posted Apr 27th, 2013 - Finland has participated in the international NSL Network for many years. The Scandinavian country with a long winter and a short summer has a very small skydiving community, even though the Helsinki Parachuting Club is one of the biggest in the world. There is a simple reason for that. Helsinki is the country's capital city, and roughly 25% of the population live in or around Helsinki.

Rovaniemi is approx. 560 miles (900 kilometers) north of Helsinki, and the winters are even much longer right at the polar circle. On the other hand, it hardly gets dark at night at all for a few weeks in the summer. The conditions for a lot of skydiving are obviously not the best in the world. However, the passion for the sport might be even stronger due to the challenging environment.

Skydivers and organizers try to squeeze in as much fun into the short summer season, including 4way events. Pekka Salmela is an FAI Judge and also helps to organize competitions in Finland. He recently provided the NSL News with the schedule for the 2013 season, which offers three meets and the national championships to the 4way fans this year.

World Challenge 2013		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie	O,B,M	Q,H,K	G,C,D	P,E,J	A,L,N	F,M,N	D,J,H	E,A,Q	K,O,C	F,P,B	Total	Avg
1	Pro Team Extended (FI)	46	38	30	39	30	48	42	35	33	50	391	39.1
2	Panik (IT)	34	21	15	23	18	27	13	15	13	22	201	20.1
3	Team Tetley (UK)	26	18	11	16	16	28	19	17	12	21	184	18.4

Finland caught the worldwide attention of the NSL News audience at the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk, Russia, when the Pro Team made it to the Top 10 and the semifinals with a 20.4 average. The lineup that was posted on the NSL team page consisted of Laura Miettinen (Tail), Eija Suvala (Center Inside), Outi Pohjola (Point) and Kimmo Pohjola (Center Outside), with Mikko Kajala on camera and alternate Juho Mikkola. Kalle Pohjola was listed as the team packer. The Pro Team members all live in and near Rovaniemi.

The team packer, Kalle Pohjola, was 8 years old by then, and his parents Outi and Kimmo Pohjola traveled around with him. Alternate Juho Mikkola was also a real member of the team.

Almost all members of the Pro Team 2010 family were back this year at the World Challenge 2013, which turned out to become a Finland Fest in the A Class and in the Rookie Class. The Pohjola family, now with 12-year old Kalle in the active lineup, won the Rookie Class competition with Eija Suvala.

World Challenge 2013		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	19,G	8,21	C,D,K	L,M,O	H,9	N,E,F	P,6	Q,J,2	B,7	A,4	Total	Avg
1	Heroes of the Arctic Circle (FI)	16	14	26	38	30	31	20	16	23	18	232	23.2
2	Blue Rebels (GR)	14	11	19	30	16	26	16	14	16	16	178	17.8
3	Fathers 4 Justice (UK)	13	12	22	27	22	17	16	14	17	13	173	17.3

Former Pro Team alternate Juho Mikkola now had his own team in Bedford and competed with Petri Mastola, Pertti Enberg and Emilia Koskimaa in the A Class. The Heroes of the Arctic Circle are from the same town where the winter never seems to end, Rovaniemi, and where clouds of mosquitos are making life at the DZ in the summer very challenging.

The Pro Team family and the Heroes from Rovaniemi have found a great answer to the challenging weather situation in Lapland. They try to spend as much time as possible in the windtunnnel when skydiving is not an option. The results are on hand, as the leaderboards of the World Challenge 2013 are showing in those two categories.

12-year old Kalle Pohjola has moved up from the packer status to the active Pro Team lineup, and he has also left the Rookie status behind him. It would be no big surprise to see the Pro Team Extended as a top contender in the A Class next year and the Heroes of the Arctic Circle on top of the AA Class leaderboard. But first there is the outdoor season, and Kalle Pohjola has to go back to the packing job in the summer...