FinLine Trivia

Miscellaneous Facts from the History of FinLine

Highest elevation ever on the official FinLine route?

No, it is not the end of FinLine 2006 (Kaunispää summit, 436 m_ASL) nor Hotel Pallas at the end of the second day of FinLine 2016 (~455 m_ASL). The correct answer is Muotkatakka, the first service stop on the first day of FinLine 2001 (altitude 565.8 m_ASL). It is also the highest location with tarmac in Finland, so this record will not be exceeded.

Highest speed on skates on a public road on FinLine?

The current speed record 76 km/h (measurement results: 75.8...76.6 km/h) has been achieved in Nokkosenmäki downhill in Nokkospohja, Jyväskylä (former Korpilahti) on the second day of FinLine 2010. The record-holding skating group consisted of six skaters: Panu, Heikki, Tapsa, Ellu, Jouni K., and Jouni M.

Longest daytrip on the official FinLine route?

The longest daytrip on the official FinLine route has been the 10th day of FinLine 2001, starting from Alavus and ending in Tampere after 140 km of skating. (It needs to be noted that the previous day had been already pretty long, 127 km.)

Northernmost location on the official FinLine route?

FinLine 2006 started officially from Norwegian border in Nuorgam, Utsjoki and the northernmost location (N 70° 5.377' E 27° 57.075') was reached after 400 meters of skating. It is also the northernmost location with tarmac in Finland. Most skaters actually started from Varangerbotn, Norway and before reaching Finland, they skated even norther (N 70° 10.914').

Largest number of countries visited with skates during one FinLine?

On FinLine 2016 we were able to visit three countries: in addition to Finland, we started skating from the Norwegian borderline in Kivilompolo and made a short extra visit to Sweden in Kolari on the fifth day. For geopolitical reasons, this record most probably will be never exceeded.

Point closest to Russia on the official FinLine route?

It is not the Vaalimaa border crossing station (start of FinLine 2017, 1.1 km from Russia) nor Niirala border crossing station (start of FinLine 2011, 1.0 km from Russia). On the third day of FinLine 2021 skated on a "normal" road section in Saarivaara only 450 meters from the Russian soil. Although the no-entry border zone started right from the ditch beside us, this record was exceed already on the following year: On 2022, we started from the Vartius border crossing station, which resides exceptionally close to the actual borderline. Although we visited just the parking lot on the front of the building, it was only 250 meters from Russia.

Easternmost location on the official FinLine route?

The easternmost location on FinLine is not the same as the location closest to Russia. It is not Mutalahti either, where we stopped for a newspaper interview on the fourth day of FinLine 2021. Instead, the easternmost location (N 62° 56.686' E 31° 17.751') was reached at the very end of the same day, after Hattuvaara village a few kilometers before the tarmac ended. Note that at that point we were 50 km more to east than the center of Saint Petersburg (N 59° 56.424' E 30° 18.834').

Most populated city that the official FinLine skating route has never been in?

We have stayed in many cities between the FinLine days and skated through many more cities during the legs. In addition, to be accurate, we need to count also those cities whose territory we have been skating on, even if we have not visited the city center. The biggest municipality that FinLine has never visited at all is Vihti, the 37^th largest in Finland (population: 28 864). Helsinki and all those 35 municipalities in between we have already seen! — However, Vihti does not call itself as a "city", so one needs to continue down on the list. The correct answer is the city of Iisalmi, the 53^rd largest municipality in Finland with population 20 330.

Southernmost location on the official FinLine route after Hanko in 2001 and 2012?

Hanko, the southernmost city and continental place in Finland, is also the southernmost location where the official FinLine route has been ever placed: in 2001, we finished the event by the Hanko Monument of Liberty (N 59° 49.355' E 22° 58.320') after 13 days and more than 1300 km of skating. In 2012, we started the whole event to the opposite direction from the same place. But the FinLine 2026 route actually gets pretty close to this latitude on the Rosalalandet island: in 2026, a few hundred meters before the end of the third leg, we will skate on latitude N 59° 51.123', which is only 3.3 km norther than the center of Hanko.