Skiing the Planet

Pessets spa

2026-03-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hotel Pessets Restaurant & Spa is located in Sort, in the Pyrenees mountains, at the northern border of Spain and near Andorra.

It is conveniently located near the Port Ainé and Espot Esquí ski resorts, in a small but interesting village of Sort. And near Rialp, a slightly bigger village.

I particularly liked their ground floor arrangement, typically hotels are just rooms and maybe a restaurant. But here there was a high-end restaurant (much recommended, see pictures further down), a pizza place, a bar, a lounge to hang out, fire place and sofas... very nice.

There was a spa, of course, as I had to have a sauna after all the caving and skiing :-) And conference calling, sigh. When I drove here I was either stopping to explore caves, or on conference calls. And this was after a very hard two weeks of non-stop working, and a major conference to hold demos at from early morning to late evening. Wonderful stuff, but maybe a bit too much.

Anyway, back to the spa. Their spa needs reservations, but when I was there I was alone, despite it being fairly busy season. There was a Finnish sauna, steam room, showers, water to drink, relaxation area, and an indoor pool. Since it was winter I didn't try the outdoor pool, but there was a bigger one outside. There's also relaxation area outside, and a nice garden, but again maybe more for the summer.

The hotel was quite affordable, I think I paid a bit more than 100€ per night for one person. Meal at the restaurant will set you back 30-40€ depending on how many courses you eat. (With wine this would be more, and if their tasting menu would have been available just the food alone would have been 65€.)

Hotel home page is here.

Sauna and the pool:

Relaxation area:

Food photos from the Pessets restaurant, below. Note the cheesecake served in components. Wonderful!

The hotel:

This article has also appeared here. Read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Sauna and pool photos have been taken when the facility was empty or closed.

Swimming hall prices in Finland

2026-03-09T02:35:00.000-07:00

Iltalehti had an interesting article about the prices of swimming hall visits. Ranging from 20€ to 3€, but mostly around 6-7€.

I think they forgot some of the spas, like Hanko's spa, which costs 36€ (home page, article, alt. link). Or Levi, which costs 25€ (home page, article, alt. link). But these are private, high-end facilities, of course. But the Iltalehti article also listed some private ones, like Vierumäki swimming hall, which costs 12.50€.

Anyway, visiting Inari's swimming hall at 3€ sounds like a good idea! And there's plenty of swimming halls to visit in this list in general :-)

The table from Iltalehti:

