We Finns value our landscape and make an effort to blend into it when possible – to live in harmony with nature. Our ski resorts reflect this and are therefore part of their surroundings: the national fauna and flora do not stop at the lift gate.
Beyond the gate, a ride to the top gives you a bird’s eye view of the scenery. It’s hard to describe just how amazing it is during the polar night, when the sun’s rays paint Lapland’s white canvas with colours that are miraculously both faded and vivid.
A morning run down the slopes becomes a transcendent experience, and floodlights let you carve every turn with precision while the sun slowly fades away, only to return the next day. We also have an intrinsic instinct to seek out solace in nature every now and then – perhaps that’s why we like to leave the slopes for a bit of treeriding or backcountry exploration.
Some people choose snowshoes and only venture out to admire the landscape in its winter garb, but others bring their skis or snowboards – what’s better than ending a hike through solitary nature with a bottomless run on untouched powder snow? If you’d like to find out for yourself, ski schools of for example Pyhä, Ylläs or Pallas are great places to get started with ski touring or backcountry snowboarding.
