Day 13 Skiing in Saariselkä or: We share the slopes with wolves!?

Day 13

3.4.2024

Today the weather is fantastic again! We think for a moment about what we want to do today. The plan was actually to drive on to Rovaniemi after breakfast.

After looking at the Rovaniemi "to do list", we spontaneously decide to spend the day on the slopes in Saariselkä . At first we had planned another tobogganing adventure, but after thinking about it for a moment we decided that we would get more out of skiing.

No sooner said than done. Load the car, check out and hit the slopes.

There is even less going on today than yesterday. We are the first in the parking lot at 10 a.m. 😅🤷🏻‍♀️😄

Since the difference between a 3-hour pass and a day pass is €4 and the ski rental costs €3, we take the all-day ticket. If we had known yesterday that we would be skiing for a second day, we would have saved a total of €40 with 2 day passes and rental. So it's worth planning in advance...

But no matter that the weather is so fantastic again today, nobody predicted it! Wow, looking back, we're so lucky with the weather!!!

Today we're skiing all the slopes - all of them! Yesterday we didn't manage to do all of them because we changed sides too late and the lifts only ran until 3:50 p.m. Today, after a few ski cross runs (just too cool!), we're going over to the drag lift and testing all the slopes, including the black slope. This is marked as "not groomed" and after some initial deep snow, it leads to a deep snow mogul slope.

Ok, I did it once - I don't need to do it a second time!

In the upper part of the deep snow, my son notices "tracks" in the snow. From a distance, we first think of a dog, but how could a dog get up here? There are also no footprints from shoes (hikers?) and the supposed dog tracks lead up the mountain, away from the ski area and the region that you are allowed to enter. Hmm... A quick comparison with my cell phone lens recognition makes it clear: they are wolf tracks!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! There are wolves in the ski area??? Crazy!!!

We enjoy the day to the fullest. Today we have lunch in the restaurant at the chairlift mountain station, on the Kaunispää mountain in the Kaunispää Huippu restaurant, where we treat ourselves to veggie burgers and meatballs with mashed potatoes (burgers and pizza always work as veggie food for vegetarians in Finland).😄

Afterwards we climb the small observation tower behind the restaurant and enjoy the panoramic view.

We ride until 3:30 p.m., then our fingers are frozen and we're out of breath. My son is exhausted and takes a break on the last descent in a deck chair, in style next to a plastic palm tree in front of the restaurant by the chairlift. 😄

After we have dropped off our ski gear, we treat ourselves to a coffee and cocoa in front of the restaurant on the wooden benches with warm furs, then we continue our journey. We are heading to our last stop on our Lapland trip: Rovaniemi.

The satnav says it will take 3 hours and be 260 km. Let's go!

After driving for about an hour, a car coming towards us flashes its headlights. Oh, are we going too fast?? Radar camera? Animal on the road?

We immediately slow down a bit and keep our eyes open. I notice that no animal can come from the right (I'm sitting on the passenger side) because there's a fence there. When I look to the left I have to shout: "MOOSE!!!! GIANT MOOSE!!!"

A really huge moose is trotting right next to the road through the deep snow. Crazy!!! Unfortunately there is a car behind us and we can't stop or turn around. Damn! So there is no photo, I didn't have my phone ready in time, but we saw the moose! How cool is that???

Funnily enough, about 200m further on there are signs next to the road saying "Watch out for moose for the next 2km". The guy must have gotten lost 😅

We get through well, the road is clear and after a short refueling stop in Sodankylä we reach Rovaniemi shortly before 8 p.m.

Our accommodation today is the Lapland Hotels Ounasvaara Chalets , where I have booked a small double chalet for 4 people. Our chalet number 24 is quite worn, but clean and definitely sufficient for the three of us. My son can use the small attic, where there are 2 beds, as his own, while we use the two beds downstairs. There is a small kitchenette, a narrow table with 2 chairs and 2 stools, and the bathroom has its own sauna. Perfect!

So we enjoy the bonus of “breakfast included” here - also nice!

The chalets are located directly on the ski area, just a few meters from the ski slope. However, skiing is no longer on the agenda, especially since the 2 lifts that are currently running here and the small number of slopes are not particularly attractive.

On the way to the chalets we drove past Santa Claus Village . That's on the agenda for tomorrow. My husband just calls it "Disneyland Lapland". Yes, it's true... a tourist attraction - but I want to see it. Let's see...

We're ending the evening with a new fake Lonkero. My Aurora app predicts a 5% chance of seeing the Northern Lights today. OK, that's it for the Northern Lights... sniff.

The probability is much lower here "down" in Rovaniemi in April than up in Ivalo. Well, that gives you another reason to come back here 😇😁

You just have to look at it positively!

Key data:

Accommodation: Lapland Hotels Ounasvaara Chalets

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: mostly sunny at -9 to -6 degrees during the day

Distance travelled: 260 km