Town	Hall	Price
Helsinki	Yrjönkadun uimahalli 2.krs	20.00
Vierumäki	Vierumäen uimahalli & kylpylä	12.50
Godby	Ålads Idrottscenter	10.50
Marianhamina	Mariebad	10.30
Tampere	Hervannan uimahalli	9.75
Tampere	Tesoman uimahalli	9.75
Tampere	Pyynikin uimahalli	9.75
Tampere	Tampereen uintikeskus	9.75
Jyväskylä	Vesiliikuntakeskus Aalto Alvari	9.50
Kangasala	Kuohu	9.20
Jämsä	Uimahalli Koskikara	9.15
Kemijärvi	Kylpylä-uimahalli Poukama	9.00
Kajaani	Vesiliikuntakeskus Kaukavesi	8.70
Orivesi	Oriveden uimahalli	8.50
Turku	Petreliuksen uimahalli	8.40
Turku	Samppalinnan maauimala	8.40
Turku	Kupittaan maauimala	8.40
Turku	Impivaaran uimahalli	8.40
Rovaniemi	Uimahalli Vesihiisi	8.30
Suomussalmi	Kylpylä Kiannon Kuohut	8.30
Imatra	Imatran uimahalli	8.30
Rauma	Rauman uimahalli	8.30
Ylöjärvi	Ylöjärven uimahalli	8.10
Alajärvi	Alajärven uimahalli	8.00
Seinäjoki	Seinäjoen uimahalli	8.00
Joensuu	Virkistysuimala Vesikko	8.00
Paimio	Uimahalli solina	8.00
Forssa	Vesihelmi	8.00
Raisio	Uintikeskus Ulpukka	8.00
Nurmijärvi	Rajamäen uimahalli	8.00
Lohja	Neidonkeidas	7.80
Espoo	Leppävaaran maauimala	7.80
Hämeenlinna	Hämeenlinnan uimahalli	7.60
Sotkamo	Vuokatti Areena	7.50
Savonlinna	Uimahalli Pikku Saimaa	7.50
Alavus	Kunto-Lutra	7.50
Pietarsaari	Pietarsaaren uimahalli	7.50
Oulainen	Uimahalli Lähde	7.50
Kannus	Kitin Vapari	7.50
Kokkola	Vesi Veijari	7.50
Varkaus	Uimahalli ilopisara	7.50
Nokia	Nokian uimahalli	7.50
Tampere	Tampereen maauimala	7.50
Pori	Porin keskustan uimahalli	7.50
Hyvinkää	Sveitsin uimala	7.40
Lappeenranta	Lauritsalan uimahalli	7.20
Lappeenranta	Lappeenrannan uimahalli	7.20
Helsinki	Mäkelänrinteen uimahalli	7.20
Keuruu	Keuruun uimahalli	7.10
Kirkkonummi	Kirkkonummen uimahalli	7.10
Sysmä	Sysmän uimahalli	7.00
Tornio	Tornion uimahalli	7.00
Juva	Vesiliikuntakeskus Sampola	7.00
Mikkeli	Viihdeuimala Rantakeidas	7.00
Mikkeli	Naisvuoren uimahalli	7.00
Ylivieska	Ylivieskan uimahalli	7.00
Toholampi	Lylyn Pisara	7.00
Muurame	Uimahalli-kuntosali Aallotar	7.00
Viitasaari	Uimahalli Simmari	7.00
Jyväskylä	Wellamon uimahalli	7.00
Kouvola	Valkealan uimahalli	7.00
Kouvola	Kuusankosken uimahalli	7.00
Kouvola	Inkeroisten uimahalli	7.00
Iisalmi	Saukko	7.00
Kuopio	Lippumärn uimahalli	7.00
Kuopio	Kuntolaakson uimahalli	7.00
Eura	Euran uimahalli	7.00
Somero	Someron uimahalli Loiske	7.00
Uusikaupunki	Uudenkaupungin uimahalli	7.00
Kaarina	Kaarinan uimahalli	7.00
Tuusula	Tuusulan uimahalli	7.00
Järvenpää	Järvenpään uimahalli	7.00
Helsinki	Lauttasaaren uimahalli	7.00
Kempele	Virkistysuimala Zimmari	6.90
Lahti	Nastolan uimahalli	6.80
Lahti	Saksalan uimahalli	6.80
Lahti	Kivimaan uimahalli	6.80
Lahti	Lahden uimahalli	6.80
Kemi	Kemin uimahalli	6.80
Vaasa	Vaasan uimahalli	6.80
Kerava	Keravan uimahalli	6.80
Suolahti	Suolahden uimahalli	6.75
Äänekoski	Uimahalli Vesivelho	6.75
Savitaipale	Savitaipaleen Suvanto	6.70
Espoo	Espoonlahden uimahalli	6.70
Espoo	Olarin uimahalli	6.70
Espoo	Matinkylän uimahalli	6.70
Espoo	Tapiolan uimahalli	6.70
Espoo	Keski‑Espoon uimahalli	6.70
Espoo	Leppävaaran uimahalli	6.70
Lieksa	Lieksan uimahalli	6.60
Porvoo	Porvoon uimahalli	6.60
Orimattila	Orimattilan uimahalli	6.50
Pieksämäki	Pieksämäen uimahalli	6.50
Lapua	Virkistysuimala Sateenkaari	6.50
Kristiinankaupunki	Kristiinankaupungin uimahalli	6.50
Mustasaari	Mustasaaren uimahalli	6.50
Nivala	Uikko Uimala	6.50
Saarijärvi	Uimahalli-kuntokeskus Aarresaari	6.50
Liperi	Liprakka	6.50
Salo	Salon uimahalli	6.50
Siuntio	Siuntion uimahalli	6.50
Vantaa	Martinlaakson uimahalli	6.50
Vantaa	Korson uimahalli	6.50
Vantaa	Hakunilan uimahalli	6.50
Vantaa	Myyrmäen uimahalli	6.50
Vantaa	Tikkurilan uimahalli	6.50
Helsinki	Vuosaaren uimahalli	6.50
Outokumpu	Outokummun uimahalli	6.30
Kuhmo	Kuhmon uimahalli	6.20
Ilmajoki	Virkistysuimala Pore	6.20
Haapavesi	Haapaveden uimahalli	6.20
Kiuruvesi	Kiuruveden uimahalli	6.20
Hollola	Hollolan uimahalli	6.00
Heinola	Heinolan uimahalli	6.00
Laihia	Laihian uimahalli	6.00
Isokyrö	Uimahalli Pärske	6.00
Vöyri	Norvallan uimahalli	6.00
Oulu	Linnanmaan uimahalli	6.00
Haukipudas	Vesi-Jatuli	6.00
Oulu	Raatin uimahalli	6.00
Ilomantsi	Ilomantsin uimahalli	6.00
Kitee	Kiteen uimahalli	6.00
Joensuu	Rantakylän uimahalli	6.00
Hamina	Linnoituksen uimahalli	6.00
Janakkala	Tervakosken uimahalli	6.00
Harjavalta	Harjavallan liikunta‑ ja uimahalli	6.00
Huittinen	Huittisten uimahalli	6.00
Loimaa	Virkistysuimala Vesihovi	6.00
Kauniainen	Kauniaisen uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Kallion uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Töölön uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Siltamäen uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Kontulan uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Jakomäen uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Malmin uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Yrjönkadun uimahalli 1.krs	6.00
Helsinki	Pirkkolan uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Itäkeskuksen uimahalli	6.00
Helsinki	Uimastadion	6.00
Helsinki	Kumpulan maauimala	6.00
Lammi	Lammin uimahalli	5.80
Pori	Maauimala	5.70
Pori	Meri‑Porin uimahalli	5.70
Veteli	Vetelin liikuntakeskus ja uimahalli	5.50
Vihti	Nummelan uimahalli	5.50
Kajaani	Otamäen maauimala	5.40
Padasjoki	Uimahalli Jokihelmi	5.00
Sodankylä	Siilashalli	5.00
Kurikka	Molskis	5.00
Muhos	Muhoksen uimahalli	5.00
Kotka	Karhulan uimahalli	5.00
Kotka	Katariinan uimahalli	5.00
Loviisa	Esplanadin uima-allasosasto	4.50
Jalasjärvi	Polskis	4.00
Kokemäki	Kokemäen uimahalli	4.00
Inari	Ivalon uimahalli	3.00

