Pirjo Muranen from Rovaniemi has never experienced a black March.
– This has never happened at this time of the year, says Iltalehti’s ski expert from Rovaniemi. Pirjo Muranen45.
Finland has an all-time snow shortage and even at the Arctic Circle, winter is starting to set in. March 2026 has been historically warm in Finland.
– It’s sad that the situation turned out like this, says the cross-country world champion who lived in Lapland all his life.
– Starting around December 20th, there were twenty-degree frosty days for about two months – of course there were humane days among them. It was quite cold until week nine. The tenth week was good, and then the weather started to cool, Muranen says of Rovaniemi’s exceptional winter.
Special weather conditions are poison for skiing people.
– It’s sad, if the coming winters are like this, that they end so early.
By pouring water
In Ounasvaara, Rovaniemi, the WC skiing is organized on the weekend. Jussi Saarinen
In Rovaniemi, the cross-country skiing championships and the Suomen cup will be contested this weekend. On Thursday, it rained in Rovaniemi.
– Heavy conditions, when the artificial snow turns into a crumbly mess. There is no binding element when the artificial snow is wet through and through. Natural snow stays skiable better when it becomes denser with rain. Of course, natural snow melts faster.
The 3.3-kilometer long course is used for the races in Ounasvaara on Saturday and Sunday. Approximately half of the track is natural snow and the rest is artificial snow.
– It’s not nice to ski when you’re up to your ankles in slush. There will possibly be crashes that affect the final results.
The Ounasvaara race track was in tolerable condition on Thursday, but the conditions always deteriorate due to the mild and rainy weather. Before Friday’s WC pairs relay, the race track may be salted.
– For a light-built and small-sized athlete with a tough mechanism, the situation is suitable: for such a person Matti Heikkinen for that type of guy. When an 80-kilogram man goes there to ski, it’s heavy.
According to the weather forecast, a light frost will hit Rovaniemi for about 12 hours from Friday evening to Saturday morning. After that, we’ll be in the water all weekend again.
Get some fake snow
According to Foreca, the snow depth at the Rovaniemi measuring point on Thursday morning was 43 centimeters. Jussi Saarinen
On the weekend after Easter, the last SC skiing of the 2025–26 season will be held in Inari. The ten-day weather forecast promises night frosts in Inari, but every day we are on the side of sheltered weather.
The nearest Foreca snow depth measuring point to the Juutuanvaara competition center in Inari is in Kaamase, Inari. Thursday’s reading was 57 centimeters.
Director of the Finnish Cup Hannu Koivusalo assured on Thursday that the competitions in Inari can be organized as planned on the 10th-12th. April.
– It would definitely be important for Lapink’s ski competition locations to have artificial snow piste bases. We have hoped to get a proper cannon snow track here in Rovaniemi, Muranen commented.
The expert considers the timing of the Inari WC to be too late.
– The World Championship could be in March and the final of the Finnish Cup could be in April. I feel that Lapland’s spring snow, if there is any, should be used.
A long competition season is a significant setback for the visibility of cross-country skiing.
Add to Lapland
Pirjo Muranen works as Iltalehti’s skiing expert. Pasi Liesimaa
For example, Taivalkoski in Pohjois Ostrobothnia, which hosted last spring’s winter ski championships, is now suffering from a severe lack of snow. According to Foreca, Taivalkoski no longer has natural snow.
Due to climate change, it is assumed that in the coming years the last domestic competitions will be held in Lapland. The challenge is the narrow shoulders of the organizing parties. In the last ten years, only Rovaniemi, Inari and Ylitornio have organized ski championships in Lapland.
– We hope to cooperate with other clubs in the Lapland region. We could send a team to help Levi in Kittilä, for example, so that competitions could be held in places other than Rovaniemi, says Muranen, who is the chairman of the cross-country section of the Ounasvaara Ski Association.
He says that organizing SM skiing is a source of income for the club. Muranen hopes that his club will get the status of a cemented tournament organizer for the Finnish Cup in March, in the same way that Vuokatti and Ruka have at the beginning of the season.
– If the competitions were known for several years, it would be easier to make cooperation agreements. Now it’s a terribly big deal every year whether we get the competitions, and if we do, we always have to start the drumming of partners from the beginning.
Surprises
Final season of the Finnish Cup of Skiing 2026
- Fri 27.3: WC pairs relays, Rovaniemi
- Sat 28.3: 20 km (v) mass start, Rovaniemi
- Sun 29.3: messages, Rovaniemi
- Fri 10.4: women’s 5 km and men’s 10 km (p) National Championships, Inari
- Sat 11.4: SM relays, Inari
- Sun 12.4: SM long distances – women 30 and men 50 km (p), Inari
So there are six Finnish Cup starts left in the domestic skiing season. Four of these events have a championship value.
How does a top skier feel about the spring-winter games?
– The sharpest latinki has started, especially in the value competition years. Maybe the motivation is not so high anymore. Of course, everyone wants success, but it’s more difficult to get yourself into a competitive mood. Let’s go with the routine, Muranen, who ended his successful career in 2011, answers.
– Of course, these competitions are also important for the top, because personal partners get visibility. These games should not be run half-heartedly, he adds.
There are often surprises in the March-April ski fairs.
– The competitions are especially important for those who are competing for a place on the national team for the next season.
