Finland is full of odd sports and competitions

Nordic Walking is extremely popular especially among women.

Finns are mad about some sports and outdoor activities that foreigners have difficulties to understand. Finns have a unique sense of humour which is also seen in many World Championships Finns have invented.

Nordic Walking is practised around the year

In Finland you can see people who seem to be skiing even when there is no snow at all. The poles that people are using are the basic equipment needed for the popular sport of Nordic Walking.

Nordic Walking was first launched in Finland in 1997. Finnish cross-country skiers have been dry skiing as an off-season training method since the 1930s. With the help of the Finnish sport companies, it has rapidly increased its popularity.

Nordic Walking combines the positive training effects of walking combined with the total-body exercise advantages of cross-country skiing. Some have also found the other benefits of Nordic Walking. Sometimes you can see elderly people using the Nordic Walking poles as they were canes.

- 30 degrees doesn't bother winter swimmers

One of the most exotic activities you can experience in Finland is definitely winter swimming. Swimming in ice-cold water is a common hobby among some Finns. The popularity of winter swimming has grown in Finland with cities organising safe, public swimming holes in lakes, rivers and the sea.

You can not be long in the ice-cold water, few minutes or just a quick dip to the water is recommended. The bare skin and freezing water are an amazing combination which will make you feel fresh throughout the day.

The winter swimming improves tolerance of cold and stress and it helps building resistance to diseases related to the cold, like the flu.

Winter swimmers are not affaraid of freezing cold water.

Finns love their odd World Championships

Many of the World Championships have started as a joke in Finland. The best thing about these competitions is that whoever is allowed to participate. Here are some odd examples you might want to try.

Find the best Christmas tree

Getting a Christmas tree from the forest has its own World Championship competition in Pyhäjoki. The first Finnish Championship competition was held in 2005. The areas where competition is held are carefully guarded that nobody can go and look for the good looking trees before the contest starts.

The idea is of course to find the most beautiful Christmas tree. One team can chop down only one tree. Judges choose the finalists and the winner is the team that gets the most shouts from the audience.

Ski in unbroken snow

The World Championship in skiing in untrodden snow is held in Iso-Syöte. In this competition you must have good skiing skills because the team will ski about 10 hours in a day. The contest lasts for two days and competitors spend the night outdoors.

It is very hard to ski in unbroken snow but the competitors think that the beautiful view of the northern Finland's fells is worth the trouble.

The snowshoe walking Finnish World Championships are held there at the same time.

Go ice fishing in the summer

Summer ice fishing World Championships are held on the lake of Pudasjärvi. There are some expanded polystyrene floes floating in the middle of the lake. Each floe has a small hole in the middle and the competitor jig for fish from that hole.

Length of the whole competition is one week because there are so many participants. The winner is the person who caught the most fish.

The official rule is to have fun

Wife carrying competitions are usually held in Sonkajärvi. This competition has spread all over the world and people travel to Finland every summer to compete in the Finnish World Championships.

In this competition a man carries he's wife through an obstacle track. Different kinds of carrying styles and techniques are used to get the fastest time for the team.

The wife to be carried may be your own, your neighbour's or someone you know. The wife has to weigh over 49 kilos. There is no upper limit for the weight.

The official rules also order that you have to have fun while competing. The prizes can be anything from laptops and mp3 players to the statues but the most desired prize is the wife's weight in beer.