Icy resolve: Creating the world’s widest ice carousel on a Finnish lake
Janne Käpylehto’s newest project – making the largest ice carousel in the world – amounts to a masterclass in sisu, the untranslatable Finnish word that signifies courage and endurance. And we’ve got it on video.An appetite for growth
Video: Erika Benke/ThisisFINLAND
It’s January 28, 2023, and the temperature is minus 7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit). Käpylehto is using the saw to clear a long channel, 15 centimetres (six inches) across, in the ice that covers Lappajärvi, a lake five hours’ drive north of Helsinki.
He’s attempting to create the world’s biggest ice carousel. Since arriving five days ago, he’s been working day and night on the frozen lake.
He has held the world record before: In 2021 he made a carousel 310 metres (340 yards) in diameter. His achievement stood until later in 2021, when Roger Morneault of Maine, USA made one 376 metres (411 yards) wide. In 2022, the Zwilling family in Minnesota, USA cut a carousel more than 400 metres (437 yards) in diameter. Käpylehto is eager to retake the title.
Friendly competition
Janne Käpylehto’s American ice-carousel colleagues Roger Morneault of Maine (left) and Chuck Zwilling of Minnesota, flew over to Finland to participate. Each of them has also held the world record at some point. - Still photo from video/Erika Benke/ThisisFINLAND
After five days, both machines break down. But Janne doesn’t let that get to him. “We’ll have to cut the ice with chainsaws,” he says.
A ten-person team from the US is also there, including members of the Zwilling family. The main reason for flying over to Finland is to help, says Chuck Zwilling. “Ice carousels connect people,” he says. “We compete with each other to break records, but we also help each other succeed.”
The world-record-breaking ice carousel built in February 6th, 2023 on Lake Lappajärvi in Finland.
Inventor Janne Käpylehto and his dedicated team of volunteers carved a massive, rotating circle directly out of the frozen lake's ice sheet. To understand the scale of this engineering feat, consider these specifications reported by Yle News:
- Diameter: 516 meters (564 yards)
Circumference: 1,620 meters (over a mile)
Ice Thickness: 42 centimeters (about 16.5 inches)
Estimated Weight: 78,000 tonnes
Perseverance, local community cooperation and sheer willpower yield success five days later. On February 6, just a week after the initial target date, a triumphant Käpylehto shows off a rotating, record-breaking carousel.
It’s a massive 516 metres (564 yards) in diameter, with an estimated weight of 78,000 tonnes. The circumference is 1,620 metres (just over a mile).
“I called Chuck Zwilling in Minnesota,” he says. “He congratulated us and said he wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, he said he would have been surprised if I’d given up.”
Read the full story here ... [Archived]
News Update
Finland re-takes world ice carousel record
The world's largest rotating ice carousel has a diametre of 516 metres and can carry 100,000 people.Yle News 7.2.2023 10:44 • Updated 7.2.2023 11:56
Finland re-took the world ice carousel record from the United States on Monday, when Janne Käpylehto's latest creation in southwestern Finland's Lappajärvi was recognised as the biggest ever rotating ice circle.
Käpylehto's carousel measures 516 metres in diameter, 42 centimeters in thickness and is estimated to weigh some 78,000 tonnes. The rotating ice circle can carry some 100,000 people, making it the world's biggest.
The previous record was held by Chuck Zwilling's carousel in Little Falls, Minnesota, which measured at 405 metres in diameter. The US ice carousel enthusiast and his team arrived in Finland to help Käpylehto with his latest creation.
Machine breakdowns and sawing errors in late January delayed the opening of the carousel, but Käpylehto and his team resumed construction in secret before finally giving the carousel its first spin on 6 February.
"We wanted to keep this secret for two reasons; working in peace and the surprise element," Käpylehto said.