Welcome to sauna! Photo: Jari Virtanen.
One of the traditions of Jukola is its sauna. The warmth of the tent sauna is enjoyed by many after the race. It’s a place where competitors go through the challenging parts of the race and compare route choices and experiences in the forest. Some of the sauna-goers just enjoy the peace and quiet and try to relax. This year, there are two big saunas ready from 2 p.m. onwards to receive the athletes. The third sauna, a smaller Venla sauna, is warmed up for the women after their leg in the Jukola relay.
– We are expecting 12,000 to 13,000 sauna-goers over the weekend, so we have to have a sufficient amount of firewood. In Kuopio-Jukola it took about 15 steres of firewood to warm up the saunas. Now that we have more orienteerers, we will likely be needing more firewood as well, says Matti Pirttijärvi, who is in charge of the saunas.
There is a 3 euro sauna fee, which you can either pay on-site or buy a sauna ticket in advance in the competition info. The fee also includes an environmentally friendly, plastic-free “pefletti” to sit on in the sauna.
