INWA NORDIC WALKING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LAHTI – FINLAND
FROM 12th- 14th September !
After the big success of the INWA Nordic Walking World Championships, the president of the International Nordic Walking Federation, Aki Karihtala, welcomes everyone interested in Nordic Walking to take part in the INWA Nordic Walking EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS held in Lahti!
The International Nordic Walking Federation INWA and Finski (Finlandia-hiihto) will again jointly organise the INWA Nordic Walking European Championships on September 12-14, 2024 in Lahti, which is one of the most famous Nordic winter sports competition centres in the world.
A good number of participants from abroad as well as from Finland are expected to participate in this unique event. Several skiing world championships and World Cup competitions have been organised in Lahti.
Finlandia-hiihto event director Markku Levanen expresses his delight that Nordic Walking has become part of the spectrum of international events organised in Lahti as a competitive activity. “The INWA Nordic Walking World Championships were a big succes and the also the coming European Championships provide an accessible opportunity to participate in an internationally prestigious competition, allowing individuals to challenge Nordic Walkers from various countries. Similar to Finlandia skiing events, this event is suitable for participants with different fitness levels.
register and read all information on www.finlandiahiihto.fi/nwwc
Here some facts about Lahti . . . .
The Internationally known Lahti Sports Centre is the heart of the ski games. At the sports centre are located the ski jump towers, restaurant Voitto, ice hockey arena, ski museum, outdoor swimming pool and much more. During the wintertime there are ski trails on the area and during the summertime outdoor hiking trails.
In addition to being a world-renowned arena for winter events, the Lahti Sports Centre is one of the town’s most fascinating tourist attractions.
In summer, you can enjoy the wonderful view from the observation deck at the top of the Lahti Ski Jump tower. Take the chairlift from the out-run area up to the jump towers or, if a ride on the chairlift is not your cup of tea, you can also reach the jump towers by car from Hämeenlinnantie road. The ski jump tower observation deck is open for public daily during the summertime and in winter it is open by request. In summer, the out-run of the ski jumping hill serves as a pleasant outdoor swimming pool with separate pools for adults and children. And when hunger hits, you’ll find a nice café and a restaurant with a view over the whole Sports Centre in the museum building.
The hiking trails in Salpausselkä, some of which go all the way to Messilä Ski Centre, also start from the Sports Centre. And what’s more, the services of the Sports Centre are only 10 minutes away on foot from the centre of Lahti.
What makes the Sports Centre area so well suitable for sports is its geology: the unique, diverse landscape of ridges, kettle holes, steep slopes and raised beaches. The Sports Centre is one of the most significant geosites within the Salpausselkä UNESCO Global Geopark.
The Sports Centre lies on the First Salpausselkä Ridge, which was formed along the margin of the continental ice sheet during the melting phase of the last Ice Age some 12 000 years ago, when a period of rapid climate cooling stopped the ice sheet from retreating further. The meltwaters, running in tunnels and cracks within the glacier, transported and sorted gravel and sand, which were deposited as adjacent deltas at the mouths of glacial rivers in the Baltic Ice Lake.
The kettle hole landscape that gives the area its distinctive look, was formed through the melting of enormous ice blocks that had split off from the continental ice sheet. These ice blocks were buried in the sand and gravel deposited by the glacial meltwaters. As the ice melted, the land around the blocks collapsed forming the pitted kettle landscape. The out-run of the ski jumping hill is also built in a kettle hole.
You can also arrive at the Sports Centre by public transport. For example the buses 4H, 4V, and 6 can take you less than half a kilometer away from the Sports Centre.