Finland (Ruka) in January

[Misericord]

Hello all

Planning to take a week in January for skiing and Finland sounds rather excitingly different. However, I've never been beyond the Alps and America for skiing.

Could anyone advise on what Ruka - or other recommended Lappish resorts! - is like in January? I have heard of the v v v cold, but what are the slopes like, is it v icy, and are the pistes skiable for a good amount of the day despite the light?

And would February be better - pre half term?

For background, I have been skiing a dozen times or more since I was 10 or 11. DH has been once - I taught him the basics earlier this year in a week in Tignes - he has no fear and is v fit, learns fast, so would get a few lessons this time.

Thanks!

M

Hi Misericord

I'm certain you will love it. I've never been to Ruka but have many times gone to Levi and absolutely love skiing in Finland.

The first thing to remember is that in January you will have 24 hours darkness so won't get to see the sun at all. The constant darkness sounds odd but you will soon adjust to it. January and February are both great times to go.

It may sound odd, but despite the darkness you can usually ski well into the evening, ie until about 10pm as all the slopes are illuminated from the time they open until the time they close. Therefore you can ski for far longer in Finland than you can in the alps etc. We always love the evening skiing as you get lots of locals on the slopes after work and it's great to ski until late evening and then come down and retire into a bar.

Most Fins speak good English so language shouldn't be a problem and the food and hospitality has always been great. Reindeer is usually on the menu together with a good choice of other meats and fish and plenty of salads.

The slopes are usually pretty free of ice and are very well maintained. One of the oddities you will notice is that it is almost impossible to make a snowball or snowman as that the snow is pure powder! Therefore you will find that most of the time and particularly after a fresh snowfall you will be skiing on powder. The scenery and snow covered trees always look amazing and you will be truly skiing in a winter wonderland.

On the slopes you will often find huts or wigwam type tents with fires in. These are there for you to take shelter and warm yourself on particularly cold days. They are free to use and people often go in and cook sausages and other food on the open fires. Whilst we've been in Finland we have experienced temperatures as low as -34 but it never feels quite as cold as you might imagine as it is a dry cold. Do though make sure you take plenty of layers and have face masks/balaclavas and good quality lip balms to prevent chapped lips.

It's a fantastic place to experience and should you get the chance do try and do a skidoo (snowmobile) safari, husky sledging and ice fishing. It's also worth trying your hand at cross country skiing, it takes a bit of getting used to but it is great fun and superb exercise.

Finally, and with luck you will get to see the amazing sight of Aurora Borealis. It's quite breathtaking!

You will have a great time.

Carcy

Carcy, that's amazing - thank you so much for taking the time to answer in such detail!

I've been to Ruka in December (over the shortest day .. DOH!).

So light conditions.. it is pretty dark, you get a pre-dawn light at about 9:30, mostly light between 11 and 1 and it starts getting twilighty again at 1:30. BUT! The downhill slopes are lit while the lifts are open, so you'll never notice it (I was cross country skiing - there are limited night trails, but you can still do a fair bit in the daylight available).

Ruka is a smaller resort than Levi, which is both good and bad. Pick your accommodation well and you can pretty much fall off the bottom of the slopes into the hotel. There is a lot less choice of eating out and bars. Last year the ski bus was free to get to the other side of the hill (where the beginners slopes are) unlike at Levi.

Snow - based on the cross country conditions it doesn't get icy, it stays really powdery as long as the weather stays cold.
Ruka is a bit weird, they have a weather inversion so the hill is actually warmer than the valley. In December this meant my cross country stuff was in -27 (frozen eyelashes, hair) but the top of the hill was about -10. They seemed to have the piste grooming machines on the hills a lot keeping it neat.

There's lots of stuff you can do around Ruka - husky rides, snowmobiles, cross country. There is a self guided snow-shoe trail which was fun, you just need to rent the gear.

I loved Ruka, one of my top ski places. I loved the little mountain huts with open fires, the fire pits at the bottom of pistes, the orderly queues - well there was barely a queue, the lovely people, looking for the snow monsters that the snowy trees form was great fun on the lifts. I could go on!

Skiing by sodium is great, you don't get flat light. The lighting stretches far enough you can ski in the trees. The sunrise was beautiful, sunset too.... about 2 hours later.

It wasn't cold when we were there, only minus 20, which didn't feel that bad. My friend went and it was -36 for 3 days and hard going. We had hand warmers, balaclavas and lots of wool layers and it was fine.

The lessons are short, but long enough for me and DH to ski the steeper stuff (a bit limited).

The amount of snow was extraordinary.. I have never seen so much anywhere else, including record breaking year in Whistler.

The whole holiday was excellent value too. We stayed in Ruka apartments. I've posted a few times on here about Ruka so have a search in case I've missed anything.

Oh and all the other activities were fab. Huskey rides, Father Xmas (he was so lovely, I now believe ), sledging. I organised all of ours via the local tourist office who couldn't have been more helpful.

The ONE thing that I wasn't keen on were T bars, but there weren't that many.

If you can't tell, I loved Ruka. It's just a shame that you have so few options to get there or I'd go more regularly!

Ooooh!! Finland was on my hit list too. But, because I smashed my knee earlier this year and subsequently had surgery on it, I shall sadly have to miss out on this year's ski season

Keep it on the list Pesto

God I want to go skiing now!!!

Those photos Cunty!! 😍😍😍

Just a quick note to say Finland is a great place to go an experience, but the skiing is not as challenging as in the Alps. However the slops are really well maintained, well lit and open longer then the runs in France, Italy or Austria.

Thanks very much all. As I'm there with a near beginner, not too much of a concern if it isn't too challenging - all of the above sounds absolutely perfect and was so helpful.

We are now booked for January!

You'll hav a great time I'm sure

March is best for skiing in lapland (that's when schools up there have their ski holidays) as its warmer and more sunlight but perhaps that's more for cross country as then you get the crust layer in the snow then.

Just to update - Ruka was AMAZING. Can’t recommend highly enough, especially with a near beginner.

Thanks for all your help again - it was an amazing holiday, and planning to go back next year :)

Glad you had a good time miser as I gave it high praise It's such a lovely place. I'd love to go back too. So many places and so little time!

I've skied in Levi in Finland a few times. I went in February and had the most fantastic time each time we went. Perfect snow - dry and powdery and it was great for the DC, who were novices at the time. Lovely wide slopes and no ice. Bastard expensive though!

Gawd, just realised this is a zombie thread and the OP has already been.

I'm considering ruta for our skiing holiday. Were the food prices crazy expensive?

Eating out is not cheap in Ruka - you can see the prices at the Colorado bar here www.ruka.fi/sites/default/files/colorado_levi_ruka_menu_en_final_talvi_2017_2018.pdf. There was a good value pizza parlour just outside the village www.pizzeriaruka.fi/en/menu/pizzas

There is a small supermarket in the village center - so limited choice, corner shop pricing.

Thanks kitty that's really helpful. That's not cheap. Not too bad for a one off treat meal but not sure I'd want to pay that every day for the 4 of us.

We took food with us - pesto and pasta, breakfast cereals, snacks, but the supermarket was quite reasonably priced

We took food (and a box of wine cough ) to Ruka. So that pre-stuffed pasta, pesto, pre-grated parmesan, some of those spice tailor cooking sauces as they are in plastic bags rather than jars. The supermarket had enough fresh stuff (veggies, meat) that you could make a few meals without too much effort.

We have not been to Ruka but going to Levi in March. There is a facebook group called Lapland Holiday Chat. There should be some people on there who have been :)