Skiing in Finland
After a busy year we thought we’d go Skiing in Finland, for an actual holiday! It’s not often I go on holiday (yes most people think my life is just one long holiday…) so I was super excited to head to Finland. We’d booked there due to the guaranteed snow early season, and it being pretty well priced (unless you’re gonna eat out every meal then take out a bank loan!).
Looking at the forecast in the run up, we knew we’d made the right decision do go skiing in Finland as opposed to the usual spots of France, Italy etc, as the snow was just so good there in comparison. We were unsure what the shorter daylight hours would mean (Ruka was near but not in the Arctic circle), but the pistes were so well lit up we needn’t have worries, with the slopes open every day till 7pm, and night skiing till 11pm on a Friday!
The next concern was the temperature! Now I’m pretty used to super cold temps having done lots of Alpine winter climbing and high altitude stuff, but be prepared if your used to the Alpine temperatures! On our coldest day the air temp was 30 below, with the wind putting it closer to minus 40 Celcius… Luckily the runs weren’t too long, but any exposed skin was tingling to say the least! Fortunately at the bottom of the runs (and sometimes the top or even part way down) they have got nice big wooden huts with fires alight! A luxury, and a great spot to grill your sausages at lunch, or to stop and have your flask of coffee whilst you defrost…
The slopes at Ruka were well sized for a week, and well looked after, the big bonus was how quiet it was – often doing several runs without passing another soul.. The off-piste was limited, but there was some very nice skiing between the trees. There were jumps, half-pipes, rails, enough to keep everyone entertained. As well as the skiing, there was heaps to do, not that we did anything but ski! You could ice-fish, skidoo, reindeer and husky sleigh ride, spot the northern lights, cross country ski, go bear spotting, and obviously being Lapland – see Santa!
Being a decent priced, guaranteed snow spot in Europe, I’d definitely go skiing in Finland again!
Some powder in the trees Skiing in Finland
The big ski jump!
The winters sun over Ruka