Winter in Estonia - Ski Marathon

It's Winter in Estonia! It means Winter Sports time!
If you already practiced Ice Skating and Skiing, it's time for the ultimate winter challenge - Run a Winter Cross Country Ski Marathon!

38. Tartu Maraton (15.02.09) - 63/31km (Classic Style)
Tartu Ski Marathon, the most important winter marathon of Estonia, hosted in Tartu region every year, from Otepää to Elva. This year, with more than 5000 participants.

XII Tallinn Suusamaraton (22.02.09) - 48/24km (Open Style)
Tallinn Ski Marathon, happens every year in Harju region (near Aegvidu, a small village 55km away from Tallinn), presents a little easier challenge.

So, have you ever run a marathon? Over snow? Add your comments!

Winter in Estonia - Skiing

Estonia is a very popular resort for Skiing!
But as the highest mountain of Estonia is only 318 meters high, we are talking about Cross Country Ski!.
This sport is very popular in Estonia, and on the last Winter Olympic Games, all Estonian gold medals were in Cross-Country Skiing!

In Tallinn, there are many winter tracks for Cross-Country Skiing. Renting of the full equipment (boots, skis and poles) is available for good prices (usually 50 eek), and if you have your own equipment, you can just come and ski as long as you want for free!

Nõmme Sport Center (Külmallika 15) - Nõmme Sport Center is open every day (08.00 - 22.00) and has 4 tracks for cross country skiing in Winter (from 1 km till 5 km). The access is not easy by buss or public transport, but has well kept and illuminated tracks, and places for beginners to practice. See the temperature and amount of snow in Nõmme (in Estonian).

Pirita Sport Center (Rummu tee 3) - Pirita Sport Center is open everyday (10:00 - 20:00) and has 2 tracks for cross country skiing (2km and 4km). With easier access by public transportation, but not so easy tracks for beginners. See the temperature and amount of snow in Pirita (in Estonian).

By the way, did you know that every winter, the FIS (International Ski Federation) hosts the Cross-Country Ski World Cup in Otepää, the "Winter Capital" of Estonia?

Do you have any other good places to ski in Tallinn? Tell us in the comments!

Winter in Estonia - Ice Skating

One of the pleasures of winter is to engage in Winter Sports. In Estonia, you have many places where you can try Ice Skating all year around, but only during winter you can try ice skating in open air, like in frozen lakes in town, or if you are more adventurous, in the frozen baltic sea. (Yeah, it freezes, and usually each winter there are official driving roads from the mainland to the islands).

Jeti Ice Hall, near the Ülemiste Center, has many indoors ice rinks available for Ice Skating, Figure Skating, Curling and Ice Hokey.

The Linnahall Ice Hall is a ice skating rink closer to the city center, but open only on Fridays and weekends.

The Old Town Outdoor Skating Rink is open only during winters, but there you can skate every day of the week from 10:00 to 22:00. You can even check out how many people is skating with the Skate Rink WebCam.

In Tartu, there's Liuväli, a full size skating arena in LõunaKeskus, with the best ice rink, but you have the check the schedule, not all the hours are available for ice skating, as they have Hokey trainings and Figure Skating.

But if you are looking for more, why not Ice Skate on the Frozen Baltic Sea? 360.ee offers Ice Skating in Big Open spaces, like many of the Estonian big lakes or in Baltic Sea, between Haapsalu and Vormsi. Be prepared to skate for more than 4h, more than 20km, in a wild and beautiful scenario, surrounded by ice and Estonian Nature. See what kind of adventures you can do in some of their online pictures (Estonian language required)...

... Or you can check my pictures when I was skating in the Baltic Sea!


Do you have any comments on Ice Skating in Estonia? Leave your opinion below on the comments!