus, a premier ski resort in Greece. It is perhaps the resort that is known, if anyone has heard of any. A quite magnificent ski resort, I think. Slightly lover than the other one that I visited, Kalavrita, but with more slopes, lifts, and because Mount Parnassus stands alone (prominence: 1,590 m) it feels a much bigger mountain. There is a vast area of snow up there, and only tiny fraction of it is in the ski resort. This would be a wonderful place to do so ski touring!
Full story
(TGR version)
February 2023, Parnassos Ski Centre, Polidrosos, Greece
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Ski maintenance needed. Make that double! (And maybe on the rocks?)
Full story
January 2023, Ski Service, Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland
Skiing (None, Equipment)
Their official name is Koziniec-Ski Sp. z o.o. Czarna Góra - Stacja Narciarska, but I have no idea what any of that means. But they appeared with their lights and ski lifts on from the wet darkness of miserable drive through rain and sleet as we were nearing Zakopane on our return trip from Slovakia. And I needed to ski properly in Poland. In 2011 I was on a through trip and managed to hike up a closed ski hill. Nice, but now I when had an opportunity to ski on an actual open and lit ski slope, I needed to take it!
Full story
January 2023, Koziniec Ski Stacja Narciarska, Nadwodnia, Czarna Góra, Poland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Want.
Full story
January 2023, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Skiing (None, Equipment)
Foggy day. At the top, at least. No matter. Let's ski.
Full story
(TGR version)
January 2023, Tatranska Lomnica, Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Our second day of skiing in Slovakia was on Jasná Nízke Tatry, also called Chopok. Chopok is the name of the 2024 meter peak by the highest lift station, few meters lower at 2004 meters. I did climb to the peak as well, going up was easy but coming down was treacherous as it was quite icy. And speaking of ice ... I think either my skis were a bit off sharpness, or the slopes were extremely ice. Actually maybe both. It was difficult to control speed on the steep black runs from the top.
Full story
(TGR version)
January 2023, Jasná Nízke Tatry - Chopok ski area, Demänovská Dolina, Slovakia; Chopok, Horná Lehota, Slovakia
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain)
