Day 1 of the Border to Border

The day finally arrived to start the Border to Border! I had gone to bed at 10:00 p.m. the night before, but I was wide awake by 3:30 a.m. I managed to doze off a couple of times before the alarm went off at 6:30, but I was refreshed and ready to go! The course for the day would run from Suorajarvi to the the Tropiiki Resort north of Kuusamo. Here is the map of the day's course:

After having breakfast at 7:00, we loaded our luggage onto one of the busses for transportation to the Tropiiki Resort. The bus was back by 9:00 at which point all 80 of us were loaded up into two busses and we headed to Suorajarvi.

Once everyone had their equipment, a group photo was taken and we headed out. I was skiing with Marcel who I had met at the airport in Kuusamo when I first arrived.

No sooner did we get started, the basket came off of one of my brand new Rossignol poles. It wasn't too bad crossing the lake because I was hitting ice with shallow pole plants; however, once we move onto land it was an altogether different story as pole plants with the broken pole were often going two feet down into the snow creating a lot of imbalance and substantially reduced force. I slugged it out for 10k to the first aid station. Fortunately, I was able to get a loaner pole which was critical as the terrain from there became substantially more hilly. There was an older gentleman at that station who started working on my pole but more about that later.

The trail quickly became much more interesting as we started climbing into the highlands. The snow-covered spruce trees in this area were absolutely beautiful. Here is just a fraction of what we saw.

From this area, we skied by a downhill ski hill area. After crossing another lake, we followed powelines on undulating hills. There were a number of steep hills and drops on this part of the trail. We even passed by a reindeer harm

This was the view northward from the top of the hill that included the reindeer farm.

The trail finished up on the lake where the Resort is located.

The first day of the wasnt as planned, but I got it completed and was very appreciative of Marcel hanging with me the whole day!

The evening was focused on eating dinner, waxing skis, and attending the evening informational meeting about the next day. While waiting for one of my coats of wax to dry I met Timo Jantti from Jyvaskyla. It turns out he had relatives in Baraga who he visited back in the 70s. He had fond memories of fishing on Keweenaw Bay. At the evening informational meeting, I received my pole back. The guy I mentioned earlier at the aid station got it repaired. I asked if I could get his contact information. Since they said they would not be able to do this, I asked if they would extend my heart-felt thanks!

Below is the Strava take on the day's ski. For now, it is time to crash! Stay tuned for day 2!