The Race and Fair seasons are now off and it is time to get back on Travel and Tourist season. Next week I’m flying to Dubai for a vacation and then having the biggest Xmas rush so far in Sea Lapland. Even though the calendar is heavily booked I assume we can manage with wider staff and more simplier logistics than before. At least the whole autumn has been time for training and education.

On summer I did not achieve any remarkable results in any disciplines of orienteering, rogaining or trail running. No real ultras, no TOP3 places or either to remember due to lack of training on winter and also due to lack of competitions during the spring. My twin brother Mikko also recovered from peroneus injury so did not have any other to accompany for example in Rogaining Finnish Champs. On July I ran the Kainuu and Fin5 orienteering weeks ending up tired. On autumn I competed in Orienteering Finnish Champs ending only in places out of TOP10. In sprint qualifications there was easy run but on the finals I was out already after couple of legs. In long, night and ultra Champs the speed was also missing. Maybe the best run was at Joulurogaining 6 hour race where I led the first 4 hours before taking the Raatotaxi out of the game.

So what has changed? I assume the biggest thing is that we are going in the court in the middle of January and facing criminal charges of treason for 3-year sentence. Virkamafia has drafted best criminals as prosecutors and judges so I assume we don’t get fair trial. At least everything is sealed so they can play their games as they like. But hopefully the tunnels will be revealed and people start asking questions. It is important that Finland has the tunnels for evacuation and protection but it is unfair that those who reveal the fact that they exist will be punished. The opposite way would be right so those should be punished who have been hiding the tunnels for almost 100 years and still continue lying to Finnish people and secretly funding the expansion of the tunnel system which is already built and ready for comprehensive use. But let’s see what happens next.

Stay tuned.

Winter season is over and what a success it was! We saw the Auroras every second night and also established the new whatsapp channel for the Aurora Alerts in Sea Lapland for anyone to follow freely when the Northern Lights occur. It seems we have reached the point where Auroras can be guaranteed if just customers are willing to postpone or cancel the cloudy nights off. So if you need to catch the Auroras or already work on the tourism field in Sea Lapland just subscribe in on the Alert channel to nail the beautiful bastards more often down!

Tourist season started with ackward situation when almost everybody else had the problems on getting enough snow but here in Kemi we skied at Junko first snow track and icetrekked the Old Kemi Laitakari island already in November. Having the Jewelry Gallery installed inside the Laplan… Bothnian Bay for whole Christmas season was just something you don’t see every day.

In Aurora Hunts and Chases we also moved to the new era when getting out from single stationery spots to more mobile systems. Former we had the problem of keeping everybody alive when the winter hits the coldest but now with the busses we can operate more freely greeting also the wheelchairs etc warmly welcomed onboard.

For future development we have also opened now up Tornio-Haparanda, Rovaniemi and Oulu cities for Santa Survival, City Tour and the Auroras. Running 10 years tourist services in Kemi around Snowcastle area has taught me to handle various customers at the same time so next winter it is challenging to see if the carousel still keeps on rocking when multitasking. If you already operate with some kind of functional activity on these cities contact me for the co-operation.

On summer we focus on Resurrecting Rungius to get also Keminmaa side of the tourist services decently running. In overall Keminmaa municipality should team up with VisitKemi to get on the Tru.. Train. Tornio is already married to Haparanda and if Sea Lapland area is not associating together the only reasonable option seems to be partnering with Kemi. Now we miss the marketing channels of Kemi, Sampo and Snowcastle just because the municipality line is so close to the city. But anyways every operator should be backing up the Kemi airport and connecting it decently to the Finnish and European railroad network. It is just 500 metres to the terminal.

For the summer race season the first kilometres have been now run but without proper skiing kilometres the weight management seems to be the first issue on rehabilitation. 100 kg line is still far away and at least the calendar looks empty enough for losing.

t. Snowman

Race season of 2024 is now over and out. Even though Mikko was on the train whole season we could not make it to the Finnish line with steady runs but ended like quitting, coming out earlier than deadline or just walking the last 10 hours of ultras like European and Finnish 24-hour Rogaining Championships and 5-days Lapland Wilderness Challenge. Former Mikko has been able to run injury-free but now it seems he is ruined with problems like permanent obesity and broken ankle.

On the final race of the season in Marathon of Dangers I also had to quit after leading the chase pack for first 2 hours. The muscles felt relaxed and the moves were easy but still there wasn’t enough power for all the hills up and down. I assume the lack of training is somehow related to the sustainability because now with the bar also the restaurant works. The shotbelt is just stable and easy to use fitting all the survival candies and gels in handy package.

