Finnish man creates skating rink three times longer than Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway

Friday, January 16, 2015, 11:45 AM - One man from Finland has single-handedly etched out a skating rink that's more than three times longer than Ottawa's Rideau Canal Skateway.

Sami Päivike, a tourism company CEO, used "a strong ATV with chains on the backside" and a blade on the front to clear out a 25-kilometre long skateway in Rovaniemi, a northern Finnish city directly located on the Arctic Circle. 

"First I was thinking I wanted to make a small skating rink for the children outdoors, it went well so I was thinking 'why not, should I do a bit more, longer?' and then that's how it all started," he told CBC Ottawa Morning on Tuesday. 

The project started at 3.5 kilometres during Christmastime. He then decided to add another 4.5 kilometres, and eventually wound up with the length it is today. 

While longer than the 7.8 kilometre-long Rideau Canal Skateway, the DIY is not considered the "world's largest skating rink" by The Guinness Book of World Records. 

The Canadian site maintains that position as the Rideau Canal's 165,621 square metres is still bigger than Rovaniemi's 75,000 square metre rink.

With files from CBC