Matinkylä skiing
We went to Matinkylä, southern Espoo today. One of the largest shopping malls in Finland, Iso Omena ("Big Apple") is located in Matinkylä. But they are also known as the site of M2, a mountain with icy slopes even in the middle of the summer. The steep slopes of M2 rise a whopping two feet above the surrounding landscape, scaring skiers and mountaineers alike. Indeed, very few climbers have climbed it.
(Original source video is also available here.)
Seriously though, natural snow had been gone for a couple months by now, but there was an ice rink. Ice rink maintenance produces some snow as a side-effect, and I've been searching for a rink that would be open during the summer. It turns out that the rink in Matinkylä is open. And surely enough, they had a pile of white snow outside, in the sunny, +25 degrees summer day!
Coming down from the Matinkylä ski hill
Time to put my miniskis into action! (I hate the miniskis. It is very hard to stay balanced on them. But on a hill with just two feet of vertical, they are pretty much the only option.)
Ski transport
Given the short ski slope, we decided get some extra exercise by heading there with our bikes. This gave Janne and me a nice 20 kilometer bike tour. The miniskis do have one advantage, however. They are much easier to transport on bikes than regular skis.
Splashing snow
Important Parameters
Cost of lift tickets: 0 €. Plenty of other activities available nearby, a children's playground, gas station with a restaurant, and of course, an ice skating rink. And a shopping mall.
M2, the most feared mountain on earth
Photo credits (c) 2012 by Jari Arkko and Jarmo Ruuth
This article was originally published in the Planetskier Blogspot article series. Suomenkielisen version tästä artikkelista "Matinkylä" voi lukea myös täältä.
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