100 km de patin à glace

C’est bien évidemment dans un pays du Nord que l’action a été possible. C’est en Finlande, à Lohjanjärvi, qu’un groupe de copains s’est lancé dans une longue traversée de plus de 100 km en patin à glace. Loin des patinoires intérieures, ils ont glissé sur le lac Lohjanjärvi, sur 111 km de distance. L’un des presque 200 000 lacs de Finlande qui sont couverts de glace en hiver.

Nordic skating tour in March 2021 on Lohjanjärvi, Finland. The traveled distance was 111 km. One guy in the group did 125 km in the same time, skating extra runs. It started snowing suddenly at 90 km.

Finding good ice for skating is often not that easy. The most perfect black ice is usually formed at the time of year when it snows a lot. It is challenging to find strong enough ice that is not yet covered by snow. Skating on such ice as shown in this video is usually preceded by a rigorous community effort in making and sharing ice observations. Each winter offers different ice and snow conditions, so it is impossible to predict the optimal time window several weeks in advance. Most of the time, skating opportunities come with a day or two’s notice.