Included: An experienced, local ski guide with extensive knowledge of the area 8-day backcountry skiing tour in Lemmenjoki National Park (6 days of skiing) Accommodation for 7 nights in wilderness log cabins, with sauna cabins at the start and finish Full board during the tour, including daily campfire lunches All expedition gear, excluding personal clothing Round-trip transfers from Ivalo Airport Add-ons (can be arranged on request — leave us a note at checkout): Transfers from Kittilä Airport Finnish- or German-speaking guide Not included: Transportation to Finland Accommodation before and after the tour Meals outside the tour Personal clothing Anything not mentioned in the “Included” section above Insurance — mandatory, available to add at checkout Guide gratuities — optional

How fit do I need to be?

This trip is moderate to demanding . You’ll ski 4–8 hours a day, covering 5–17 km (3–10 mi), with an average of 13 km (8 mi) on ski days. You pull your gear behind you on a pulk (sled) and carry a light backpack. The terrain is mostly gentle: frozen rivers, forests, and bogs. The one big climb is the ascent of Morgam-Viibus on Day 3, which we do on snowshoes, leaving most of the gear behind. The guide adjusts the route to the snow conditions and the group’s pace, and safety always comes first. You don’t need any backcountry skiing experience, but you should have skied before (cross-country or downhill) and feel steady on skis. It’s more about fitness than technique. Expect 4–8 hours on the move every day while pulling a pulk, a bit like a multi-day trek with a loaded pack. If you hike, run, or cycle regularly, you’ll be fine. On Day 1, we spend some time practicing on skis so everyone is comfortable before we head into the wilderness.

What if I’ve never backcountry skied before?

While this tour is highly physically demanding, you don’t need to be an experienced backcountry skier to join. However, you do need to have some prior skiing experience (not necessarily in the backcountry) and excellent fitness levels. If you can handle a strenuous multi-day hike, you should be able to handle this tour.

WIll we be skiing or snowshoeing?

Mostly skiing. We ski from hut to hut every day, pulling our gear on pulks. The only day we switch to snowshoes is Day 3, for the climb up Morgam-Viibus, the highest fell in the area.

What happens in case of an emergency?

You will traverse an 870 square mile area (2,250 square km) with no inhabitants or cellphone reception. From the start of the tour, you need to be self-sufficient. Your guide will carry an emergency satellite communicator and teach you how to use it to call for help. However, due to the remoteness, it takes a long time for the help to arrive, and it should only be used in real emergencies.

What do I need to bring?

Here’s a list of the personal equipment you need to bring: A jacket or light anorak Long shell pants Gaiters to cover your footwear — optional Skiing mittens (preferably unlined over-mittens with loose wool or fleece inner mitten) Wool hat (windproof if you have a jacket with no hood) Sunglasses or skiing goggles Winter boots or warm hiking boots, ideally with removable felt lining Pullover or similar warm garment Sun hat — optional Extra socks Undershirt Briefs Long johns Mittens Down jacket — optional Insulated or down overpants Bivy booties — optional Binoculars — optional Backpack Headlamp or torch Thermos flask Small towel for saunas Personal medication Camera — optional (but recommended) The following will be provided by your guides: Sleeping bags, liners, and closed cell mattresses Skiing equipment, including pulkas and backpacks Toilet paper Cutlery Cups Plate or bowl All the skiing equipment you’ll need will be provided by your guides. If you wish to use your own gear, please notify your guides in advance so they can confirm their suitability for the demanding winter conditions. If you don’t have your own backpack, let your guides know in advance, and they’ll provide one for you at no extra cost. Note: Unfortunately, sometimes the luggage doesn’t arrive as the passengers do. This is quite a regular occurrence here. Your guides recommend that you pack the things you’ll need on your first tour day in your hand luggage, so you can participate in the tour even if the rest of your luggage doesn’t arrive with you on Day 1.

Group sizes and age requirements

Group sizes: For this private adventure, the max client-to-guide ratio is 6:1. That’s also the maximum group size. Backcountry skiing in Lemmenjoki can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements. Min. age requirements If you are older than 18, you’re good to go. Minors are not permitted to join these tours.

