In English

Tour skating is originating from the Netherlands where it has been practised on the natural ice of the canals and lakes. Some 1,5 million people even today are active in this popular and traditional skating - a national sport of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is also the home of Elfstedentocht, a 200 km distance skating race, which is running through 11 cities around Holland. The common skaters use dutch (toer) skates, which have long blades and competitors use mostly speedskates. The skating technic is same with the speedskating.

Tour skating in Finland is defined as skating on built and maintained natural ice tracks on lakes and sea. Tour skating is also practised on manmade and artificial oval ice tracks. Equiptment for common Tour skating are tourskates with long blades or other skates with long blades, such as speed- and marathonskates, which are commonly used in the Tour skating competitions. Some new and modern skateboot models are also used in rollerskating and in cross-country skiing as skiing boots.

Tour skating in finland is mostly practised as a recreational and outdoor-sport type of skating. Its increasing popularity is creating more manmade natural ice tracks around the country yearly as well as increasing amount of Tour skating events such as skating marathons. It is estimated that there are already some tens of thousands tourskaters in Finland. Tour skating (matkaluistelu) is different skating sport than Nordic skating (retkiluistelu).

See additional information on tour skating in Finnish.

Nordic skating is a recreational type of skating on free natural ice (lakes, sea) and practised in Nordic countries. Nordic skating was developed in Sweden to its own type of skating from the dutch skating (toerschaatsen).

Nordic skating is always practised on free natural ice in groups and under strict safety rules and equiptment. Nordic skating technic is up-style, long stroke v-style skating.

Nordic skating equiptment consist

• Skiing-boots (telemark), new cross country skiing boots or strong recreation-style boots.
• long blades with bindings attached to boots.
• ice prods or ice claws
• ice pike or hansa pole
• throwing line
• rucksack with equiptment
• (skiing poles are commonly used)