Changes in skiing style and routes

A new skate skiing technique was permitted in 1986, when Finlandia was skied with both the classic and skating techniques at the same time. This meant that those who used the classic style ended up skiing on rather porridge-like tracks. The change was reflected in a fall in the number of participants in the following year’s events. The classic way of skiing, however, became established as the technique of the Finlandia-hiihto main distance, and ski technique monitors were stationed along the route.

The Finlandia main distance is still considered to be Saturday’s 62 km classic style event.

At the beginning of the millennium, the number of skiers started to rise again. A new route now ran from Lahti to Hollola Church. Due to a lack of snow in 2001, part of the backup route was again used. The trails were 53 km and 28 km long.

In 2007, after a seven-year break, it was decided to include the skate skiing technique again. At that time, the intention was to ski skate and classic style over a distance of 62 km on successive days. Due to the lack of snow, however, both events were 50 km long.