Finnish Lapland by International Mountain Leader Lotte Stuer
So, what could be more Christmas-y than the home of Santa himself, Finnish Lapland? For sure, Christmas holidays is what this region is well known for, with its magical northern lights, reindeer and huskies. But the North of Finland is also a great destination for outdoor and wilderness lovers all year around.
What makes this your favourite destination to work with clients?
I love Finnish Lapland! I could probably go on about its landscape, arctic climate, culture and wildlife forever! It’s just a pretty magical place to visit. This far north, from the polar night to the midnight sun, the light and intensity of colours are often breath taking! Finland is the country of wide expanses of forest, lakes and fells. A visit would not be complete without a sauna, followed by a swim in a lake or an ice hole!
You can still find bear, wolverine, lynx, beaver, pine-marten, grouse, ptarmigan and many other wildlife here. Finnish Lapland, north of the arctic circle is scarcely populated with roughly 2 people per square kilometre, you’ll find more reindeer here than people. I spent many days out exploring; following a trail out on skis or just following my nose on wide ‘metsasukset’ or forest skis and snowshoes. My boyfriend at the time was from a local family and I was very lucky to be shown around, speak Finnish and learn about their everyday life, history and culture.
I lived and worked in the outdoor industry in the north west of Finnish Lapland in Muonio and Hetta for 4-5 years. The Pallas-Ylläs National Park with its fairy-tale spruce and pine forests, and windswept hills, lies to the south. This area has hundreds of kilometres of cross-country skiing trails, some sections prepared as early as Christmas and others only from mid-February onwards.
You could opt to do a multi day trip, staying in the free wilderness huts overnight, do a traverse of the national park or enjoy single days out from a central location. The well-known Finnish cross-country skiing mecca, Akäslompolo, lies on the southern edge of the national park and is easy to get to from Kittilä airport.
However, in Finnish Lapland, there are National Parks and wilderness areas for multi-day hiking and paddling in the summer, and skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, pretty much all around! Some of these huts are in some fantastic locations, by the side of a lake in the forest or on an open fell.
The landscape in Lapland can change dramatically depending on where you go.
Northwards, spruce, then pine, slowly make way for birch and eventually open tundra, which in the winter resembles a polar landscape. Westwards, close to the Swedish and Norwegian border at Kilpisjärvi, you’ll find the higher fells and mountains, including Halti, Finland’s highest mountain. Just across the border into Norway are the lyngen Alps and the many islands for some great ski touring.
There are just too many options for trips for me to mention, but if you’re looking for more info on Finnish national parks, maps and wilderness huts then this website is a good place to start:
http://www.nationalparks.fi/en/northernlapland_enontekio
How easy is it to get to?
You can get to Finnish Lapland from a number of airports; Kittila and Enontekio in Finland, Tromso and Alta in Norway and Kiruna in Sweden. From here, you can rent a car or use public transport. Within Finland there are relatively good bus connections (couple of times a day) throughout Finnish Lapland. However, public transport from Norway and Sweden is not that straightforward as buses sometimes only bring you close to the border and/or only run certain times of the year. I’ve certainly had some interesting low budget transport adventures!
Can you tell us about the most memorable moment of a recent trip?
I haven’t been back recently and couldn’t pick one most memorable moment but I thought I’d share some pictures of the different seasons, these were nearly all taken by friend and nature photographer Kari Autto. There is one of Kari and I taking out the fishing nets from underneath the ice in December, It was a cold day (-30 ish) and I remember it took me quite a while to get the feeling back in my hands again!
‘Ruska’ is the word Finns use to describe the change of colours in the early autumn. This is a perfect time for canoeing or hiking adventures, with most of the mosquitos gone and enough light in the day. It is a great time for mushroom and berry picking. Locals freeze and/or make syrup out of the berries for the whole year as it provides them with a great vitamin boost throughout the dark winters.
Quickly, snow comes to the open fells, lakes freeze over and days grow shorter. In the beginning of December the sun disappears and makes way for ‘Kaamos’, the polar night. Since it is dark most of the time, it is easy to observe the Northern lights brightening the sky and hues of sunrise and sunset colour the landscape around midday. Though this is a difficult time of year to spend days outdoors (short ‘daylight hours and low temperatures down to -40) it is also a stunning one. You can still go out for short snowshoe walks on the fells as long as you are well kitted out against the cold and darkness, though the moon can often provide quite a lot of light as well! It is important to note the Finninsh climate feels much more continental (dry, cold and stable) than it’s neighbouring Norway.
The sun returns in the middle of January, it can still remain bitter cold until the beginning of March, but the quickly growing daylight hours make first cross-country skiing and snowshoeing outings a little bit easier.
Spring is a perfect time for snow adventures! Everything seems to awaken and come alive after a long dark winter… Spring joy!
By the end of May, most of the rivers and lakes will be ice-free again and patches of snow will only remain on the fells. The midnight sun gives you the opportunity for non-stop exploring but beware of mosquitos! You might have to escape to the higher fells like the reindeer do
Lotte is currently based in the Cairngorms, Scotland and you can contact her via email Lotte_stuer@hotmail.com or phone +44 (0)7811 548 491
Thank you Lotte!
