Multiactivity winter week In Suomussalmi, near the Russian border

Extremely fun and active week near the Russian border in Eastern Finland, Suomussalmi region!

During the week there is more than enough beautiful views, much of skiing, snowshoeing, ice-fishing, photographing and of course good food from the fresh nature baked in open fire or in cabin. One of these days we`ll visit The Raate – road, the most well-known winter-war scenes in Finnish history. You hopefully hear the howl of the wolf or other sounds of wild animals and see the magnificent Aurora borealis during the trip. We will stay one night at the cabin without any electricity, warm up the finnish sauna and maybe swim at the ice covered lake! Welcome and have an safe, arctic experience with us!

Facts of the trip:

• Place: Eastern Finland, Suomussalmi
• Availability: 10.3. - 15.3.2013 (2014)
• Duration: 6 days, approximately skiing 65km, hiking with snowshoes 20km
• Number of participants: minimum  5 persons, max. 12 persons
• Price: 885 € / person
• Full board
• Price includes: Transport from Oulu Airport to starting point and back, guidance, meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), accommodation from the 1st day, light insurance (We require participants to have their own insurance for skiing and other outdoor activities), sauna/shower/swim.
• Equipment included in the price: Snowshoes, skis and skiing boots, skiing jackets and pants, rucksacks.  Participants have their own down jackets, warm pants and underwear, T - shirts etc. according to the cold weather. We sell also high quality clothing if needed. Please ask the whole list of equipment for the tour! 
• Payment: Cash, debit and credit cards, Visa.
• Tour level: Intermediate. Previous skiing and trekking experience is required. Moderate physical condition is desirable.
• By additional cost: Snacks, hotel reservations, accommodation for the night before 1st day, etc.
• Languages: finnish, english, swedish
• Contact: info.hikesntrails(at)gmail.com

1st day, 10.3.2013

We pick you up from the Oulu airport or city center and take you to Suomussalmi (appr. 2 hours by car) and to the Saapaskoski cabin which will be our base camp during our week. We`ll check out the equipment, have the maps, go through the plans and safety instructions and start the wilderness holiday by taking a little skiing trip around and warming up the sauna by the frozen rapids. Night at the Saapaskoski cabin (lunch, dinner, skiing appr. 5 km / 2 hours.)

2nd day, 11.3.2013

After breakfast and a little introduction of snowshoeing we will start our day trip with snowshoes and  wonder through shining white forests from Saapaskoski around the beautiful Lake Saarijärvi. During the trip we`ll make our lunch by open fire. Nice tour leads us by many frozen rapids and back to the warm cabin where will have sauna, dinner and nice evening together with hot drinks. Accommodation at the Saapaskoski cabin (breakfast, lunch, dinner, appr. 15 km trekking with snowshoes / 8 hours)

3rd day, 12.3.2013

Skiing day starts after good sleep and nutriting breakfast. We will take a lunch and dinner with us and ski on the Viena route from the Saapaskoski cabin to Lake Aittojärvi where we will stay over night in real wilderness hut without any electricity and modern facilities. Toilet outside. Before accommodation we´ll ski on the quite high hills to the memorials for villagers who were killed during the Winter war by the attacks of the russian partisans. We are near the Russian border. After the trip we continue to Lake Aittojärvi wilderness hut, have a sauna in candle light and maybe the refreshing winter swimming in the lake. (breakfast, lunch, dinner, appr. 25 km skiing on partly steep powder snow / 7 hours)

4th day, 13.3.2013

After the simple but delicious breakfast our tour leads us through the unspoiled nature and untouched snow to explore the area on the Russian border. We`ll ski the first kilometres in the narrow ridge and then mostly on the lakes until the Russian border zone. After a few hours skiing we´ll come back to our base camp in Saapaskoski, have a dinner and rest after sauna. (Brekfast, lunch, dinner, appr. 30 km skiing on partly steep snow / 8 hours.)

5th day, 14.3.2013

On this day we will enjoy the peaceful surroundings and try to catch fish from the  lake. Guide shows how to start winterfishing. Hopefully  we`ll have a nice wild fish dish for the lunch! The day will continue with a snowshoeing and spending the nice easy day without any demands. We will make a delicious dinner in the evening together and enjoy it around the long table by the candle light. (Breakfast, lunch, dinner, appr. 5 km snowshoeing. Accommodation at the Saapaskoski cabin.)

6th day, 15.3.2013

Our last day begins. We´ll pack our gear quite early in the morning, have a little clean up and drive by car to Raate Road which was one of the most important battlefields during the Winter war at 1940`s. We visit the partly reconstructed trenches and retaining walls. After that we`ll continue by car to Suomussalmi, have lunch and drive to Oulu where it is time to say good bye and thank you! We´ll see hopefully next year again in Finland!

We reserve all the rights to change the order of the activities or the content of the program if necessary due to the weather or other conditions!