A Day At The Races – Part 2

This year, apart from the reindeer races we reported on previously, another race of an entirely different kind took place on Good Friday and Easter Saturday. Stadioncross snow mobile races were organised by the Sodankylä Motor Club over two days. On the first day, on which these photos were taken, races took place in the categories of Juniors (11-14 years), Juniors (14-16 years), Ladies, Hobbyists, and Veterans. On the second day, the races were held in the categories Semi Pro and Pro Stock. The photo above shows (left to right, foreground) #666 Niki Kumpulainen, #21 Jesse Bernitz, #54 Jarmo Tanninen and #76 Tuure Säkkinen (category Hobbyists).

This year, the races took place on the Sodankylä Horse Racing Track, on which a special track had been prepared. The main feature in front of the audience was a long jump, immediately after which was the finishing line. On this first day, every category had to complete three races of eight laps each. After each race, the competitors were given points equal to their placing in the race. The overall winner is the one with the least amount of points. The composite photo above shows a jump of #60 Niina Kallojärvi (category Ladies).

Photos and composite photo: Thomas Ulich.

A Day At The Races

It's a Good Friday tradition to go to the Sattenen Reindeer Races, which were held this year for the 30th time. Sattanen is a village very close to Sodankylä, and the event is a place to meet and socialise, and enjoy reindeer races as well as most delicious reindeer soup. These races happen all over Lapland every spring, they are a firm part of life in the North. The races take place on a prepared track, a large loop, with fences on both sides. The start is always in pairs of two. The above photo is taken some 200 m from the start, and these two are having a really tight race.

Even after completing most of the lap, it's still an open race. The riders have to be light and nimble, and often they are ladies. There are often less jockeys than reindeer, and thus they race reindeer of different owners.

Another tradition is the lasso competition, which is part of the same event. Lassos are used to catch reindeer and precision is needed to get the loop around their antlers. Here the vertical poles are used as targets. There's a time limit of six minutes for five successful throws from as many distances. The fastest competitor wins.

Drying cages of Tähtelä

During the early spring in Lappland, as the Sun gets higher and daytime temperatures rise, strange cages of chicken wire start appearing on balconies and outside houses.  These contain strips of reindeer meat which have been salted and hung up to dry for a few weeks.  Weather conditions are supposed to be variable for this process, with generally positive temperatures in the daytime but going below freezing at night.  With the rather mild weather of late, a few of us in Tähtelä have already started.

As you can see, the size and shapes of the home-constructed cages (needed to keep the birds away), and quantity and type of reindeer used varies quite substantially from the 5kg of reindeer hearts to a piece of steak.  The results will be ready in a few weeks!