More winter activities: Surplus stones from the market renovation in Joensuu will slide in Kontiolahti in the future

An outdoor game with roots dating back to the 17th century, the ice corner, will take on a new form at the Kontiolahti Biathlon Stadium in January.

“The game has features of curling and pétanque. Curling is familiar with sliding stones, petanque is familiar with the idea of getting Kolkka as close as possible to the puck in the goal area," says Kontiolahti Outdoor's development manager Mika Okkonen.

The game version of the Kontiolahti biathlon stadium is made special by the corners that can be thrown and slid. Instead of official ice corners, Kontiolahti's corners are made of recycled natural stone.

"We will use stones with a granite surface, which are surplus stones from the Joensuu market renovation a couple of years ago. The weight of one stone is about 12 kilos," says Okkonen.

The idea of corners made of natural stone was born together with Sulokivi, a stone and yard construction specialist from Joensuu, who made the corners suitable for sliding. The main color of the stones is red, Karelia Red.

"In this way, we got gritty and personal corners from recycled material, where domestic stone has been used," says Okkonen.

Rental of cross-country skis surprised   

Of the traditional winter activities, cross-country skiing has raised its head this winter, says Kontiolahti Outdoor CEO Kimmo Turunen.

"In previous winters, cross-country ski rentals have clearly been timed more toward the end of the season. This winter, there have been gratifyingly many renters already at the beginning of the season," says Turunen.

"The background of the popularity is probably the general popularity of cross-country skiing, but also skis that are easier to ski and adjustable than before. We completely renewed our traditional ski rental equipment for this season, and all skis now have grip hairs and very easily adjustable Move bindings.”

• Lunch coffee on weekends Sat-Sun 10-14. A soup lunch and coffee products are available.
• The tools of Jääkolka's local version have been in use since the last week of January. The game is played on a snow surface.
• Kontiolahti pistes network With the exception of Höytäinen's ice pistes in its full extent
• Salpalinja Winter Trail 5-7 km for cycling and hiking
• Snowshoe trail marked on the terrain 3.5 km
• A wide sledding hill protected from car traffic, illuminated in the evening
• Vuokraamo, where you can rent equipment for cross-country skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, sliding snowshoeing and fatbikes for winter cycling    < /li>

More information:

• Mika Okkonen, development manager, 050-375 6733
• Kimmo Turunen, CEO, 050-5633480