Let her ski and jump! — Finnish women on ski tracks and hills from the late 19th to nowdays

The Let her ski and jump, which opened at the Ski Museum on 15 October 2010, described the history of Finnish women on skis and answered many interesting questions. What were women’s ski races like and what was the attitude towards women’s ski racing in Finland? How did women ski from marginal into the mainstream? When did the first women jump from a ski jumping hill?   

On ski tracks 

Women’s ski racing has long traditions in Finland.  The first ski races that also featured a women’s event were held on 13 February 1886 in Impilahti, Karelia. Women competed for Finnish championship medals for the first time in 1911 in Hämeenlinna on a five-kilometre track. The exhibition also portrayed women’s skiing activities in workers’ sports associations and the Lotta Svärd volunteer auxiliary paramilitary organisation. Skiing outfit and outdoor clothing fashions were viewed from different angles. 

The first women’s cross-country skiing event in the Olympic Games was arranged in Oslo in 1952. The Finnish women showed what they were made of by taking a triple victory in the 10-kilometre race. The members of Team Finland were Lydia Wideman, Mirja Hietamies and Siiri Rantanen. In the 1970s, the most successful Finnish women internationally on cross-country ski tracks were Marjatta Kajosmaa, Helena Takalo and Hilkka Riihivuori. Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi, Marjo Matikainen and Pirjo Määttä took home medals in the 1980s. Marjut Rolig was one of the brightest stars in the 1990s. In the 2000s, Virpi Kuitunen, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Pirjo Muranen were the best among female Finnish skiers. 

On ski jumping hills 

Similar to the rest of the world, women’s ski jumping has been a very rare sport in Finland. There were a few female jumpers in Finland as early as the 1950s, with the very first ones having emerged in the beginning of the 20th century. Tiina Lehtola from Lahti was successful in the boys’ category in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today, Julia Kykkänen is one of the rising stars of Finland. Women’s ski jumping became an international sport during the first decade of the 21st century.