Getting there and meeting location

To get to Lemmenjoki, Finland, most people fly into Helsinki Airport 15 hours away. From there, you can take a direct flight to the Ivalo Airport in Ivalo, Inari, Finland. You can use also the Kittilä and Rovaniemi airports, with more inbound options. Both of these airports offer bus connections to Ivalo. Your guide requests you to arrive at the Ivalo airport by 6:45 pm in order to meet the pre-arranged transport. Please note that your guides only organize one transport per group. Before making any flight reservations, check the transfer schedules with them. You will meet your guide at the Ivalo airport at the designated time. They have arranged a 1,5hr transfer to the Akhun Tupa restaurant, the starting point of the tour.

Safety measures and insurance

We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with insurance. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, you’ll be offered to simply insure your trip with Redpoint at checkout. Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner—tailors protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations! Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.

Backcountry Ski Holidays in Finland’s Lemmenjoki NP

LEMMENJOKI NATIONAL PARK | FINLAND

Backcountry Skiing in Finnish Lapland: Hut-to-Hut Through Lemmenjoki

Name: Finland Ski Holidays - Guided Backcountry Tour
Brand: 57hours
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

8 days | Moderate | 5.00

From $4,438 ()

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Total silence broken only by the rhythmic woosh of skis – if you need to escape the noise of everyday life, Lemmenjoki National Park is the place to be! We will spend six days touring Finland’s winter wonderland, far from crowds, electricity, and other distractions. Off the tracks, we’ll learn the basics of Arctic weather survival, visit Finland’s signature saunas, taste Sami dishes & learn about their culture, and even spend a night in a quinzee we built ourselves! This is an off-the-grid Arctic adventure that even Amundsen would be proud of.

Adventure Highlights

Absolute solitude: Find peace and serenity in Finland’s winter landscapes
Survive like a local: Advance your Arctic survival skills with local guides
No backcountry experience, no problem: If you’ve skied before and you’re fit, the guides will teach you the rest on Day

Duration

8 days

Season

December through April

Group size

Up to 8 people

The adventure, day by day

Download itineraries

Spend 8 days exploring the remote Boreal wonderland of Lemmenjoki NP in Northern Finland. Learn the basics of Arctic wilderness survival, ski across lone landscapes, experience absolute solitude and sleep in traditional Finnish huts.

Day 1: Arrival at Ivalo Airport

Sun beams reflecting on snowy landscapes of Lemmenjoki

Arrive at Ivalo airport, where your guide will welcome you. Visit the Ivalo town center for a chance to buy final snacks for the week. Take a 1,5h drive to Ahkun tupa, a camping area and restaurant operated by a local Sami family that has been living there for generations. Enjoy some ski practice and backcountry skiing skills before continuing deeper into the wilderness the following day.

Day 2: Traveling to the wilderness hut

Today after breakfast at Ahkun tupa and leaving your unnecessary gear behind,l set off to the ski tour following the frozen Lemmenjoki river. Enjoy lunch from the food thermos (provided by the guide) along the way. Get ready to lose cell reception for the whole of the week! Follow a snowmobile track to Hirvikoski rental hut, a simple Finnish wilderness hut with bunk beds, where you’ll spend the night.

Distance: 17 km/10.5 mi

Day 3: Tour of the mountains, traditional Finnish Kota

After a tasty breakfast, continue your journey for about 4 km (2.4 mi) to a traditional Finnish Kota at the Morgam-Viibus mountain, the highest one in the area. You will then climb it with snowshoes, leaving most of your gear behind. Going up is hard work, but definitely worth it, as you feel the wind blow on your face. On clear days you can see 100 kilometers of wilderness with no sight of human touch. After the tour, return to the Kota-hut and spend a traditional night inside along an open fire. The experience of a lifetime!

Distance: 12 km/7.5 mi
Elevation change: +500m/1,640 ft

Day 4: Skiing to Morgamojan Kultala, preparing the quinzee(s)

Tourers riding in the day in Lemmenjoki NP

On day 4, you will only ski 5 km (3 mi), on soft snow. You will be staying at Morgamojan Kultala rental hut, which offers a warm welcome sauna! Before hitting the sauna, you will start preparing the quinzees by making a nice big pile of snow to hollow out the next day. The Morgamojan Kultala wilderness hut is again a simple log hut with one shared room and a separate sauna building. There is a wood stove, gas cooker, and an outhouse (dry toilet) – but no electricity. No additional luxuries, other than the peace & quiet of the surrounding wilderness.

Distance: 5 km/3 mi
Elevation change: +200m/650 ft

Day 5: Building the quinzee & touring the nearby fells

Today, you will stay at the Morgamojan Kultala hut to hollow out the quinzees and have a peaceful fell skiing tour on the nearby fells. After another sauna opportunity, you get to try sleeping in the quinzees! This is not mandatory, though, as you can also choose to stay in the cabin for the night if you prefer.

Day 6: Skiing to Hirvoski

Pack your gear and head back to Hirvikoski, where you spent the second night of the tour – but this time through the fells covered with powder. This is the toughest day of the tour as you need to make the trail yourselves, shifting the trail breaker often so no one gets too exhausted. The guide will show you various wilderness survival skills along the way, and tell you about the unique nature of the area. The effort will be well justified as, at the end of the day, you get to see the magnificent Ravadasköngäs frozen waterfalls. Lunch will again be served in lunch thermoses along the way.

Distance: 13 km/8 mi

Day 7: Skiing back to Akhun Tupa

Tourers taking a short break in the backcountry

Start slowly moving back to civilization, following an easy and flat snowmobile track back to Ahkun tupa. Like all other touring days, the lunch is served on the way. Once back to the base camp at Ahkun tupa, you’ll enjoy a tasty concluding dinner and have the chance to visit the final sauna of the tour, washing away all the dirt accumulated during heavy ski touring. Take the chance to pet the reindeer and feed them. Learn about Sami tradition and reindeer herding from the people at Ahkun Tupa.

Distance: 17 km/10.5 mi

Day 8: Farewell, Finland!

After a final breakfast at Ahkun Tupa, your guide will escort you back to the Ivalo airport to meet your departure to Helsinki. Take the chance to visit the Ivalo shop and get some souvenirs!

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Photo gallery

A cabin in Finland with the Northern Lights shining above

Lodging

Off-grid log cabins

We start and finish at Ahkun tupa, a camping area and restaurant run by a Sámi family on the edge of Lemmenjoki National Park. You’ll sleep in comfortable log huts, with a hot sauna waiting at the end of the trip.

Out in the park, we stay in simple wilderness huts and log cabins: the Hirvikoski hut on the Lemmenjoki river, a traditional Finnish kota at Morgam-Viibus, and the old gold-mining huts at Morgamojan Kultala, which have a wood-fired sauna. There’s no electricity on the trail. The huts are heated with wood stoves, and the toilets are dry outhouses.

For a true taste of the Arctic, you can spend one night in a quinzee, a snow shelter we build ourselves at Kultala. If you’d rather not, there’s a warm bunk in the hut.

Adventure, packed to go

Backcountry Skiing in Finnish Lapland: Hut-to-Hut Through Lemmenjoki

Adventure Brochure

Adventure brochure

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What others say about this adventure

5.00 (1 review)

Christoph O.

Amazing ski tour through the Lemmenjoki during the Polar Night. Thanks for guiding Joose and Jani!

Show all reviews

Things to know

Included:
- - An experienced, local ski guide with extensive knowledge of the area
  - 8-day backcountry skiing tour in Lemmenjoki National Park (6 days of skiing)
  - Accommodation for 7 nights in wilderness log cabins, with sauna cabins at the start and finish
  - Full board during the tour, including daily campfire lunches
  - All expedition gear, excluding personal clothing
  - Round-trip transfers from Ivalo Airport
Add-ons (can be arranged on request — leave us a note at checkout):
- - Transfers from Kittilä Airport
  - Finnish- or German-speaking guide
Not included:
- - Transportation to Finland
  - Accommodation before and after the tour
  - Meals outside the tour
  - Personal clothing
  - Anything not mentioned in the “Included” section above
  - Insurance — mandatory, available to add at checkout
  - Guide gratuities — optional
This trip is moderate to demanding. You’ll ski 4–8 hours a day, covering 5–17 km (3–10 mi), with an average of 13 km (8 mi) on ski days. You pull your gear behind you on a pulk (sled) and carry a light backpack. The terrain is mostly gentle: frozen rivers, forests, and bogs. The one big climb is the ascent of Morgam-Viibus on Day 3, which we do on snowshoes, leaving most of the gear behind. The guide adjusts the route to the snow conditions and the group’s pace, and safety always comes first.

You don’t need any backcountry skiing experience, but you should have skied before (cross-country or downhill) and feel steady on skis. It’s more about fitness than technique. Expect 4–8 hours on the move every day while pulling a pulk, a bit like a multi-day trek with a loaded pack. If you hike, run, or cycle regularly, you’ll be fine. On Day 1, we spend some time practicing on skis so everyone is comfortable before we head into the wilderness.
While this tour is highly physically demanding, you don’t need to be an experienced backcountry skier to join. However, you do need to have some prior skiing experience (not necessarily in the backcountry) and excellent fitness levels. If you can handle a strenuous multi-day hike, you should be able to handle this tour.
Mostly skiing. We ski from hut to hut every day, pulling our gear on pulks. The only day we switch to snowshoes is Day 3, for the climb up Morgam-Viibus, the highest fell in the area.
You will traverse an 870 square mile area (2,250 square km) with no inhabitants or cellphone reception. From the start of the tour, you need to be self-sufficient. Your guide will carry an emergency satellite communicator and teach you how to use it to call for help. However, due to the remoteness, it takes a long time for the help to arrive, and it should only be used in real emergencies.
Here’s a list of the personal equipment you need to bring:
- - A jacket or light anorak
  - Long shell pants
  - Gaiters to cover your footwear — optional
  - Skiing mittens (preferably unlined over-mittens with loose wool or
  - fleece inner mitten)
  - Wool hat (windproof if you have a jacket with no hood)
  - Sunglasses or skiing goggles
  - Winter boots or warm hiking boots, ideally with removable felt lining
  - Pullover or similar warm garment
  - Sun hat — optional
  - Extra socks
  - Undershirt
  - Briefs
  - Long johns
  - Mittens
  - Down jacket — optional
  - Insulated or down overpants
  - Bivy booties — optional
  - Binoculars — optional
  - Backpack
  - Headlamp or torch
  - Thermos flask
  - Small towel for saunas
  - Personal medication
  - Camera — optional (but recommended)
The following will be provided by your guides:
- - Sleeping bags, liners, and closed cell mattresses
  - Skiing equipment, including pulkas and backpacks
  - Toilet paper
  - Cutlery
  - Cups
  - Plate or bowl
All the skiing equipment you’ll need will be provided by your guides. If you wish to use your own gear, please notify your guides in advance so they can confirm their suitability for the demanding winter conditions.

If you don’t have your own backpack, let your guides know in advance, and they’ll provide one for you at no extra cost.

Note: Unfortunately, sometimes the luggage doesn’t arrive as the passengers do. This is quite a regular occurrence here. Your guides recommend that you pack the things you’ll need on your first tour day in your hand luggage, so you can participate in the tour even if the rest of your luggage doesn’t arrive with you on Day 1.

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Group sizes:
- - For this private adventure, the max client-to-guide ratio is 6:1. That’s also the maximum group size.
Backcountry skiing in Lemmenjoki can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.

Min. age requirements
- - If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.
  - Minors are not permitted to join these tours.
To get to Lemmenjoki, Finland, most people fly into Helsinki Airport 15 hours away. From there, you can take a direct flight to the Ivalo Airport in Ivalo, Inari, Finland. You can use also the Kittilä and Rovaniemi airports, with more inbound options. Both of these airports offer bus connections to Ivalo.

Your guide requests you to arrive at the Ivalo airport by 6:45 pm in order to meet the pre-arranged transport. Please note that your guides only organize one transport per group. Before making any flight reservations, check the transfer schedules with them.

You will meet your guide at the Ivalo airport at the designated time. They have arranged a 1,5hr transfer to the Akhun Tupa restaurant, the starting point of the tour.
We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with insurance. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, you’ll be offered to simply insure your trip with Redpoint at checkout.

Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner—tailors protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations! Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.
- If canceled within 48 hours of booking, a full refund will be issued.
- If canceled 90 or more days before departure, a 70% refund of the total trip price will be issued.
- If canceled within 89 days of departure, no refund will be issued.
- Booking fees are non-refundable after a 48 hours grace period.

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