Finlandia Hiihto (Cross Country Skiing)

Towards the end of February, Lahti hosted the Finlandia Hiihto, which was a big cross-country skiing competition.

People from all over Finland and all over the world came to take part in the skiing competition which went all around through the pathways of Urheilkeskus. The Finlandia Hiihto was one of those competitons that anyone could enter, so there were hundreds of competitors.

I really love when there is some sort of competition going on, because then all of the flags are up around the stadium for the different countries.

This year happened to be the 40th year of the competition. There were several different levels of events ranging from the length of races; 25km, 50km, 75km, and some races for youth skiers too. When I first arrived, I saw one of the groups leaving. It was really amazing watching all the athletes piling up the hill out of the stadium at the same time, to begin the race.

Here is the start line for one of the events. Everyone just lined up and then left at the same time to ski.

One of the skiers coming to the finish line.

This is where most of the events took place. In the stadium was the start and finish, and in the background, there were also skiers practicing going down the ski jumps too. 

 Here is a picture of me from my first time cross country skiing. My friend taught me how to ski around pikuvesijärvi during one PE class. It was a lot of fun, but I was awful. My friend walked quicker than I could ski and everytime I finally got the hang of it she would look over and then I would nearly fall. It was great nonetheless and something I would definately like to do again if I get the chance.