As usual, time is flying and the second Gathering is drawing closer. This thread serves to coordinate the event.

A quick recap: the Gathering will again take place under the bare sky at Toffe's Gym in Vaasa, Finland on August 20-22, 2010. Participants will have the opportunity to compete in the powerlifting and/or weightlifting virtualmeets arranged on the same weekend, but you are also very welcome to just join the support crew and to come in for a workout or two. Unlike last year, when the meet was arranged under the never setting midnight sun, this year we will be leveraging the pitch dark August evenings by illuminating the forest with torches while ramping up the metal. This will be followed up by a midnight sauna and some great post-meet food. Not a meet you will forget any time soon. What the rest of the program looks like will be largely determined by who comes in and what your preferences are.

The details for the Gathering are pretty much unchanged from last year (see the Gathering page 2009).

As with last year, there will be one or two cars departing from Helsinki no later than 2pm on Friday, August 20th, for the roughly 5-6 hour drive up to Vaasa (not counting any stopovers at sights which we will do according to interest, I will be able to provide options there). If anyone is coming in later, for example on Saturday morning, or the car(s) get full you can also take the train (again, I can provide assistance with timetables etc.). The car(s) will head back to Helsinki on either Sunday evening or Monday morning (we need to be back around noon), but if you need to leave earlier the train will come in handy. But if possible, do not miss the epic restoration workout on Sunday morning...

As with last year, the event is totally not-for-profit. If you join us in the car we will split the gas costs among us, otherwise you get to pay for your train ticket. The gas will be less than 30 euro one way, the train tickets are about 50 euro. We will also be splitting the food costs at the Gathering, this will be no more than 40 euro depending on how many come. Unless there is a massive surge in participants (not likely given the current economy), we can accommodate you for free on the island. In Helsinki, you are warmly welcome to bunk with my family if you come in before Friday. Also, we will handle the video taping and uploading of the meet(s).

That's the rough picture at the moment. If you are planning to come or have any questions about the Gathering 2010, just reply below. Christian Burger and Måns Rinne are both planning on coming again this year. Any other takers? If you are interested in doing the weightlifting meet also let me know (as Toffe's Gym is a powerlifting gym, this will take some extra setting up).

Finally, here's some links to what happened at the Gathering last year.

• the meet video
• picture gallery on Facebook (no profile required)
• Alberto's excellent write-ups: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 (the meet) and Day 4 (epic restoration workout).

Welcome if you can!

I am in, Kris, time to get it on.  Wish I could be there in Vaasa again with you guys, but this will do.  TIme to see if my body is truly back to where it was (it's pretty damn close).

For everyone else who can by hook or crook, do try to make the pilgrimage there.   Even without the epic roadtrip, it was well worth it.  Helsinki is an awesome party city if you stick around, and you might be able to weasel Måns into taking you to Punttis Gym and a 2+ pound hamburger afterwards;)

Too bad you can't make it Alberto. Where did you get the 2 + pound hamburger? :-)

I can't remember the name of the place but I remember that it was in Helsinki, and that I still managed to finish the fries that the dish came with.   Måns can definitely take you there.  I think we shared the dessert, Kobayashi we ain't. 

I wish I was there, too. 

The hamburger that has obviously reached international acclaim, is known as the King Kong and is one of the specialties of Morrison's Grill in the Helsinki centre. 

Maybe we should fuel up before the drive..?

As the saying goes, "The man who eats a King Kong shall not see his feet before Hong Kong". So yeah, I second that as the ultimate pre-road trip meal (though Ramen has been proven hard to match once deep inside the Arctic Circle, eh Alberto?).

Also, so far it seems like NOT picking July for this year's Gathering was a good move. Like in the rest of Europe, it is scorching hot here. Yesterday, Finland hit the warmest day since 1935 reaching 33.7'C/92.7'F with a new record expected today (and the Meteorological Institute expects even warmer currents to hit us Tuesday). India in the summer is obviously much hotter (been there, done that), but everything is relative... rather looking forward to a cooler August meet now.

Ramen and tortellini.  Must not forget tortellini.  We drove quite a ways before we even found any.  It almost became a side adventure.

Ah, the memories. That road trip will stay with me forever.