Bragging rights for "polar bears" in Joensuu
Bold construction project delivers state-of-the-art ice swimming centre
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By Sari Anttonen in Joensuu
"It was seventeen below freezing and there was a really nasty wind blowing off the lake. The jetty was thick with ice. All the same, I turned up for my first experience of ice swimming, because I'd promised I would. After that dreadful baptism, I was back the very next morning knocking on the door for more", recalls Matti Maukonen, speaking of his first dip - in 2000 - into a hole cut in the ice.
In those days, the ice swimming club known as Joensuun Jääkarhut (Joensuu Polar Bears, in keeping with the Canadian and American tradition of "Polar Bear Clubs" pursuing the same hobby) had to make do with spartan and impractical premises on the shores of Pyhäselkä, 30 km long and 14 km broad and one of Finland's largest open areas of water.
But that was then... The Polar Bears' new ice swimming centre opened last year.
Now the folk of Joensuu have a truly magnificent venue for their winter dips, and they are not shy about telling of it.
There is no need to knock on the door in vain, since the sauna is heated up from early morning until late into the evening every day of the year.
"Finland's most liberated opening hours", grins Maukonen.
"And Joensuu's best bit of shoreline", continues the club's chairman Jukka Vuorinen proudly.
Maintenance and ticket sales are handled by an on-site janitor.
In the warmth of the main building there are dressing rooms, showers, a room with a roaring open fireplace, and a kitchen.
The lakeside sauna, with an electric sauna stove, is a mixed affair, for men and women.
The route from the sauna to the hole in the ice leads down a path with sub-surface heating and onto a heated jetty. The rails on the steps leading down into the water are also heated, and the individual rungs are covered in a heated mat to prevent them freezing and accumulating ice.
And as for the hole itself, well, there would be room in there for an entire village of swimmers.
The centre is located three kilometres from the centre of Joensuu, and there is a bus stop right outside the door.
One does not actually have to join the Polar Bear Club to enjoy the benefits of the centre, as anyone who wants to swim and go to sauna here can do so on purchase of a EUR 5.00 single ticket.
Then again, it's not exactly expensive to join, either. The annual subscription is EUR 70.00, and after paying your sub, you will get a electronic passcode for the door that will enable you to go swimming at midnight if it takes your fancy.
It is hardly surprising that the membership of Joensuun Jääkarhut has soared to nearly a thousand.
"We must be one of the biggest clubs in the country, if not the biggest", estimates swimmer Toivo Raassina.
Around 140 people a day do as Raassina does and take advantage of the facilities.
This adds up to around 50,000 visits a year.
Ice swimming is the real draw: in the winter season, there are around a thousand more swimmers each month than during the summer.
The ice swimming centre cost nearly half a million euros to build - a mighty large sum for a sports club with just the one discipline to fall back on.
"This was a pretty daring venture, but the support we received from the city was considerable, and whatever we could do through volunteer work, we did", explains Maukonen.
When you have as many members as the club does, then a good few useful professions and skills are represented, which meant that unpaid labour allowed for savings of around EUR 50,000.
The Polar Bears drew up the original design, built the jetty, a storage shed, the fence around the site, and they also landscaped the area. They even moved a covered grill and barbecue area from their old home to the new premises.
"Only the main building and the sauna were built by contractors", says Jukka Vuorinen.
The City of Joensuu dredged the lake bottom in front of the centre, zoned the area in the town plan, and then rented the plot of land to the club. While the building work was going on, the city also awarded the club a grant of EUR 25,000.
In spite of the large risk involved, the club's finances are still on solid ground.
The centre would have gone up without help from the city, but not without the free input of the members. Several dozen are active in the working of the club, and during the building phase the numbers giving freely of their services were greater still.
"This is a great place, but what makes it even finer is having the right sort of people around you", says Toivo Raassina.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 20.11.2006
"It was seventeen below freezing and there was a really nasty wind blowing off the lake. The jetty was thick with ice. All the same, I turned up for my first experience of ice swimming, because I'd promised I would. After that dreadful baptism, I was back the very next morning knocking on the door for more", recalls Matti Maukonen, speaking of his first dip - in 2000 - into a hole cut in the ice.
In those days, the ice swimming club known as Joensuun Jääkarhut (Joensuu Polar Bears, in keeping with the Canadian and American tradition of "Polar Bear Clubs" pursuing the same hobby) had to make do with spartan and impractical premises on the shores of Pyhäselkä, 30 km long and 14 km broad and one of Finland's largest open areas of water.
But that was then... The Polar Bears' new ice swimming centre opened last year.
Now the folk of Joensuu have a truly magnificent venue for their winter dips, and they are not shy about telling of it.
There is no need to knock on the door in vain, since the sauna is heated up from early morning until late into the evening every day of the year.
"Finland's most liberated opening hours", grins Maukonen.
"And Joensuu's best bit of shoreline", continues the club's chairman Jukka Vuorinen proudly.
Maintenance and ticket sales are handled by an on-site janitor.
In the warmth of the main building there are dressing rooms, showers, a room with a roaring open fireplace, and a kitchen.
The lakeside sauna, with an electric sauna stove, is a mixed affair, for men and women.
The route from the sauna to the hole in the ice leads down a path with sub-surface heating and onto a heated jetty. The rails on the steps leading down into the water are also heated, and the individual rungs are covered in a heated mat to prevent them freezing and accumulating ice.
And as for the hole itself, well, there would be room in there for an entire village of swimmers.
The centre is located three kilometres from the centre of Joensuu, and there is a bus stop right outside the door.
One does not actually have to join the Polar Bear Club to enjoy the benefits of the centre, as anyone who wants to swim and go to sauna here can do so on purchase of a EUR 5.00 single ticket.
Then again, it's not exactly expensive to join, either. The annual subscription is EUR 70.00, and after paying your sub, you will get a electronic passcode for the door that will enable you to go swimming at midnight if it takes your fancy.
It is hardly surprising that the membership of Joensuun Jääkarhut has soared to nearly a thousand.
"We must be one of the biggest clubs in the country, if not the biggest", estimates swimmer Toivo Raassina.
Around 140 people a day do as Raassina does and take advantage of the facilities.
This adds up to around 50,000 visits a year.
Ice swimming is the real draw: in the winter season, there are around a thousand more swimmers each month than during the summer.
The ice swimming centre cost nearly half a million euros to build - a mighty large sum for a sports club with just the one discipline to fall back on.
"This was a pretty daring venture, but the support we received from the city was considerable, and whatever we could do through volunteer work, we did", explains Maukonen.
When you have as many members as the club does, then a good few useful professions and skills are represented, which meant that unpaid labour allowed for savings of around EUR 50,000.
The Polar Bears drew up the original design, built the jetty, a storage shed, the fence around the site, and they also landscaped the area. They even moved a covered grill and barbecue area from their old home to the new premises.
"Only the main building and the sauna were built by contractors", says Jukka Vuorinen.
The City of Joensuu dredged the lake bottom in front of the centre, zoned the area in the town plan, and then rented the plot of land to the club. While the building work was going on, the city also awarded the club a grant of EUR 25,000.
In spite of the large risk involved, the club's finances are still on solid ground.
The centre would have gone up without help from the city, but not without the free input of the members. Several dozen are active in the working of the club, and during the building phase the numbers giving freely of their services were greater still.
"This is a great place, but what makes it even finer is having the right sort of people around you", says Toivo Raassina.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 20.11.2006
SARI ANTTONEN / Helsingin Sanomat