The Helsinki Ski Weeks skiing event, organised in Helsinki Olympic Stadium, has been giving city residents the joy of sports in the centre of Helsinki since the end of January, and the Stadium ski track will remain open until Sunday, 27 February 2022. Since the beginning of the event, skiers have already covered some 77,180 kilometres in the Stadium. The event will culminate during the winter break week with the Helsinki Winter Bash, Stadion Sprint competition and the public celebration for the Olympic gold medal for men’s ice hockey and women’s bronze.
For the duration of February, the Olympic Stadium has become a new and easily accessible local sports venue right in the heart of Helsinki. Entrance to the stadium is free-of-charge if you bring your own skis, but you can also rent skis in the Stadium. Pre-registration has and will continue to be required to ensure that everyone has enough space to enjoy the approximately one-kilometre-long track. Ski times can be booked for one hour at a time online(Link leads to external service). Track time is available for one hour at a time and only the classic cross-country skiing technique is allowed in the Stadium.
Variety of skiing events hosted in the Stadium during the winter break
The Helsinki Ski Weeks will culminate with an array of events organised during the winter break week. This year, the traditional winter break event for the whole family – Helsinki Winter Bash – will be organised as part of Helsinki Ski Weeks in urban environment, as the event previously organised in Paloheinä will now take over the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday, 22 February at 15:30–18:30. As usual, the event is free-of-charge and offers a wide range of activities: children’s favourite team of pups Paw Patrol will star the event hosted by Olympic medallist Sami Jauhojärvi.
Helsinki Ski Weeks will culminate on 24 February in the 02 Taksi Stadion Sprint invitational competition, where international top sprint skiers will complete. This one-of-a-kind event held in the Olympic Stadium on a dark winter evening promises to be a true battle on the track topped off with best performers and a festive atmosphere.
During the Helsinki Ski Weeks, the Olympic Stadium has already hosted a variety of side events: the entire event was launched with National Skiing Day, followed by events such as a free opening concert, Snow Days for Kids and a ski disco.
“The concept of Helsinki Ski Week was developed to give as many Helsinki residents as possible a completely new experience in the renovated Olympic Stadium: the joy of skiing in this shrine to Finnish sport,” says Jari-Pekka Jouppi, Commercial Director of the Finnish Ski Association.
Helsinki Ski Weeks invested in responsibility and health safety
The planning and implementation of Helsinki Ski Weeks has focused heavily both on social and environmental responsibility. Social responsibility and the public health perspective were realised by making a local sports venue available to all residents free-of-charge, providing people of all ages and skill levels the opportunity to ski at an exceptionally low threshold. The Finnish Ski Association has also stressed that Helsinki Ski Weeks is implemented in a carbon-neutral manner.
Helsinki Ski Weeks is also a health-safe outdoor event organised in accordance with the current authority regulations and recommendations. The current health safety measures observed at the event are available on the Helsinki Ski Weeks website.
The Finnish Ski Association, together with its partners, has been responsible for the planning and production of the Helsinki Ski Weeks event. The City of Helsinki is one of the partners of the event. The goal is to make Helsinki Ski Weeks, as well as its main events National Skiing Day and Stadion Sprint, a recurring tradition that will move people, in both senses of the word, also in the coming years.
Winter break and Helsinki Ski Weeks to culminate in Climate Skiing on 27 February
Helsinki Ski Weeks will culminate in a free-of-charge sprint relay race open to all. This playful outdoor event invites all skiing families as well as groups of friends and co-workers to join forces and compete against our common enemy: climate change. Assemble your own three-person relay team for a light-hearted skiing race or just come along and join in on the Helsinki Ski Weeks’ closing celebrations!
Helsinki Ski Weeks website and additional information on the Stadion Sprint(Link leads to external service)
Additional information on Helsinki Winter Bash(Link leads to external service)