This article has also appeared here. Read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. The newspaper article picture and the list are by Iltalehti, please read them in more detail on the link provided.

Hévíz spa

2026-02-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hungary, 200 kilometers southwest of Budapest. The Hévíz lake is the world's second-largest thermal lake, fueled by hot and cold springs deep in the bottom of the lake. Reportedly there's half a cubic meter per second of hot water coming up from a cave at the depth of 38 meters. This holds the temperature nice even during cold winters, never dropping under 24 degrees and in the summer reaching as hight as 37 degrees.

The lake has a human use history dating back to the Stone Age, though the bath culture was brought in Roman times. And then modern day bigger spa business started in the 18th century.

More information in their home page but also in Wikipedia (town), Wikipedia (spa).

More photos:

Fortunate to be able tour... Suomu

2026-02-28T02:03:00.000-08:00

Suomutunturi. I feel fortunate that one can travel to see these places, seventh new ski area in one week now. During the pandemic!

Suomutunturi has great slopes. Not quite to the scale of Ylläs or Levi, but very nicely skiable, steep enough, and empty of crowds. In Finland 255 meter vertical difference is nothing to laugh at, it is very good. The longest slope is 1700 meters. The front slopes are the steepest. Piste map is available here.

The hotel looks quite nice, and includes a spa.

Suomutunturi has a long history, starting from 1965 when the resort first opened. They've built the hotel over the years but in 2015 the old parts burned. The resort continues in a new hotel building.

Suomtunturi is also home to Finnish Freestyle skiing, hosting events and Finland's most successful Freestyle ski club. In the 1970s they called Freestyle skiing hot dog skiing :-)

Coordinates: N 66.55887 E 28.02262. More information on their home page, Wikipedia. There was also an interesting article in Helsingin Sanomat about trying to lift the resort back to the jet set attention (link).

Photos:

Team:

Slopes:

Funny slope name:

Well equipped slopes... with toilets in Lapland style:

Sign about arctic circle:

This article has also been published here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot, TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2021 by Jari Arkko and Jarmo Ruuth.

Busy Wednesday at Peuramaa

2026-02-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

Surprisingly busy evening at the Peuramaa ski resort today. A Wednesday. Maybe there's tourists from a bit further up Finland who still have ski vacations this week? Or was it the race event that they were having. Anyway, our company ski club was having an event ... that's why we were there. Nice! Superb slopes, very nice to run on the well prepared snow surfaces, and enjoy the (cold) sunshine.

When the sun set, the temperature went down from -2 to -8. Brr.

Fortunately the ski club had organized hot chocolate and (soy) sausages. Nice.

And what a massively long magic carpet! Usually these are short lifts, but this one goes from the bottom to the top of the hill. Granted, the hill is not that big but still. And interestingly, they had two heavy-duty blowing heaters along the track, why? To remove snow? Maybe the carpet freezes or gets too mushy if they don't do this? Interesting...

Nice evening overall.

Photos:

Oberstdorf: Germany's longest ski run

2026-02-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

When we were spending the few days after the 2022 New Year's in Oberstdorf, we mostly skied in Austria near the border. But of course we also tried the local slopes! Oberstdorf's Nebelhorn was the obvious choice in town. Modern ski lifts and, lots of vertical, and very long slopes for Germany attracted us! The skiing was good, and so were the views!

While the top station of the resort is not that high (2224 m), it gets a lot of snow, and a very decent vertical (1396 m). The ski resort has also Germany's longest ski run at 7,5 km.

Oberstdorf is of course well known for them opening the alps Four Hills Tournament ski jumping competition every year. I did not know they had such good skiing, but this area is littered with ski resorts... many just in Oberstdorf and more around.

I really liked the small cabin ski lifts, with this invention in the middle to put our skis in, so easy and so practical! Why don't more ski lifts work this way:

The ski area map for the region can be found here.

More information about Oberstdorf and Nebelhorn on the Oberstdorf lift company's home page, Wikipedia, Powderhounds, and Skiresort.info. Coordinates for the valley station at Nedelhorn are N 47.40477 E 10.28574.

The ski jumps that Oberstdorf is known for:

There were some funny igloos, too:

Slopes:

Me on the ski lift:

Pokljuška luknja

2026-02-22T03:42:00.000-08:00

Slovenia. If you are near the wonderful lake, castles, and hills of Bled but are also interested in caves and off the beaten path hiking, check out the Pokljuška soteska or the Pokljuška Gorge. Along the way there's a very nice cave, the Pokljuška luknja. Its several entrances give a striking views inside.

There's three entrances in total, two walkable (lower and upper) and one high up entrance.

I didn't scan the cave and there's no data about the cave in the Internet that I can find, including no length data. But it is probably more than 50 meters altogether. Not sure...

The coordinates are N 46.37657 E 14.03351. Some hiking is involved; the trailhead starts at N 46.37900 E 14.04152. More information can be found from the Slovenia Hiking page and the Bled information page. There's also some information at the Pokljuška soteska wikipedia page and home page.

More information about Bled's wonderful lakes in my article here (alt. link).

Entrance:

There's also an upper entrance, shown here:

Views from inside:

This article has also been published at Planetcaver.net here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2023 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Day trip to Latvia, part two: caves and more caves

2026-02-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

Skiing is done, done, done. Now some caves?

The first cave, Kalēja Ala, is a sandstone cave. It seemed it had formed in a hill with very soft sandstone, and I wasn't sure how it was fully holding up... sand dripping from the roof. However, there was no exploring of this cave as in the winter season the bats need their rest... while there were many footprints to the cave, I stayed at the entrance, just took a photo towards the insides. It would have been a spectacular cave to visit, though, I need to come back in the summer! This cave also had a short side cave higher up on the hill.

Once I left these caves, I drove towards Riga and found the second pair of caves, including Latvia's largest cave, Gūtmaņa Ala. Massive cave, in volume but not that long. A hole on the mountainside, and with a spring at the end. Nice, and easy to visit. And open all year along :-) This one also had a side cave that was much smaller, and this time much more cave-like.

Here's a more detailed run down of the caves, along with coordinates. I also scanned two of the caves with my iPhone's lidar capability, and created maps using my Cave Outliner software package.

Kalēja Ala, Raiskums. Coordinates N 57.379438 E 25.262701. The cave is 46 meters long. More information here.

Photos of the cave:

Kalēja Sānu Ala. Side cave to the above. Coordinates N 57.3795475 E 25.262771. The cave is 6 meters long. This one I was able to scan with my scanning pole, the model is loadable here, can be rotated on your browser screen here, and the high-resolution map can be downloaded here.

One photo of this cave is the opening shot of this article. Other photos of the cave:

Gūtmaņa Ala, Sigulda. Coordinates N 57.176169 E 24.842373. More information here. My measurements indicate that the cave was 18 meters long, but various sources disagree on the exact length, however.

This one I was able to scan with my scanning pole, the model is loadable here, can be rotated on your browser screen here, and the high-resolution map can be downloaded here.

Photos of the cave:

Gūtmaņa Sānu Ala. Side cave to the above. Coordinates N 57.175015 E 24.841227. I didn't measure this cave, but I wild guess is that it is around 14 meters long. Could be few meters longer or shorter.

Photos of the cave:

The previous part of this trip report was about skiing (link, alt. link). The next part is about the airport (link, alt. link).

Hetan Hiihtomaa

2026-02-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, a ski resort in Finland that I have not even heard of ... Hetan Hiihtomaa is a small ski resort run by the Enontekiö community, high up north. On their best day they may get only 100 skiers. Must visit some day!

The official home page is here, and the Helsingin Sanomat article that I read this place about is here.

This article has also been published here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Or read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko, photo is a screenshot of an article by Helsingin Sanomat, all rights by them.

Day trip to Latvia, part one: Ski resorts

2026-02-18T11:52:00.000-08:00

Day trip to Riga for two ski hills and couple of caves. Full day but very nice hills and caves!. First up, Riekstukalns ski resort 45 mins southeast of the city... then Ozolkalns ski resort 90 mins northeast. Both were superb! Riekstukalns felt like Les 3 Vallees of Latvia with its multiple bases and skiing long stretches to the other side of the large ski resort. Ozolkalns shone with its chair lift and river views.

More information about Riekstukalns from their home page here. They only run on a vertical of 36 meters (about 100 feet) but wow they have 13 different slopes, distributed along a large area. This really felt like a large area. And it looked so nice among the beautiful trees and the forest.

And more information about Ozolkalns from their home page here. Their vertical is 80 meters (about 240 feet), but there was less slopes. Interestingly there would have been a second ski resort right next to Ozolkalns, the Žagarkalns. I didn't know about it while visiting... anyway, interesting. Their home page is here.

And if you were wondering, Kalns in Latvian means Mountain... so you know :-)

Photos from Riekstukalns:

Second base:

Food offerings. In Finland we just have meat pies or something horrible...

Me:

Map:

Slope above the first base:

Lifts are open .. very late!

Sign on the road:

More slopes:

Yes... healthy?

Photos from Ozolkalns next. First the base cafeteria building. I love it:

Me:

Lift:

There were a lot of cabins for vacationers, and a sauna. A sauna next to the slope!

The sign on the road. WTF camel park???

Views from the top of the hill over to the river:

The next part of this trip report is about caves (link, alt. link). The final part is about the airport (link, alt. link).

Day trip to Latvia, part three: Rīgas lidosta

2026-02-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

Riga's airport, RIX, is located south of the city, in the community of Mārupe. The airport is also a hub for Air Baltic. I have been here before, but just transiting on Air Baltic. Now I flew here on Finnair, and back on the same day, on the day trip to ski (link, alt. link) and caves in Latvia (link, alt. link)... found a lounge that serves families as well as business travelers. Nice!

The airport is compactly sized and nice. I tested their lounge, the Primeclass Business Lounge (link). There was no warm food, but otherwise it was quite good, several types of sandwiches and ingredients to make more. And I loved the extra space, they had a meeting room, private suites, and a children's play room! Wow! Finally, someone understands what is needed from a lounge :-)

Official home page here, and wikipedia here.

Photos from the lounge:

Photos from the airport:

Photos from the flight and the Helsinki airport:

This article has also been published in Planetflier.com here. For more flying stories, check out the Planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot! Photos, videos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

First, Oldest, and Grandest: Yrjönkadun uimahalli

2026-02-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

Finally, I was able to visit the Yrjönkatu swimming hall in Helsinki. It is right in the city center, a block away from the Stockmann department store. I've been wanting to for many years... did not recently due to the renovations that have been going for several years. But now it was opened just a week or two ago, and despite expectations it wasn't totally slammed full of people. In the pool I was at times even alone on my lanes. What a place! It is like a palace, a glimpse into a lost world. The tiles, the style, the air .. very, very well done.

But it is also a bit quirky. You can swim naked -- and in the past you had to swim naked, until that changed in 2001. On my visit this year half of the people were naked. And there's a second floor with relaxation rooms included for visitors, with beds, towels, bathrobes, etc. provided by the hall. And there's more saunas, including an infrared sauna, a steam sauna and a wood-fueled sauna. The latter was now out of use, and last week the hall had to be evacuated due to smoke smell. Hopefully they fix it, a wood burning sauna would be so nice.

Entrance is just 6€ for the first floor, which includes lockers for shoes, another locker at the changing rooms, two saunas (mild and medium hot), and the big 25-meter pool. For 2€ more you can book your own seated changing cabin. The second floor entrance is 20€The full price list is here.

The building is actually six stories high, there's couple of privately bookable saunas and a jacuzzi, prices range from 400 to 600€ if you are interested. And then there's small teaching pool and gyms in the upper floors.

The hall was taken into use 1928, so it is now 98 years old. And still going strong! The renovation was done very tastefully, using the original materials and tiles. Read more about the hall's history here.

BBC has listed this swimming hall in its short list of world's most beautiful swimming halls.

There's plenty of other stories about this legendary swimming hall:

Photos:

Second floor:

This article has also appeared here. Read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool photo is by Helsingin Kaupunki, from their website, all rights held by them. The 2nd floor picture is by MyHelsinki.Fi, also from their website, all rights again held by them.

Lohja Spa

2026-02-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

Visited Lohja Spa as an after-work detour. Just an hour from home, and in the middle of pretty much nowhere (amazingly, it is in Karjalohja, not Lohja) it was quite a find indeed. It is a small hotel and a spa, but with not too many quests, I had almost all of the 25 meter pool to myself, they had five wonderful saunas and six pools.

I particularly liked their hot 90 degree "star sky" sauna, pictured above. But also the salt sauna was nice, they offered small cups of salt to rub it on your skin. Felt good.

There was also a 70 degree birch sauna, a steam sauna, and then in the men/women dressing rooms a normal Finnish sauna.

The pools were the big pool that had a climbing wall as well, then a therapy pool, a cold plunge pool, a shallow hot pool, and two jacuzzis.

Entrance:

Their story is to "bathe like in a fairy tale":

Pool area:

Salt:

Road to middle of nowhere in a snow storm:

This place reminded me quite a lot of Siuntio Spa (today Siuntio's public swimming hall), but with better saunas. See my separate article about that here (alt. link). But Lohja Spa is more expensive, 25€, though they had a come-once-and-pay-half-price-next-time deal.

Lohja Spa will be worth visiting again! Their website is here.

This article has also appeared here. Read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. Pool and sauna photos taken when the facility was closed and with permission.

Stanley Park swim in Vancouver

2026-02-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

I did an after-meetings walk at the Third Beach in Stanley Park, Vancouver. Very nice area. Dipped into the sea as well.

More information about the Third Beach here. The coordinates are N 49.30418 W 123.15691.

Do check out also the whole shoreline at Stanley Park, including for instance Elek Imredy's bronze sculpture "Girl in a Wetsuit" on the other side of the peninsula from the Third Beach (link). And check the beautiful Siwash Rock north of the Third Beach as well (link). I also loved the Beaver Lake (swamp) and the forests were absolutely spectacular!

I've previously swam also nearby at English Bay (article, alt. link).

Skiing Volcán de Tequila, Mexico

2026-02-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Mexico. I was in Guadalajara for a meeting... but meetings end, and then what? Where's the skiing? Well, I guess there isn't any. But the best I could do was to find a local mountain, bring some ice, and attempt to ski the ice on top of the mountain on my mini-skis.

Except that it failed. The road was blocked to the top, and there was a massive canyon between where I was and the actual top was. But never mind, let's just ski where we are then.

Not my best skiing experiences. Could possibly be the worst, though. But even the worst skiing is still pretty good. I can't complain, a beautiful mountain, beautiful scenery, warm, new place, skis on my feet, the familiar bring-your-own-ice/snow routine... not bad. Or not too shitty, as we say in Finland.

And the mountain? Volcán de Tequila, near the town of Tequila. 2,920 meters of strength, probably with a worm inside. I wasn't quite at the top of course, but a respectable mountain nevertheless.

I think I was around these coordinates: N 20.805279 W 103.847307.

Video:

Photos:

Lubja caves in Tallinn

2026-02-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

Viimsi Koobas, or the caves of Viimsi, are a man-made set of tunnels on a cliff face rising near the Vimka - Viimsi Mäepark ski hill. There may be more than one tunnel and the tunnels are supposed to be longer, but I think they have been filled with sand or collapsed, as I was able to find only one about 13 meter long tunnel. Nice visit still, though.

Here is the information sign near the tunnels:

The coordinates to this place are N 59.517783 E 24.839870. It is the village of Lubja, in the region of Vimsi. Just outside city of Tallinn.

Also saw one very frosty bat... poor thing. I wonder if it is OK....

The end of the tunnel:

The entrance:

Side tunnel:

I also made a 3D scan of the tunnels with my iPhone's Lidar function, and then converted it to a cave map using the cave-outliner software (link). Below you can find the map and a screenshot of the 3D model. The high-resolution map PDF is here. The model can be downloaded here (GLB) and rotated on your browser screen here.

See also my other article about the Tallinn visit (alt. link), and in particular the one about the Naage Koopad (alt. link) real caves!

Naage Koopad, a beautiful Estonian cave with a surprise at the end

2026-02-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

Naage Koopad - Naage caves near Tallinn. Very nice cave, with ice forms for added beauty. And what a surprise at the end!

The cave is easily accessible, though you need a car. The coordinates are N 59.408493 E 24.358314.

I also made a 3D scan of the tunnels with my iPhone's LiDAR scanner, and then converted the model to a cave map using the cave-outliner software (link). Below you can find the map and a screenshot of the 3D model. The high-resolution map PDF is here. The model can be downloaded here (GLB) and rotated on your browser screen here.

Here's the entrance to the cave, on a long cliff face:

And these are the ice forms:

And this is the surprise!

And here are the maps and 3D models:

Other pictures:

Other explorations on the day trip to Tallinn were reported in Tallinn visit (alt. link).

Purnu

2026-02-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

Day trip to Purnu ski hill (Hiihtokeskus Purnu), a medium-sized ski hill south of Jyväskylä. Wonderful winter day and light! Trees with snow cover were amazing. It was a great ski mountain too. This was my first trip with the fixed Volvo (article, alt. link), it faired well, no breakages. On the way back I stopped at the Vierumäki sports academy swimming hall, which was also a nice experience. I thought it would have been crowded on a weekend, but by seven pm it was more or less empty.

It was a cold day at the hill, around -13 degrees, though not much wind. I did a couple of runs and then warmed up for couple of minutes in the fireplace lean-to before continuing, very nice!

At the bottom they have a cafeteria and a rentals shop. The cafeteria has some snacks plus proper meals from a kitchen. By small ski resort standards it was remarkably spacious and nice. They also sell frozen high-quality meat, interestingly...

