A few miles southeast off the southern coast of Finland’s capital city Helsinki stands Suomenlinna. It’s a stronghold spread over six fortified islands, built by the Swedish in 1748 to defend against Russian expansionism. It didn’t hold: Russia overtook Suomenlinna during the Finnish War and controlled it for most of 19^th century, utilizing the position to defend St. Petersburg right up until Finland declared independence in 1918 near the end of World War I. Finland’s Defense Department managed Suomenlinna through the 1970s, but nowadays it’s mostly under civilian control. Architecture on the islands consists of both new and old structures, the latter holding onto a special sort of ancient charm. I long wondered if I could snowboard there.

So, I took a ferry and walked around one of the islands (five of which are connected by bridges) in the summer. Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most popular attractions in Finland, especially during warmer months. Nowadays, roughly 800 people live there, including around 250 stationed in the naval academy base that still operates on the islands. Thousands of people come to see its grand fortress walls, cannons and other historical relics, as well as visit the islands’ beautiful parks, museums, restaurants and cafés.

As I walked around the undulating grounds, the visual aesthetics alone pointed to plenty of potential for some sort of session. The tricky part would be the fact that snow doesn’t stick around for long on the islands—wind rolling off the Baltic Sea is constantly blowing it all away.

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