Easter Expedition

Between Pyhätunturi and Noitatunturi

Pyhätunturi is a mountain situated in the town of Pelkosenniemi in Finland’s Lapland. As the snow started melting in the Helsinki area, Pyhätunturi is a good place for downhill and cross-country skiing. This year the conditions of Easter week were perfect for Rautiainen family’s traditional Easter expedition. The temperature dropped to -20 degrees centigrade during the night, preserving the snowy conditions. However, the temperature rose above the freezing point during the day with perfect sunshine making it ideal for outdoor activities.

Most of the time, Miia and Ida have been on the slopes, whereas Raila and I have been exploring the cross-county trails. Kiimaselkä (picture) is a popular rest stop for coffee and refreshments. The next day, we skied to Karhunjuomalampi, including a gruelling climb to the foothills of the mountain. Mikko arrived on Tuesday, and he is a snowboard man.

Lapland is one on the remaining wildernesses left in Europe. We saw footprints of a wolverine and tracks of it fighting with a hare. Most probably the hare lost the fight and its life.

Karhunjuomalampi hut

On Thursday we enjoyed sauna and swimming pool at Luosto Spa and on Friday night we will be celebrating Mikko’s birthday at a ski-resort restaurant. There might be some reindeer on the plate.

Americans and the real Finnish Sauna

The warning sign above is not a joke. In many places in the United States there is no clear understanding how the Finnish Sauna works. The only way to get the room hot is to pour water on the heater's rocks. Isn't that what the lady is doing below?

I experienced the preconception personally when I used to frequent the Marlboro tennis club in Massachusetts. And the irony was that heater in club's sauna went bust, although it was built to stand the water pouring. I heard people saying that it was because of a crazy foreigner. He just could not read the sign.


Anyway the heating room was constructed totally wrong. The heater was installed too high: My head got the heat and toes were freezing. Secondly the real purpose of sauna escaped the other club members. They thought it was a reading room and place to dry sweaty sporting clothing. Somewhat disgusting, or what?

Can a Finn survive abroad without a sauna? Not for an extended period of time. When I was constructing a sauna to the end of my garage in Acton, Mass. my neighbor stopped by asking what was going on. When told he he winked saying: "Yeah, fun and games...".

Oh well, you cannot win it all!

This just in, October 13, 2009: 

 Tim Kopra has been denied the pleasures of a Finnish sauna bath

Tim Kopra in the space shuttle

When Astronaut Tim Kopra, born from Finnish ancestry, participated the recent space shuttle flight, there has been an initiative in Finland on foot donating a real Finnish sauna to him.

According to Finnish Broadcasting company (YLE), NASA has now informed Finpro, the Finnish Export association, that according to NASA rules, the astronauts cannot accept such a large-scale donations .

Tim Kopra, is a NASA civil servant, even though he is an astronaut. USA has strict rules. According to NASA,  such a large-scale donation as a sauna to an astronaut would have been considered as a bribe, said Director Antti-Jussi Heilala (Finpro) to YLE.

The idea began when the President of Finland, Ms.Tarja Halonen phoned the space shuttle, and asked Kopra if he is longing for a Finnish sauna. Tim said that he thinking in the future constructing a sauna in his house.

Update, December 9, 2009: 

Here is another reason why the sauna has got a bad reputation in North America: