The roar of the engine drowns out the squeals of excitement as the snowmobiles slip and slide between the spiky frozen pine trees. We do the circuit a couple of times before clambering off and grabbing a hot fruit juice and grilled sausage by an open fire.
I am dressed in a padded blue jumpsuit with chunky snow boots and a woolly hat. I look like a Teletubby but this does not concern me as the -5?C air tries, and fails, to find a way in. In 1999, the lowest recorded temperature here was -51.5?C but life still continued as normal.
I am 200km inside the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, taking part in some winter sports at Taivaanvalkeat, a rustic venue for large groups. We are just outside the town of Levi, north of Kittila airport. Levi is Finland’s top ski resort, and it held the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in November. The ski season runs until May, but in the summer the area sees a huge range of alpine activities, including canoeing, hiking, downhill mountain biking, fishing and rafting, as well as mushroom and berry picking, and even moose hunting.
The winter activities, and the outfit, have been arranged by Lapland Safaris. Although we are promised a visit to Santa later, I am more excited at the possibility of seeing the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), which is common during the dark winter months. As I gulp down my hot drink, another group on huge tandem skis shuffle by, heaving and laughing as they struggle to co-ordinate with each other. They are heading across the frozen ground to see the reindeer before dinner. In Finnish Lapland there are about 200,000 reindeer to 185,000 people, including 7,000 indigenous Sami – the traditional reindeer herders.
Next on the agenda is husky sleigh riding. We crunch towards a frozen lake where the dogs are waiting patiently, their eyes gleaming in the dusky grey light. There’s a small icy hill down to the lake and we are given mini plastic sledges to sit on. I straddle one, pulling the front up high and lean backwards. Someone gives me a little push and whoosh… I am flying down the hill, snow spraying in my face as I hit the flat lake and slide another 30 metres, spinning around in front of the dogs, which yelp at my flushed face. Two at a time we hop on to the sleigh and the guide shouts out short, sharp instructions. The huskies start running with surprising enthusiasm, and the contraption slides almost effortlessly across the ice, the bells on the dogs’ harnesses trilling into the night.
Earlier in the day, we paid a visit to the Snow Village in Lainio. Pale blue light tinted the landscape and the snow chains gripped the icy road. Every year, about 1,500,000kg of snow and 300,000kg of clear, natural ice are used to construct the village. Last year, 50,000 visitors came and 2,000 people slept in the individually designed rooms at the Snow hotel, with blue, red, green and yellow lights playing on the ice like sunlight through stained-glass windows. Some rooms looked like glowing turquoise and pink igloos, while others had grand sculptures beside the beds. This year, the designers decided to link the bar and restaurant to create one huge space – great for large groups sheltering from the sub-zero temperatures.
If you don’t want to stay in the Snow hotel (the temperature inside is about -2?C, although you are provided with thick mattresses and warm arctic sleeping bags), you can try the new tepee log cabins. Built in 2008 in a forest clearing around a large outdoor hot tub, these pointed wooden structures have a combined living room and kitchen, a bedroom on a mezzanine level, and a bathroom with a sauna, shower and spa bath.
As night falls, we head into the main house at Taivaanvalkeat for dinner and, afterwards, some of the group go off to see Santa. Suddenly, there is a shout from outside and the rest of us run from the building. There is luminous green light glowing bright and then fading, moving and morphing across the sky like the entrance to another world. It’s the Aurora Borealis, and I stand mesmerised for ten silent minutes in the cold night.
Fact box
- Lapland Safaris has launched Arctic Incentives for meeting and incentive groups. Visit laplandsafaris.com, arcticincentives.fi
- Snow Village is open 10am-10pm, between December 10 and April 15, 2010. Entry is €7. Guided tours are available for €40 for groups of up to 40 people. Visit snowvillage.fi
- Finnair flies daily from London Heathrow to Kittila via Helsinki. Visit finnair.com
