Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Wake Valley Ylöjärvi Finland

I visited my old home city Nokia. Now in Finland rises up System 2.0 cables everywhere like mushrooms.
One of them is really near my home city, so why not to check it.
Wake Valley (Peltomäki Camping) is just opened and situated to Ylöjärvi, it's about 15km from Nokia and about 200km to north from Helsinki.
Place is ideal for riding and having nice evenings with friends!! No neighbors nearby so you can play music and organize even parties without disturbing anybody. Only you should bring drinks and food with you, at the moment there is no kiosk, restaurant or bar where to buy "consumer goods".
Size of the lake is good to build even full size cable, trees around the lake work as windbreaks, private owned and owners are really positive thinking about wakeboarding. Let's see what they will find out in the future.
Same place is also camping area and there is possible to rent cottages. Cottage for 4 persons costs 58€/night (this way 14,5€ per person).
In the evenings is possible to ride by 20€ as much as you want.)) Sauna and tub normally belong to the deal)))!
Real prices, info etc. you can find from link: http://www.peltomakicamping.fi/wake-valley-kaapelilaakso
Unfortunately at moment internet page only in Finnish!

At the moment they have 2 kickers and one slider. Cable is really high about 12m, so pop is really good.

Cottages
Sauna just beside of starting dock.
Current obstacles
Starting dock
In the evenings (after 18:00) mostly friends and locals are riding.
In this picture Tommi Blom operating cable.
How to find Wake Valley?
Navigator brought me there by address: Säynäväjärventie 38  (34130 Ylöjärvi Finland)
Here are couple maps as well to get idea where the park is:


From Helsinki to Wake Valley

From Tampere to Wake Valley


Sunday, May 25, 2014

Small road trip Italy, Serbia, Turkey and Germany

I had a chance to make small road trip, I call it road trip even that I made most of transitions by plane.
Some people near of me are wondering do I think only wakeboarding, worrying that I don't get any cultural experiences etc... Yes it's lifestyle and I'm thinking it a lot, but it brings me also to many places, where I can get every kind of experiences.

The first Italy:

The first place was Bergamon, city near of Milan in the north of Italy. It's easy and quite cheap to get Bergamon by Ryanair, though are pricing for board bag more than ticket itself.
Most of the travelers just fly to Bergamon, because of cheap flights and then go to Milan or some other more popular places.
I must to say that Bergamon is well worth to visit.
Especially if you like old buildings, roads and walls, which are all made from natural stones. I had accommodation in upper town, which is old part of Bergamon, mostly from 12th and 13th century, but there are some buildings from time of Roman Empire.
For me upper town of Bergamon and its streets brings to my mind old town of Stockholm.
It's possible to drive by serpentine road up to upper town, but much more exciting way is to use cable car.
Picture and name of station above!
Streets of upper town:

In Bergamon food was the best what I got in Italy!
Upper town is full of small nice restaurants, with local wines and delicious deserts. I stopped to one street restaurant in upper town and got the most delicious local produced red wine (mix of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) You can choose house wine from a big assortment of bottled wines. I took just what they recommended and they chose well!
Assortment locals

Used corks tell that someone else has
been enjoying
these delicious wines as well. 


















Latte Macchiato and pie with berries nammm.
Then after couple days I took flight to south of Italy. Plan was to go Pescara and Hot Lake cable park. From Bergamon is possible to flight directly to Pescara, but I chose to fly first to Roma. I've been earlier in Roma and seen all possible tourist attractions. I wanted to drive through of Italy "leg" to the east coast (from Roma to Pescara). I rented a car and drove through of tunnels and the snow-clad mountains, this was really nice experience.
Pity! Photo only by phone
Noonday arrived to Hot Lake!
Say goodbye to the congested wake-parks and enjoy breathtaking landscapes of the Italian countryside!