On the treason case the prosecutor is still figuring out how to a) hide the tunnels and b) charge us for revealing them so good luck! For me it seems as Mission Impossible but let’s see if they can do it. At least my phones, laptops etc. still remain in illegal custody. Police just cannot steal someone’s items without renewing the custody every 4 months. When they missed that deadline on July 2023 they just had to choose the unlawful path and you know what happens along that trail. More games on the court where you just need more lying judges and witnesses to keep it somehow looking like legal. For us and our followers the things look like comedy so also the meme level has now been reached. Maybe even permanently like Paavo Väyrynen has done

On the tourism sector I have now finished the studies on international digital marketing. It seems that the whole field of industry has been controlled by big operators creating more rules while the apps and other digital platforms just ruin them. When former the customer ordered the travel package from travel agency which controlled the tour operator and the real producers of the services (like guides, drivers etc.) nowadays you just order the service straight from the activity provider. Digitalized, translated and transparented services with valid reviews just make it so easy for people to trust and order straight online while the prices still keep reasonable and cheap. If the service is too expensive, queued, complicated etc. poor quality you just get the bad reviews and miss the position of the valid provider in the digital world. For me it seems that I’m valid because I already have bookings on almost every day for December which is my main month of the tourist activities while the health fairs are on leave. So let’s keep the steady pace at least here in Sea Lapland where the sea hopefully still freezes and the skiing season also starts already in November!

t. Vapaa

Last week one of my best friend the orienteering world champion Pasi Ikonen passed away. I met him first in 90’s in Baltic Sea Tour, became my club mate for years in SK Pohjantähti and he was also the first employee hired on my company e-Coach. Most of the orienteering and sports following people knew Pasi after his dominance in orienteering in the beginning of this century.

Pasi was kind of perfectionist on the issues related to orienteering and he changed also my way of thinking about the optimal navigation. In fact it was rare to find an orienteer in 1990’s (and still is :-)) that would not just anticipate (ennakoida) and wait for the reduced forms (pelkistettyjä muotoja) seen on the map but would rather read almost all the single stones and other exact point symbols printed on the map inside the unawareness ellipse. Timo Karppinen was doing that and also some other slower guys but most of the top ones still relied heavily on reduction and compass. When Pasi removed the compass with his coach Eino Havas many were surprised how stable and errorless Pasi became. One year he only made mistakes 7 seconds/km through the whole season which is still very high rate among elite orienteers. By removing the compass Pasi got more into the map and showed that the laser scanned and gps-pointed maps are nowadays reliable to read if you just have time and will to read it.

Pasi is remembered about the games he played like floorball, football, ice hockey / bandy etc. More rarely is known that he was also the first ones in the world to exercise fast interval terrain running trainings (which sometimes also hurt him on the back). I remember many legs which were technically difficult to run to just see Pasi flying over the obstacles with his divinal stride leaving others far behind. With simplified and automated navigation Pasi got more time to concentrate on just pure running as fast he could especially on the orienteering technically easier parts of the course.

Rest in peace Pais!
t. Marko

Summer race season has now really begun with surviving 3 days and nights in Lapland Wilderness Challenge for about 130 km in fully-packed mode. Mikko had to quit after muscle fatigue but especially on the first part of the course we managed to take the lead and instruct the winners of Skypole to the controls when seeing them off the route. LWC was first ultra race this season and despite of mosquitos and some blisters the magnificient views of Kaldoaivi have now been seen. Also Juncker has been shot down and Hitler’s hideout revealed. Check more detailed analysis of LWC2024 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfIhXmuhwQg

The preparation of LWC consisted of NUTS Karhu 50 km and Seskarö Trail runs with also the anchor leg of Jukola Relay. The main problem on the beginning of the summer has been the knees which need longer warm-up to be fully driven on downhills and tricky parts where you need to drop, jump or leap over the obstacles. Next test for that is NUTS Poro 37 km where there is biggest descent in Finland from top of Ylläs on the bottom of Kesänki lake.

For the rest of the summer major events are World Masters Orienteering Championships in Turku area, European Rogaining Championships in Estonia and also the Finnish Championships of Rogaining in Ylämaa. Having now already the endurance and strength covered quite well the focus is on the speed increase because the rope was too loose on LWC.

On the treason case for revealing the Finnish army tunnels the prosecutor has now asked for more time on raising the charges so supposedly we are having the trial earliest on 2025. At least the police has now finalized their report having false assumptions still so hopefully the prosecutor gets them corrected or at least the jury. In the meantime enjoy the show!

In corona test case we won the government so they had to drop the charges against me and pay the court costs about 2000 euros. Here you can check the trial online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MrjBk7WkRw

T. Rudolf

Winter season is now over and what rough time it was. No spring but only hard cold winter from November to April. Hopefully next season we get back to normal where nice and easy weather conditions also sometimes prevail. This season the amount of tourists multiplied so that I had almost everyday customer(s) but still bus loads are missing. Maybe next season!

