Who says Nordic Walking poles are just for wimps or old farts? According to a report in a website called Good News from Finland,"The army will supply each one of next year’s recruits a pair of walking poles. The first stage of the initiative will require the army to buy 3500 pairs of poles. The aim however is not to take part in military exercises with a weapon in one hand and poles in the other. Instead, nordic walking will be included in the recruits’ physical education.
"The Head of the Sports Department of the Ground Defence Army, Major Juha Sihvonen says that the Defence Forces attempt to modernize its physical education to meet the needs of the modern world. According to Sihvonen many of the recruits are not able to handle the physical intensity of the training. Bone fractions and other damage caused by the physical strain of the training are a nuisance throughout the recruits’ military training. The purpose of the physical education is to improve the recruits’ aerobic fitness and to restore them from the strains of combat and march training. Nordic walking is comparable to other aerobic exercise, such as long distance cycling and cross country skiing."
Ignore the small translation flaws and consider the message.
At the end of the road is the imposing wall of the dam and behind it, the Ralph Price Reservoir that is Longmont's main water supplier.
A plaque affixed to the rock credits near the dam the officials in office in Longmont when it was built.
With all the snowmelt and rain that Colorado's Front Range have experienced this year, the dam has been releasing water in a jet-like torrent. When we stood close to the railing or along the bank, we felt the fine and cooling mist. I asked a Longmont ranger whom we later chanced to meet whether this powerful water is used to generate electricity too. He said it wasn't, but that there was a hydro-power turbine downstream.
