Today it snowed on and off. On the downside, this made it slower. However, with the well worn inserts in my Skintec skis, it was possible to skate - only about 300-500 metres at a stretch. But it does demonstrate that my balance is coming back and that an old dog can learn new tricks!
Finnair had removed every last liquid from my ski bag, including ones they have let pass many times before. One is a citrus base remover - non-flammable and non-pressurised. I guess they were just bored on a Friday might. They also swabbed both me and my carry on rucksack for explosives.
At least they didn't get my anti-icing spray - Jussi's father is driving up so we gave him all the stuff that we thought Finnair might steal based on past experience, so it was even more galling that they took stuff they have been happy with previously.
Finnair must be the least cross country ski friendly airline in existence - they have lost my bags more than every other airline put together - losing my bags on about 1 flight in 5, and now they are taking even safe liquids. Maybe I should put the citron base remover in a perfume bottle, as that is more or less what it is. Considering how many gallons of alcohol and perfume they carry on the plane to try and sell us, it is farcical.
Frequently cross country skiers are flying in to places where some of these things are not easy to get. If you arrive the evening of the RR briefing, you are not going to be able to replace anything Finnair take before you have to start skiing, and you will be 4 days into the RR before you see a shop (Ranua) so even getting the stuff is difficult. So it is the time and inconvenience that it costs that are the biggest annoyance.
Getting the bags here was hard enough - my ticket to Helsinki was Finnair, except the return leg was a codeshare with British Airways. So the outward flight had no baggage allowance, and I had to pay €15 per bag for 2 bags (€30); but the return flight, because it is a codeshare, you are under BA's baggage policy, which is one bag included and £60 (€85) if paid in advance (more if paid on the spot).
Thus you are between a rock and a hard place - BA charge you 5x or more than Finnair charges, but Finnair effectively take that amount out of the skier's bags (at least if you are a cross country skier). SAS seem to be better for baggage - you get one bag included, so with two of us we had one bag and one ski bag, and no excess charges (and they didn't raid my bags either).
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