Ski jumping

So the ski jumping world cup (or hill jumping, if you translate direct from Finnish) came to Kuopio. Having seen this any number of times on Eurosport, and on the Finnish channels, having also seen the hills, but never seen anyone ever jump, I decided this was too good an opportunity to miss. 3 hours standing in the cold(ish, about +2 today) and one hot sausage with mustard later I can say that I have now passed another milestone in my Finnish acclimatization process. Every time these guys went down from the top, and they started as a very small speck in front of the black square at the very top, it seemed impossible that they could ever land with any confidence. Insane, completely and utterly. The two red lines in the photo are 120 and 127 metres - which means that they are in the air for that length. They leave the take-off ramp at 90 Km/h (~55 mph) or so. TV doesn't really do it justice, the same way as the sound and sheer speed of an F1 car is a little different from the side of the track, as opposed to the couch. Because the sun was shining today, the take-off ramp was slower than normal, and the predicted length of 132 metres for the top guys turned out to be only 125 metres or so. Still, a rather enjoyable evening. Definitely a sport I won't be trying anytime in the near or distant future. The UFO in the background, and in the dimly lit picture is actually Puijo tower - a restaraunt and viewing tower, with wonderful views of Kuopio, confirming also that Finland is really a land of lakes and trees!