Well, I have to. I have to ski every month, that is. So now it is time to fly to Lithuania and go skiing, even if it is middle of June. Lithuania has the closest indoor ski place in Druskininkai, the Snow Arena.
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June 2026, Snow Arena, Druskininkai, Lithuania
Skiing (Indoor)
Sigh, more summer woes. Stopped at the Grani ski hill in Kauniainen, and Mustavuori in Tampere. Not a single spot of snow available in either.
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June 2026, Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland; Mustavuori, Tampere, Finland
Skiing (None)
My skiing in May'26 wasn't on particularly cold mountains. It was upside down brushes on the warm and green Mendip Hills, a famous nature area southwestern England, 25 kilometers from Bristol. Not a big hill... but I had a LOT of fun. On previous occasions on these plastic surfaces I've not felt at home, but now it felt like I had gotten the hang of it. Skiing was smooth and fun. There were steeper and less steeper sections, a section with moguls. Three bumps to be exact :-)
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May 2026, Mendip Activity Centre, Winscombe, United Kingdom
Skiing (Plastic)
Safari in Ruokolahti. Sadly, I did not see a lion. But I managed to ski snow on second half of May, that's something. Well, ice. But still, quite nice views over the lake, not too bad! I also checked a cave, the Lassilan Linnavuoren luola (Lassila's Castle Mountain Cave). This was a total surprise, an excellent cave by Finnish standards. A through cave from one hole up on a cliff face to another hole on the same face. Wonderful!
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May 2026, Ruokolahden Freeski, Ruokolahti, Finland; Lassilan Linnavuoren luola, Ruokolahti, Finland; Lassilan Linnavuoren nuotioluola, Ruokolahti, Finland; Lassilan Linnavuoren lohkareenalusluola, Ruokolahti, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Crack, Rock-Granite); Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Boulders, Rock-Granite)
I managed a Mother's Day trip with a visit to see my mom, but also to ski a closed ski hill, hike to see a cave, and swim at a new swimming hall.
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May 2026, Kokonniemen hiihtokeskus, Porvoo, Finland; Kolisevan Pirunpesä, Iitti, Finland; Kuusankosken uimahalli, Kuusankoski, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Unknown, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Pool, Indoor); Sauna (Normal)
Wow, I dragged my skis here for 200 kilometers, but there's absolutely no snow left in Hirvensalo ski hill. Sigh. Late May and June really are difficult, just a few weeks earlier it likely would have been some snow left on the ski slopes. Oh well, at least my other activities during the day allowed me to visit a sauna.
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May 2026, Hirvensalo, Turku, Finland; Turun NMKY - YMCA, Turku, Finland
Skiing (None); Sauna (Normal)
Himos. I have not been here enough apparently, because I didn't remember how good it is. They jokingly advertise it as you being able to drive also all the way to Lapland, but why. It really is good. This was a the last or second last day there were open this season, and only the northern slopes were still open. But oh wow, was the skiing still good! Steep red and black slopes, groomed to perfection, and hard after a frozen night. Perfect for cruising all day.
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April 2026, Himos, Jämsä, Finland; Break Sokos Hotel Himos, Jämsä, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
On April 3 I was wondering if I'd done my last lift-assisted turns in Southern Finland. But no, they were done today on April 12, at Vihti Ski. I was on the tail end of a flu, so only showed up half an hour before they would close (at 12!) and was one the last lifts up. Wonderful skiing though.
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April 2026, Vihti ski, Vihti, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Could this be the last lift-serviced skiing in the Helsinki region for me this season? Most ski resorts, such as Swinghill or Kauniainen have already closed... Vihti and Hyvinkää are still going, but not on all days, so today I chose to go to Serena instead of further away Vihti. And I'm away next few days, so when I come back, there may not be anything else than hiking left. But hiking up is always good! Let the season be long :-)
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April 2026, Serena, Espoo, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
I've already been to multiple ski resorts in this corner of the world, in Andorra, and also here on the Spanish side: Port del Comte, La Molina. But now I had an opportunity to take a day and a half off after my meetings in Barcelona, could I score some more ski resorts?
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March 2026, Port Ainé, Rialp, Spain; Espot Esquí, Espot, Spain
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Wow. It is new, just opened four months ago. I knew there was an indoor ski place in Shenzhen where I was traveling for a conference, but I did not know that they would have the world's largest indoor ski hall. Now I *had* to find an evening to visit it.
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March 2026, Qianhai Snow World, Shenzhen, China
Skiing (Indoor)
Quick stop at Flottsbro ski hill south of Stockholm before heading to the airport and back home. End of a busy week with demos etc. in Kista. Nice ski moment, but a bit bittersweet as I kept remembering a recently lost local friend who I knew also loved to ski …
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February 2026, Flottsbrobacken, Huddinge, Sweden
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Wow, a ski resort in Finland that I have not even heard of ... Hetan Hiihtomaa is a small ski resort run by the Enontekiö community, high up north. On their best day they may get only 100 skiers. Must visit some day!
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February 2026, Hetan Hiihtomaa, Enontekiö, Finland
Skiing (None)
Day trip to Purnu ski hill (Hiihtokeskus Purnu), a medium-sized ski hill south of Jyväskylä. Wonderful winter day and light! Trees with snow cover were amazing. It was a great ski mountain too. This was my first trip with the fixed Volvo, it faired well, no breakages. On the way back I stopped at the Vierumäki sports academy swimming hall, which was also a nice experience. I thought it would have been crowded on a weekend, but by seven pm it was more or less empty.
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February 2026, Hiihtokeskus Purnu, Hartola, Finland; Vierumäen uimahalli, Vierumäki, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Swimming (Indoor, Water, Waterbody-Pool); Sauna (Normal)
Day trip to Riga for two ski hills and couple of caves. Full day but very nice hills and caves!. First up, Riekstukalns ski resort southeast of the city... then Ozolkalns ski resort 90 mins northeast. Both were superb! Riekstukalns felt like Les 3 Vallees of Latvia with its multiple bases and skiing long stretches to the other side of the large ski resort. Ozolkalns shone with its chair lift and river views.
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February 2026, Riekstukalns, Baldones, Latvia; Ozolkalns, Cēsis, Latvia
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
Surprisingly busy evening at the Peuramaa ski resort today. A Wednesday. Maybe there's tourists from a bit further up Finland who still have ski vacations this week? Or was it the race event that they were having. Anyway, our company ski club was having an event ... that's why we were there. Nice! Superb slopes, very nice to run on the well prepared snow surfaces, and enjoy the (cold) sunshine.
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February 2026, Peuramaa, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts)