Guys in GITMO are also increasing when Arktis also operates besides with Sampo next year probably also affecting on Laitakari icetreks and Northern Lights tours. We nailed the Auroras with over 90% accuracy now for third season in a row and opened the Remote Aurora guiding service for whole Finland. Also Lapland Salmon Lodge joined as functional Aurora station on the line.

Next it is time for training for the summer season and the main goal is to survive through hardest and toughest ultra race this year in Finland the 5-days Lapland Wilderness Challenge at Inari Kaldoaivi and Vätsäri wildlands. Skipping the skiing season and moving directly to running is my plan with that.

For the spring (if it still exists) I have almost every weekend health fairs around Scandinavia. Now with the mobile setting the traveling gets easier but still the passport is missing. We have now filed complaints of the police and justice departments so let’s see what happens if the head of investigation is suspended on our treason case. At least the tunnels are there even though they don’t exist on the paper

For the first health fairs this season we have adopted the Pig and rolled out the Sinmeter. Both seem to freak out people but the officials are still holding their Horses. I suppose the local fairs in April and May will determine if additional to Doctors also Priests are starting to run and hide off on our booth.

t. Putin

Christmas came and also the New Year even though I could not properly register them while having lot of customers both daily on the ice and snow and during the nights at Aurora hunts and chases. The last week of the highest season we had -30 degrees so also camper broke and now having the repair ahead.

New routes have been opened to HaparandaTornio so that now we can icetrek, snowshoe and ski the Riekkola area easily. Also ski rental services are available on the Sea Lapland. Evacuation processes were tested twice near Snowcastle with Hongkongese and Spanish customers so seems the settings work right.

Next it is time for snow training season so that multiday event Lapland Wilderness Challenge can be raced properly on summer. Of course we still have to wait for Mikko if he gets into some kind of shape to survive on the rope.

Merry Xmass and Happy New Year!

t. Mark

Syksyn kisakausi on nyt maalissa ja viimeisinä tuliaisina olivat Keminmaa Hölkän eksyminen kärkipaikalta, Kivalo Trailin maratonin voitto sekä Hanskin Hölkän ikäsarjojen voitto 8 km:lla vajaa 8 minuuttia hallitsevaa Suomen mestaria Eemil Helanderia hitaampana. Syksyn juoksukunto on ollut sanalla kuvaten helppo eli juoksu kulkee mutta maalissa ei väsytä. Liekö ultramatkojen vähyys ja roksun SM-kisoissakin nähty Mikon nopea tummuminen jo 8 tunnin kohdalla vaikuttaneet ettei perinteistä jumia ole näkynyt.

Suunnistusrintamalla ÖstraNattin loppukiri hyytyi Karungissa hylsyyn kun alpilaiset olivat jättäneet kartan päivittämättä eikä kakkosrastia löytynytkään. Muutenkin yösuunnistusgrippi oli hieman hakusessa kun Kuivanuorossa ehdin paikoitella kolmisen minuuttia yhtä rastia ja Kalixissakin viereiset heijastimet kiinnostivat. Tuikku on nyt saamassa varteenotettavan kilpailijan koko yön kestävästä O-Lightista vaikka diskovaloja sekin välillä vilkuttelee.

Poliisi siirteli kuukaudella syytteennoston takarajaa joten edelleen odotellaan josko saisivat jotain aikaiseksi tai ainakin esitutkinnan päätökseen. Henkkareita en ole saanut joten kaikki liiketoiminnat sen takana on nyt kiinni kuten lentomatkustelukin. Syksyn messukauden luulisin pystyväni vetämään ihan normaalisti eli kierrän Suomen ja Ruotsin suurimmat terveysmessut välillä privaattivastaanotoillekin pysähtyen. Tarkemman kiertuekalenterin löydät e-Coachin sivuilta.

t. Risto

Sileen kauden päätöksenä naulasimme SM-maantiekympiltä Veitsiluodon Kisa-Veikkojen joukkueella hopeaa. Oma henkilökohtainen pronssikin oli lähellä kunnes juoksin ulos reitiltä kisajärkkäreiden jutellessa nurtsilla keskenään kuumasta kisasäästä. Pitää vissiin jatkossa ottaa kartta mukaan juoksukisoihinkin niin ei mee satsaus ihan hukkaan

Radalta poimin kesän osalta suurimpana meriittinä Lapin Leiskautusten lajivoiton 5000 metriltä. Liekö asiaan vaikuttanut eniten edellisenä päivänä käydyt Matin Maastot jotka olivat houkuttaneet paikalle Pohjois-Suomen parhaimmiston joka ei sitten yllätyksekseni kyennytkään seuraavana päivänä kisaamaan. Matin Maastoissa haamuraja neljä minuuttia kilsalle mukamas alittui mulla mutta taitaapi olla hieman alimittainen matka se. Kirveelle sensijaan ei löytynyt töitä kisasaunalta vaan puut oli valmiiksi pilkottuna

