En Route

Finally on the way. Just looked up the long term forecast for Kuusamo and Syote - predicted temperatures above zero some days! I should have checked before I left. I had debated bringing a pair of waxless skis but this would have meant three pairs in the ski bag, making it heavier. Since I have to travel back via a meeting in Brussels I am trying to travel light. I comfort myself with the thought that the forecast can change - one year it ended up being -30C after earlier predictions of much warmer temperatures.

After the rain we had in Norway two weeks ago I think that we are seeing warmer winters. It takes a long time to separate climate from weather. Back when I was much younger the prediction was for a mini ice age and mountains like Cairngorm having a permanent snow cap!

This morning was the first real frost at home - unbelievably almost spring before we get our first real frost!

 

The coach from Bristol to Heathrow got in early. However, it is not possible to pay for the ski bag until check-in (because the flight is a codeshare and has a connecting flight, it is not possible to pay in advance) and check-in doesn't open until 2 hrs before the flight. Having checked in, my bags had to be held whilst I went and paid for the extra bag. This took 25 mins - it requires various manual transactions to be done. So there was not a great deal of time when I finally got through security - having triggered the alarm with nothing in my pockets, not wearing my watch etc. So grabbed something quick for breakfast, but to avoid rummaging for pounds, I used a credit card. Big mistake - the machine said last chance for PIN when the card was inserted and when I did enter the PIN it failed. A nightmare exchange with the bank ensued, with the result that I it fixed for a couple of weeks until I am back in the UK. Not exactly helpful.
 

Back to the skiing - virtually no snow left here in Helsinki, and the Estonian guy sat next to me on the plane said their snow didn't come until mid-January this year and after two weeks was gone and cross country skiing events had to be cancelled.

 

I blame it on UKIP - all their hot air is responsible for global warming. Has anyone else noticed that the incidence of flooding has increased with the rise of UKIP? (UK political joke).

 

It will be late when I finally arrive in Kuusamo - I wonder if my skis will make it - Finnair don't have the best record with my skis, so I have taken to photographing my luggage prior to checking in as positive identification.

 

Beginning to sound like a real grumpy old man - let's hope it gets a bit colder and sunnier to cheer me up and I can post some nice pictures tomorrow.