Course setters statement

Thoughts from the Course Setter

The Finnish Championships in sprint and pursuit competitions will be held this coming weekend, further south than ever before. The competition centre is Hakunila Sports Park, well-known from many ski events.

The competition area is an interesting mix of urban residential zones, fields, and forest terrain, and it has been exciting to design the trail network and courses there. These competitions were originally scheduled for last year, but had to be cancelled due to lack of snow. Now we have enough snow to carry out the event – although an additional twenty centimetres would certainly have helped to improve the trail conditions.

The organising clubs have done a great deal of volunteer work with snowmaking, yet some parts of the trail network are still slightly more difficult to traverse than we had hoped. In the forest, trails have been placed on old paths for environmental reasons, to avoid excessive clearing. These paths are used throughout the year by many walkers and riders, which has worn them down and exposed more stones. Unfortunately, with the current snow depth we have not been able to cover all of them. For this reason, competitors should avoid using their very best pair of skis. The worst stones have intentionally been left visible.

In the field areas, the terrain is relatively easy to move on, as the fields are either stubble or grass fields. Even though we have created many tracks there, shortcuts may still form.

In addition to the man-made competition tracks, the city maintains an extensive network of ski trails, which are currently very fast and wide skating tracks.

There are also wide snowmobile tracks in the terrain along old ski trails, providing good routes for progress.

The unclassified black roads in the field areas are snowy and not ploughed. They have been used by walkers and riders, and we have not created tracks on them.

The dashed-line tracks are those that we have snow-covered, and special caution is needed on them, particularly in downhill sections. Sometimes an alternative route – or even taking off your skis and walking – may be the wiser choice.

Due to the elevation differences and the varied terrain, the courses—especially the longer ones—will be physically demanding and play a significant role in the pursuit competition.

People have been moving through the terrain on foot, and due to unauthorised off-road driving, there are narrow tracks made by sport snowmobiles. Despite this, the actual competition trails are passable, and competitors should avoid straying onto these incorrect tracks. We have not been able to cover them or mark them on the competition map, in order to preserve the map’s readability.

Despite the information provided and the signs in the terrain, competitors are urged to watch out for any oncoming walkers.

The map includes new types of course markings, and compliance with these will be monitored. More details are available in the controller’s statement and in the competition instructions.

Welcome to compete in Vantaa’s uniquely challenging terrain.

Keijo Talja

Head of the Course Setter Team