Seuraavaksi vuorossa on sitten kauden huipennus eli rogainingin EM-kisat Pöytyällä. Yhtään yli kahden tunnin lenkkiä tai kisaa en ole vielä ehtinyt tekeen joten ultran suhteen vaillinaisesta tilasta startataan. Sensijaan lyhyttä ja kovaa, sukilla tai ilman on vedetty niin maastossa, tiellä, radalla kuin salillakin. Epäilys on että Mikon vartaloon kohdistuu EM-kisoissa kovempaa vetovoimaa kuin aikaisemmin mutta katsotaan kestääkö se köydenveto sitten koko vuorokauden niinkuin ennenkin.

Välinepuolella olen tehnyt merkittäviä investointeja savukoneen lisäksi. Vuosia palvellut handy jäi useaan kertaan kiinni vieraista ilmansuunnista joten uusi kompassi on nyt hankittu. Askelpareja on myös opeteltu ja yölamppu vaihdettu vanhasta oikuttelevasta keveempään ja riittosampaan malliin. Jos vielä EM-kisojen ratamestarit hyödyntävät Raasin maaston potentiaalia kunnolla saattaa kisoista tulla normaalia lähinnä vaan juoksuun perustuvaa roksukisaa sopivampi meille. Ainakin venäläiset ja valkovenäläiset pitäs olla eliminoituna lähtöviivalta kun IRF on samanlaisia sekopäitä täynnä kuin mitä muutkin lajiliitot. Baltteja sensijaan ei kisoista saada pois ja hyvä niin. Maailman kovimman lajin titteli kun olisi muuten alennusmyynnissä.

t. Uuno

Kevään messu- ja kisakausi vaihtui vajaan parin kuukauden linnareissuksi kun poliisit rynnäköi sisään kotietsinnällä ja kuulusteli sitten huhti-kesäkuun turvallisuussalaisuuden paljastamisesta. Otin sellikomennuksen huumorilla hyödyntäen valtionhotellin tarjonnan toisin kuin Mikko joka keskittyi lähinnä mykkäkouluun ja syömälakkoon vankeuden jälkimmäisellä puoliskolla. Nyt sitten odotellaan esitutkinnan valmistumista ja syyteharkintaa. Kaikki digitaaliset laitteet on nyt meiltä takavarikoitu joten seuraavaksi kaiketi käräjöidään siitä voiko poliisi vaan viedä opinnäytetyöt, 15 vuoden asiakasrekisterit, kuvapankit yms. vain sen varjolla että epäilee (ja mahdollisesti syyttäjä syyttää) maanpetosrikoksesta.

Kesän ensimmäiset kisat tutkintavankeudesta vapautumisen jälkeen olivat Tornionlaakson Rastipäivät ja Jukolan Viesti. Jukolassa juoksin pitkän yön suht puhtaasti hieman polvea aristellen nostaen Caetekin ykkösjoukkuetta noin 100 pykälää ylöspäin. Jukolan jälkeen matka jatkuin Mikon ja Annen häiden kautta Fin5-suunnistusviikolle Tampereelle jossa tärkeimmät meriitit irtosivat Kampuksen Kikkailusta eli sisäsuunnistuksesta Hervannan TTY:llä. Kahden käden lukutekniikka näyttäs purevan sisällä kun monien eri kerrosten tasot muodostavat epäloogisia rastivälejä niin suuntien kuin kartankääntelyidenkin suhteen.

Kisakausi jatkuu Kainuun Rastiviikolla ja sen jälkeen onkin epäselvää miten siitä eteenpäin. Poliisi eväsi passin joten MM-kisat jää nyt sitten ainakin väliin. Todennäköisesti juoksentelen jotain pitempää jossain vaiheessa jotta EM-kisoissa syyskuussa olisi edes jonkinlaisessa kunnossa. Anyways tunnelikartoittelu ainakin on nyt tauolla siihen asti kunnes saadaan viranomaisilta päivitetty tilannekuva eli jatkavatko tunneleiden salailua vai paljastavatko mm. omat 80 vuotta tekemänsä tunnelirikoksensa jne.

t. Maanpetturi

P.S. Keissistä uutisoitiin laajasti joten tässä joitain julkaisuja: Ilta-Sanomat 14.4.2023, MV-lehti 18.4.2023, Iltalehti 4.5.2023, YLE 7.6.2023 ja Iltalehti 11.6.2023. Mikko pääsi vapaaksi tutkintavankeudesta 13.6.2023 mutta siitä valtamedia ei ole uutisoinu.