This is a sport activity where you will enjoy nature from two very different modalities. This adventure is more than a taste. It's a challenge that will take you on trails where you are going to live unique experiences. Sleep in an ice hotel, in lonely log cabins... You will drive through the forest and up and down hills and crossing frozen lakes and rivers... You will have the opportunity to enjoy the Northern Lights, enjoying the view of inmaculate and wild landscapes, hear stories and local legends enjoying the hospitality of the people of the Norht and the local delicacies.

 

 

Our adventure starts in Lapland main city: Rovaniemi and runs up north to the Enontekiö community. Every night we'll have the opportunity to see the Northern Lights.

 

Finland has a road network exclusively for snowmobiles. These roads, which we can call tracks, penetrates inside of the forest crossing rivers and lakes.

When snowmobiling is difficult to see wild life due the engine's noise. What is more common and must take it carefully are the encounter with reindeers. Moose are very difficult to see but not impossible.

 

The activity is 100% motorsport. The second journey is a long day. It may seem not much 230 kms, but ride it with the snowmobile requires to be in a good shape.

Usually a person doing sports or jogging or anybody who goes often to the gym can join this challenge. For untrained people I can design a routine training.

 

The first kilometers are to familiarise with your snowmobile. You will learn how to brake or negociate the curves. Thus all together we'll drive to meet Santa Claus... let's see what he tell us...

 

In the afternoon, we'll ride to the ice hotel in Lehtojärvi, my snowmobile takes a little trailer to load our luggage and the way to go we'll be as follow: I go first guiding the track and I will stop in every cross to regroup and continue.

 

The history of Lehtojärvi’s village culture, in the Haavikko estate, goes far into the past. In 1955 a local man found a moose head sculpture dating back 8,000 years old, the oldest wooden artefact found in the Nordic countries.

Also ancient remnants, for example Lapp dwellings and cemeteries, have been found in Lehtojärvi.

 

The hotel is built on the shore of Lake Lehtojärvi, near by the place where the moose head was found.

 

Hosted by Ville Haavikko and his wife Heidi, combines snow and ice architecture. The Haavikko family has resided on their estate for hundreds of years and their hospitable resort refreshes the body and mind in the genuine Lappish way.

 

You sleep in a high quality thermal sleeping bag. Frost will not spoil the enchanting peace and quiet of the rooms because the inside temperature always stays between 0ºC and −5 ºC, even in extremely cold weather.

 

 

In the ice hotel you can have a snow sauna as well as a normal sauna. Relaxation, purity and active blood circulation, snow sauna have a unique humid atmosphere and is a different way to have a sauna. Outside the sauna you can dip into a large hot tub under the northern lights and sip a warm drink. Alternatively, you can work up your courage and take a quick snow bath.

 

In the morning a wake-up service including a hot drink and a good breakfast in the Log Restaurant, will give us the energie to face our greatest challenge: the 230 kms to Levi, the biggest ski resort in Finland.

The area surrounding Levi's fell is relatively flat making it great for all kind of winter activities. It also means that the views from the top of Levi fell, where we are going to pass through, are astounding, you can see for miles on a clear day.

During the night time is a superb place to see the Northern lights.

 

In our way to Levi, after 100 kms approximately, we'll have a lunch in an island in Unari lake. In a tipical "laavu" we will cook sausages and salmon in an open fire before keep enjoying our up north ride.

 

Once in Levi resting is mandatory... you'll see.

 

In addition to your hotel services, Levi have a wide range of recreational activities: Spa center, restaurants, pubs... Is an oasis in the middle of the wilderness.

 

After this full active day, tyred but happy, we will sleep like logs thinking about the next day.

The last snowmobiling journey is more paceful, just 117 kilometers, but the accumulated kilometers of the previous day can make them harder than it looks. In this section we will notice more the cold and in 6 hours we reach the village of Hetta in the Enontekiö comunity. Here we leave our snowmobiles and if we have time before dinner, we'll go to visit the husky farm.

The farm is run by Pasi Ikonen and Anna McCormack, both are former professional athletes and explorers with an impressive activity. To emphasize that Pasi became the first Finnish to complete an unsupported ski expedition to the South Pole, two month in total autonomy. About Anna it's possible to writte many pages, she holds a Masters degree in Forestry and Land Management from Oxford University, she has lived and worked in 12 countries and travelled through over 40. It should be noted her work in humanitarian aid reseach. In 2006 she was awarded with the prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Medal for her studies and equipment technical designs for disable athletes with a successful paraplegic crossing of the Greenland Icecap.

 

Its core values are safety, commitment and responsibility. They adhered to the "Leave no trace" program. This program is designed to promoting and inspiring responsible outdoors activities through education, research and relationships.

Travelling with a dog sled is more quiet and different from the snowmobile, but it's also important to be in fit. Run with the dogs in the woods or lakes is a unique experience. Driving the sled has its trick but you'll learn fast. The huskies are quiet animals, sportive, friendly and you can have a very good friendship.

 

In the morning all together we'll go to the farm where our dogs's mushing guide will show us the farm and give us the necessary intructions to drive safetly.

We then go out on the first activity morning for a quick taste ride to make sure that everyone is comfortable with the basics before setting off for three full-on days of mushing which we will cover a total of 120 kilometers. We spent the two nights in comfortable wilderness log cabins.

We'll spend the last night in Hetta. On the departure morning you still have time to go back, if you want, to the farm to feed or say goodbye to your favourite dogs. However, there isn't a great deal of time before the departure of the Enontekio flight.

 

Even if your flight is in the afternoon, I can arrange a visit to local reindeer farm or some x-country skiing or snowshoeing in the National Park.