Tag 12 Skiing in Saariselkä

Day 12

2.4.2024

It's a cozy -20 degrees outside when we leave the apartment and drive to the Saariselkä ski resort .

The parking lot is not even half full at 10 a.m. - the Finns are obviously not early risers - the ski shop is busy, but we are served immediately, given ski boots and skis (we are the Atomic Gang this time - we all have Atomic skis and boots) and zoom to the chairlift.

We pay €49.50 per adult for the day pass, our son is still considered a "child" (7-16 years) and pays €32.50.

The ski set costs 42 € / person.

Saariselkä advertises itself as the northernmost ski resort in Europe - 1 center - 2 mountains. We are excited! It looks good.

The weather is wonderful! Blue skies and sunshine.

Looking back, I still regret not having invested an extra €10 in warmer gloves. My gloves are rubbish and they're white. Another thing I learned here in Lapland: Finns wear black ski gear (at least the sun warms them up).

So taking pictures and videos is always a challenge. As in Levi, when we had -27 degrees, you have to be careful about taking your gloves off to take photos.

When I see the "instagrammable" giant letters, I can't resist any longer and take a few photos in the nice weather (I took the ones with the snowstorm yesterday).

Although the ski area is really small (3 of 5 lifts are running - 2 tows and the 3-seater chairlift) it offers a lot of variety. Our highlight is the ski cross course. It's really cool!

There are also 2 huge fun parks. Crazy!!! My son wanted something like that in Obertauern in January, but there was no fun park.

The Finns can do that too!

With 22 slopes, the 3 lifts are really used to their full potential. We quickly find our favourite slopes and until lunch we mainly ride on the side of the chairlift (the men prefer to sit), although it doesn't exactly go up the mountain at lightning speed...

For lunch we go to the Liegga Láávu restaurant down by the lift station. Very nice atmosphere with seats and cushions and a nice view outside, but not necessarily cheap. The falafel burger for €17 is very tasty though, so I recommend it. My husband also thinks the reindeer tacos are great. Well then...

The highlight of the restaurant, however, is the outdoor area with deck chairs, plastic palm trees and a fireplace at the tepee.

South Sea feeling at -20 degrees and sunshine - what more could you want? 🤣

These tipi huts are everywhere in the ski resorts. We saw them in Ylläs and Levi too. You can warm yourself up by the fire in the tipis or even have a barbecue on the fire ring in front of them. In Ylläs we saw families with sausages on skewers around a campfire in front of a tipi, in Levi the skiers and snowboarders sat around the fire with drinks. Different countries, different habits. I think it's very cool, but now I'm glad to be able to sit inside in the cold and warm myself up.

In the afternoon we take the drag lift on the other side and are a little disappointed that the lifts only run until 3:50 p.m. Today is the official start of the post-season with significantly shorter lift times. We weren't aware of that this morning, otherwise we would have taken the other side earlier...

So we end today’s day of skiing with my favorite piste number 21.

In Saariselkä, my son is allowed to climb the house's own snow mountains, then I take another walk to the supermarket around the corner (we've run out of bread). The weather is so great, now "only" -12 degrees, but with the sun it's just wonderful. I enjoy the little walk and then look forward to the sauna, the oven and our Lonkkero alternative, which turns out to be a kind of "apple wine/cider" (okay, I should use the translation app when shopping).

Whatever, it fizzes like lemonade!😜

Key data:

Accommodation: Holiday Club Saariselkä

Saariselkä ski resort (437m):

5 lifts / 18.5 km / 2 fun parks / 1 SkiCross course

1-day pass: €49.50/adult, children (7-16 years): €32.50

Ski rental: 42 € / person

Weather: plenty of sun at -23 to -7 degrees during the day