Juha Savolainen, Vantaa city’s sports venue master, says that in a year at this time you will be able to ski in Hakunila.
There will be no skiing in Hakunila sports park in Vantaa until November 2022. The area is a large construction site. PASI LEISMA
– I am 100 percent sure that in 2022 we can open on November 1.
This was announced by Vantaa city’s sports venue master, one of Finland’s leading track builders Juha Savolainen a year ago. He meant that a ski slope will be opened in Hakunila, Vantaa, in record time.
In November 2022, there will be no sivakoida in Hakunila. The stadium area is a large construction site.
– Permits and financing are in order, but the world situation has postponed the project. We haven’t received the material needed for snowmaking, says Savolainen.
– There are no components in the world, so the purchase of refrigeration machines will be postponed to next year, he continues.
Hakunila’s outdoor sports area is also being developed for ice sports fans. There will be an ice ball field and a hockey rink next to the ski stadium.
– The projects are connected to each other. Let’s get ice rinks to the rink next season. It is certain that the dream will come true and next year in November you will be able to ski.
Secret
With Vantaa’s new system, crushed ice is taken from the artificial ice and blown onto the track base. Fresh snow is raked into it. PASI LEISMA
Savolainen cannot yet reveal the details of the seemingly secret farm project. The basic plot is that crushed ice obtained from artificial ice is blown over the slopes and new snow is pounded into it.
– Energy efficiency has been taken into account in the project. We use a new method to recover wasted energy. If snowmaking now costs 1,000 euros per kilometer, it can be had for 500 euros in the future.
The global energy problem has caused the tongues of critics to loosen. People who don’t ski consider the cannon snow production of cities and municipalities to be unnecessary.
– We have about a dozen snow cannons. The resulting energy consumption is small. When skiing is viewed from a public health point of view, cannon snow production is cheap.
Tolerates heat
Even in these weathers, skiing will be possible in Vantaa next year, says sports site master Juha Savolainen. PASI LEISMA
On Wednesday morning, it was drizzling and seven degrees warm in Hakunila.
– This autumn it has already been four degrees below zero. We could have done the track with the new system already for this season, Savolainen assures.
– It will be a matter of next season whether it makes sense to make a track in these conditions, he continues.
In the 2022–23 season, in Hakunila and Vantaa’s second ski resort, Petiko, cannon snow will be made using the old system: Savolainen’s team will set the cannons to sing, as long as the mercury drops below freezing for several hours.
Juha Savolainen’s team will set the snow cannons to sing as long as Vantaa gets frost. PASI LEISMA