:Kauniainen today
My local hill may soon be opening, as they predicted over a foot of snow today. It has not yet arrived, but lets hope it will. Anyone want to join for a pre-season ski run this evening? Bring your old skis... could be grassy or even rocky.
But I thought this might also be a good opportunity to review skiing in different seasons in Kauniainen. Or Grani, as it is affectionately called.
Autumn
The official ski season opens usually pretty late, like early January. But the actual ski season can start much earlier. In fact, frost is enough to ski in Kauniainen.
Early season skiing. Very early season.
Winter
There's the world-famous off-piste skiing, of course. The forest to the skier's right offers interesting routes between trees. Here I'm dropping by to do a steep but short descent before rejoining a Christmas dinner:
Christmas skiing, in a suit
And then there's the dark season. You know, up here in north there is a time when we do not see the sun at all. It is called the night: skiing at 3am.
3am skiing
Check out the video:
(Original source video is also available here.)
First of May
First of May, or Vappu. That is a special occasion for everyone in Finland. Many people do crazy things in Vappu. I chose to do the sensible thing, to ski the hill in my swimsuit. I had to, it was a very warm day: Grani summer ski.
First of May skiing
Summer
Grani just keeps on giving, even as late as May 20th: Grani still going strong.
Late season skiing
Even later, the glacier is shrinking, but you can still see it: Glacier du Kauniainen.
Glacier du Kauniainen
Equipment for very late season skiing
And it is not just me, I have raised a kid who wants to do equally crazy things: Planetskier, the Next Generation. And if the kids get bored with skiing, they can always collect golf balls. Here's our catch from a few minutes of searching:
Golf balls in the ski slope. WTF?
After-ski
There's a restaurant, of course! A great one, they serve Eko-makaronilaatikko! Read the full review from Seasons Pass.
Menu. I recommend the Eko-makaronilaatikko.
Photos and videos (c) Jari Arkko, Janne Arkko, and Jarmo Ruuth
This article was originally published in the Planetskier Blogspot article series. Suomenkielisen version tästä artikkelista "Granin vuodenajat" voi lukea myös täältä.
"Mongolia is kind of close, right? Story about an attempt to ski everywhere in the world where there's snow. And in some places where there isn't. On and off-piste skiing on all continents, skiing into craters of live volcanoes, climbing, photography, and travel." The Planetskier blog focuses on skiing, caving, climbing, biking, flying, sauna, and swimming adventures around the world. See the other Planetskier blog articles about skiing, caving, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.