The vertical is 100 meters (300 feet), which is indeed good in southern-mid Finland. My local hills right in the south are in the 30-60 meter range, for instance. The longest run in Purnu is 750 meters. All the ski runs go over nice rolling hills. One of the slopes right next to the lift is dedicated to jumps and rails, but can also be skied. Two others were basic rounding-off-from-the-skiers-left slopes, both very nice for fast skiing. The "south" ski run on skier's right was not prepared. I found that a bit odd, and in general I've been running to this a lot recently in different ski resorts. The winter is one of the best ones in recent history, but yet the ski resorts can't prepare all the slopes? I think they should...

I remember Purnu from my childhood mostly from the arts center (Taidekeskus Purnu, Wikipedia). I had not been at the ski resort, however. This visit is my 350th ski resort, in around 70 or so countries.

More information about the Purnu ski hill can be found from their home page here. One hour lift ticket costs 27€ and a day ticket 40€. And more information about the swimming hall in Vierumäki can be found here. A swimming hall visit for adults is 12,50€.

Skiing:

Vierumäki:

Author:

Purnu lift ticket:

Purnu cafeteria:

My previous ski experience was earlier this week at the Flottsbrobacken in Sweden (article, alt.link).

Elamus spa in Tallinn

2026-02-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Elamus Spa (or Elamuste Keskus, in English the Experience Spa/Center) is a spa and recreation center in Tallinn. Their web site is here. I had been flying, skiing in two places, and caving in two more places (article, alt. link). I had a bit of time before the flight, so a shower, sauna, and swim seemed to be in order! I was a bit unsure where to do that, I had a community wonderful-looking 50-meter pool swimming hall or a commercial experience spa -- the Elamus -- to choose from, among others. I chose the latter.

I was happy I went, I did get the shower, sauna, and a swim. The saunas in particular were quite good. But I wasn't overly impressed, it was a crowded place. I could have chosen the adult rather than family side, not sure if the former would have been more spacious and quiet. But overall, I didn't get a luxury feeling, more like packed and crowded feeling. Everywhere was wet, and too many people, even in the restaurant that I was looking forward to getting a long-awaited first meal of the day from. But I didn't feel like eating here.

The saunas were wonderful though, and there were many different ones. Kudos for that. There were even sauna rituals, with the staff providing scents, towel routines, etc. I didn't have time for that though.

The adult side of the spa, Spa21+, looks at least on their website very nice. That would have cost a bit extra, the tickets for that are 54€ while for the regular spa only 36€. But even that is a bit much.

Water vapor from the spa building:

Tallinna Lennujaam

2026-02-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Had a chance to fly to Tallinn for a day trip (skiing, caving, and a spa; see article or alt. link). It was an early flight on a slow Sunday morning; wonderful airport, spectacular sunrise, and overall smooth experience. Except maybe waiting few minutes for my rental cars, there was no waiting or long walks or any of the other complexities usually involved with international travel.

On the way back I had a chance to experience the Airport LHV Lounge that Finnair uses. Since I was at the airport only around 9pm, most of the food service was already taken away, but there was still some sandwiches and snacks. Overall a nice experience.

While at the lounge, I realized that I was missing something: I didn't have my backpack, with money, credit cards, passport... fortunately I had just left it at security and it was still there when I returned. Phew. And I never, never lose anything while traveling. Probably caused by having too many things to carry on my person, I didn't have any checked luggage except for the skis, so had a few small bags for the helmet, boots, etc. And therefore the backpack was forgotten. Sigh. But all good in the end anyway.

At the airport, there's something that I hadn't seen elsewhere: an openly usable gym:

The official web page of the airport is here.

The sunrise:

Lounge:

Finnair:

Day trip to Tallinn: snow, caves, and water

2026-02-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

I'm collecting things. Or rather experiences. Or visits to places. Ski resorts, swimming halls, caves... preferably as many as possible. Could I do a one day trip to Tallinn for some of the closest ski hills, caves, and spas that I had not yet visited? How many could I do in one day?

The plan was to fly early in the morning to Tallinn, rent a car, and tour at least two ski hills -- there's two right in Tallinn -- and then see if I can find the two caves that are also in the city. And then finish with a visit to a swimming hall or a spa.

I managed to do all this, two ski hills, one man-made tunnel, one cave, and one spa. I had chosen the final destinations during the day as it progressed. At one point I considered aiming for a third ski hill, but that would have endangered the cave visit and definitely made a spa visit not possible.

The five places I visited were:

Vimka - Viimsi Mäepark, Lubja, Viimsi. A local ski hill northeast from Tallinn, just 20 minutes drive away. Very nice views, just one slope though. Cold on a windy, -13 day...

The home page of the ski resort is here. Tickets are 18€ (one hour, adult, on a weekend).

