Vierumaki training

Greeting from Finland! After 27 hours of traveling we arrived safely in Vierumaki, Finland. 4 movies and multiple naps made the flights go by quickly, though the 4hour layover in Toronto seemed very long. Aaron had a direct Calgary-Frankfurt flight and he beat us to Frankfurt despite leaving Calgary 5 1/2 hours after the rest of the team! Incredibly, all the luggage from the whole team arrived except for one ski bag. After collecting our bags in Helsinki we had a quick lunch (our first meal in Finland was at an American-style restaurant) and drove about 2hrs Northeast to Vierumaki. We are staying at the hotel Scandic which is a newly opened sport-focused hotel. It has a gym and sauna and a 200m walk brings us to the ski trails.

Unfortunately the sun hasn't shown its face yet here and it has been gloomy so far. It is quite warm (around zero) which is a nice change. My toes appreciate the temperature after 2 weeks of skiing in -20 degrees! We went for easy skis this morning and afternoon.

The girls skating this morning

We found a little lake this afternoon so we stopped to play!

Janelle on the rope swing

Annika practicing her alpine ski starts off the dock

Sweet clothing dryer in our room

Today ended with a Canadian-American bowling showdown in the 10-pin bowling alley in the basement of the hotel. It was a great way to keep ourselves awake until bedtime!

Hyvaa yota!

Alysson