Winter brings both annoyance and delight to Helsinki

Drivers stuck in drifts, snowboarders quick to exploit excellent conditions

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The snowstorm that arrived in Finland on Sunday continued to blast the south of the country on Monday, albeit without quite so much wind to back it up. The snowfall caused plenty of trouble - and also much delight in some quarters - in the capital Helsinki.
      Slippery conditions led to dozens of minor car accidents, delayed and cancelled flights, pedestrian injuries and traffic disruption, but at the same time it also brought some real pleasure to winter sports enthusiasts who may have wondered if this year was going to see a repeat of last winter, when this newspaper made a big splash about the first snow of the season - in late March!
     
One thing was a given: traffic was a zoo, as always when the first real wintry conditions arrive, even in a country that allegedly can cope with snow and ice.
      A truck was askew at the junction of Teollisuuskatu and Kustaankatu in the district of Vallila at 2:00 p.m. on Monday.
      Pensioner Oiva Jäppinen saw what had happened and went immediately to a hardware store, bought a shovel, and walked back to the junction.
      Another passer-by, Nording Benhmidou, was also concerned about the distress the truck was in and took along a shovel and a bucket of gravel and went to help the cursing truck driver.
     
At the same time, Enrico Rosmann was fighting with his own car in the district of Kallio.
      His red rear-wheel drive BMW had got stuck on Neljäs Linja. The snow had played a trick on him already on Sunday, with the rear of his car having swished round and smacked into an upright holding up a road sign. The sign was now askew, and the car had collected a huge dent on its rear fender.
      ”This is the problem with rear-wheel drive and friction tyres”, lamented Rosmann.
     
In the district of Herttoniemi, the thick coating of snow caused no complaints among skiers.
      Jesper Etelävuori, 18, Jukka Hellgren, 16, and Toni Heiskanen, 17, from the district of Laajasalo, uncorked the modest downhill skiing area in Herttoniemi, bringing along two shovels, one soft drink bottle, two snowboards, and a pair of skis.
      In half an hour, the youngsters had made a small skijump for some trick skiing and boarding, which also Herttoniemi boys Kasper Partanen and Erno Toivainen could enjoy.
      Ilkka Holopainen and Hannele Saikkonen had taken out their Fischers for some cross-country skiing in the nearby forest.
      ”The conditions could of course be better, but this is better than no snow at all”, Holopainen noted. He probably remembered last winter.
     
The Maria Hospital Emergency Department received a sharp increase in customers on Monday.
      Numerous patients were lying in hospital beds or sitting in wheelchairs in the corridors.
      Some 34 people were queuing for treatment at about 4:30 p.m. Usually the number of afternoon customers is around a dozen.
      At the same time, the Malmi Hospital Emergency Department had a queue of 59 patients.
      ”Within the next hour we will receive six to seven new patients. Two physicians are on duty, but that is not enough. Some of these people have been queuing already for more than six hours”, reported nurse Niina Heldan.
     
Sitting up on adjacent beds were Ville Sarala and Magnus Bäck, both waiting to be taken to the Töölö Hospital for surgery. Each man had what looked like a broken ankle, the product of ice under a covering of slick snow.
      The first snow of the winter also disrupted traffic at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, where high winds caused delays and cancellations, and also gridlocked the unloading of passenger luggage.
     
The worst chaos occurred overnight between Sunday and Monday, when both the unloading of luggage and the lack of communication between the airport officials and passengers caused trouble.
      Even though the snowstorm began already on Sunday, most of the smaller streets in the capital had not been cleared until Monday. Reportedly it was not worthwhile to start ploughing operations in the middle of the heaviest blizzard, as those areas cleared soon filled up with snow once again.
     
In Tallinn, the snowstorm caused problems in the harbour, when three passenger ferries had difficulties to get to the quay and had to turn back.
      Subsequently, the passengers arrived back in Helsinki hours too late and way after midnight, when the public transport services were no longer operating. According to Tuomas Nylund from Viking Line, they were offered a possibility of an overnight at a hotel.
     
Trains, trams, and buses alike suffered from the bad conditions caused by the heavy blizzard, as has happened so many times previously.
      The commuter trains in the capital were subject to lengthy delays, particularly during the morning and evening rush hours on Monday. Trams experienced some problems, too, and buses were hard put to stay anywhere close to their schedules.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Winter arrives in force as blizzard sweeps across Southern Finland (24.11.2008)
  Long-awaited snow finally lands in Helsinki (27.3.2008)

Links:
  Finnish Meteorological Institute

Helsingin Sanomat