Nõmme Lumepark, Mustamäe, Tallinn. An inside-city local ski and and ski jumping place nestled in a deep valley surrounded by forest. Very nice. A lot of vibe!

The home page of the ski resort is here. Tickets are 20€ (one hour, adult, on a weekend).

I also managed to get hit by a kid not able to stop his snowboard in time. The result was a broken carbon fibre ski pole ... fortunately neither him or me was hurt.

Viimsi Koobas, Lubja, Viimsi. This is a man-made tunnel(s) right next to the Viimsi Mäepark. Worth visiting, but not super spectacular by itself. More information in a separate article (alt. link). An external article about this is here.

I saw a frosted bat here:

Naage Koopad, Naage. Now this is super spectacular. This 33-meter natural cave has very interesting forms, particularly in the winter as the water flows create walls of icicles. And there's a massive surprise at the end! More information in a separate article (alt. link). There's also an external article.

The cave looks wonderful:

Elamus Spa, Tallinn. A family-oriented spa, with also bowling, an adult-only spa side, etc. I tried only the family side. More information in a separate article (alt. link). The website of the facility is here.

Water vapor coming out of the facility cold evening:

This article has also been published here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko.

Flottsbrobacken

2026-02-08T01:27:00.000-08:00

Quick stop at Flottsbro ski hill south of Stockholm before heading to the airport and back home. End of a busy week with demos etc. in Kista. Nice ski moment, but a bit bittersweet as I kept remembering a recently lost local friend who I knew also loved to ski …

More information from Flottsbro can be found from their home page. There's a nice rentals/cafeteria building at the bottom. A two-story building, with the restaurant, lockers, bathrooms and a terrace in the second floor. Quite nice by ski resort standards. I didn't try the restaurant but looked good. Adult lift tickets are 240 SEK for three hours and 340 for a full day.

There's an extensive training program organized by the Huddinge Skidklubb.

I had originally thought I'd do an Uber excursion to one of the not-yet-visited ski hills near Stockholm. But after several people recommended Flottsbro, I decided to rent a car instead for the day, and use it to get to the airport also at end. Flottsbro was in the other side of Stockholm, so with the taxi rides, and leaving luggage at the hotel would have been expensive and consume too much time.

I rented a car from Kista near my office and dropped it off at the airport. Oddly, the service (MABI) that I used wouldn't have one-way rentals on their website, but when I called them they said they can change my reservation. Yet, when I booked the 50€ "secret car" deal, they later emailed me that I won't be able to do the one-way rental on that deal, but they would have me a good fixed price anyway. That "good fixed price" turned out to be 150€... and on my credit card bill there's now 289€ of withdrawals from them. Perhaps some are reservations that will be credited later, but ... sigh. I think I will avoid this service provider in the future. Be careful out there.

Photos:

Piste map is here (taken from their website).

Restaurant:

This article has also been published here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. The piste map is by Flottsbro.

A find at 1am

2026-02-07T02:10:00.000-08:00

Look what I found at 1am from the body shop’s backyard, on the way from the airport! With an approval stamp to go with it, no less!

The car had previously been repaired, repaired for other things at another place, failed check-up, and then repaired again. Now it is done!

Impivaara swim

2026-01-27T00:35:00.000-08:00

By now, the nearest swimming halls that I have not been to is 1 hour and 45 minutes away. I picked Turku's Impivaara swimming hall as my destination in the west (in the east there was another one). This is a massive, massive swimming complex. I really liked the 50 meter pool, it was easy to swim a long distance in it.

But otherwise, despite the many pools.. I wasn't particularly impressed. Maybe it was the busy time, the hall seemed packed. But not as packed as in the shower and sauna area. For some reason this part of the hall is designed with so narrow spaces that you can't pass if a person is fetching a towel from the racks or opens a sauna door. Bad design.

But otherwise the pools are of course spectacular. There was an eight track 50 meter pool *and* a *ten* track 25 meter pool. And a jumping pool with 10 meter platform, a therapy pool, a cold plunge pool, kid pool, and a water slide. Two saunas (hot and mild) and one steam sauna. The biggest swimming hall I have ever seen, with all the facilities.

There's a nice cafeteria overlooking the pool area.

It has also been recently renovated, just sad that the shower and sauna spaces are so cramped.

Tickets are 8,40€, a bit pricey compared to other community swimming halls which are more in the 6-7€ range, or even 5€ in some places. Website is here.

I have previously been to the Kaarina swimming hall near Turku, report here (alt. link).

Car is back! Temporarily...

2026-01-27T00:20:00.000-08:00

I got my Volvo back! Driving it now ... to the next repair shop. Body work is done by the specialists, and came unexpectedly cheap. A new door and many holes fixed. But the car will be illegal to drive tomorrow due to some other issues. So I am getting the tech part fixed in my usual repair shop and they will take it to the check up. Fingers crossed no heavy additional costs or new surprises at the check up.