Hot Lake has not so many obstacles, you can see most of them in the picture above. There is still fun-box outside of this picture , so 4 Unit obstacles altogether. Atmosphere is really relaxing and peacefully, very friendly people. Local guys told that they were still 2 days ago riding in the morning by snowboards (mountains behind) and afternoon riding by wakeboard here in Hot Lake!!!
I saw many turtles during riding, they were swimming and diving everywhere.
This is a tough one, who wanted to try kicker. We all know that turtles are slow animals and this poor one got only to the beginning of kicker. Swam away when riding started.
I wasn't also anymore alone, Kirill Karnov and Wake Experience camp arrived and my girl as well. So what could be better?

Riding was quite successful, especially kicker and some movements on the flat-bar.
Hot-Lake has also really good pop and space for air tricks.
I got still more spiritual and cultural experiences! Girls wanted to take me with them, I think not for a company, but because I had a car.)))
9 km from Hot Lake is Volto Santo church and world-famous Manoppello image. It is suggested to be the cloth placed over Jesus face in the tomb and the image was a by-product of the forces unleashed by the resurrection.
Photo below from church is staged!!! )))

Serbia:

After a few days in Hot Lake I drove back to Rome and to airport. I continued to Serbia...
Serbia shortly: Country side, good local produced food, music and musicians! Picture below!
Music, song and dance... something else needed?))

Turkey:

A few days in Serbia and I continued to Turkey and Hip-Notics!
In Hip-Notics I had only wakeboarding culture with good company: Harri and Aliina from Finland, Sharmy and Jen from England to name a few.
I didn't shoot photos almost at all this time, I took my camera only for a one thing what is happening very rarely in cable parks.
Cable was shaking after some strong rider, who kept handle after falling down in the kicker and released it with the result that cable twisted (picture below). I haven't seen this kind of earlier.
Well Baris got a chance to ride little bit by water-jet and problem was solved quite fast.
I want to highlight that this strong rider wasn't me, I'm destroying lot of boards and bindings, but not cables anymore.)))
Riding was successful, especially I'm glad for my switch ts fr 720's and backside 720's!

Germany:

(Unfortunately pictures only by phone)
I continued to Hamburg. I've been also earlier and I knew that there are crowded wakeparks.
I was riding only 1 day and I made it in Cable park Harburg.
I must to say that I don't recommend! Really crowded, during 1,5 hours I got 4 starts and laps were limited to 3!!! Long cable (800-900m), huge lake with big waves and really small amount obstacles.(((
Queue was mostly longer than in this picture and also all obstacles what exist you can see from this picture.
After riding I visited in Luneberg, which is old city about 50km from Hamburg. My friend lives there and showed little bit around. Really beautiful and clean city, old buildings, which are all made from bricks, almost all buildings are renovated and protected.

I had a chance to see also twin ship lift, what is said to be the biggest in Europe. Built 1974 and was that time the biggest in the world, before Chinese started to make all the highest and the biggest things.
This giant system lifts ships with water and actually the part of the whole canal, giving this way to ships connection to some Elbe canals.

After Germany I went to my homeland Finland and had a chance to test one new System 2.0 cable, which is built up to very near of my earlier home city Nokia. About this I will write in the next blog...






Saturday, May 3, 2014

Summer is coming

I returned back from South Europe 1st of May.
2nd of May it was snowing in St. Petersburg Russia)))
...Well different weather conditions are interesting.... here are some pictures during my last trip:
Swimming in Finland))
Little bit snowing somewhere in Serbia 16th of April

Hip-Notics Turkey 19th of April
In action 27th of April


Friday, May 2, 2014

Wake the Stadium video contest

I returned back to home from South Europe 1st of May about 20:30. I had time until midnight to edit and download clip for this video contest. Deadline was 1st of May 23:59.
I made it and video was downloaded to Vimeo about 23:55 and e-mail and link sent 23:59!!
Here is link to this happening: http://www.wakethestadium.fi/

...and here is link to my last minute video clip: https://vimeo.com/93531803

Peace!