Arrive at the Tromso airport (at or before 18:50), where your transport to Kilpisjärvi will be waiting for you. Join a 2-hour transfer to the remote Kilpisjärvi village, where you will spend the night before the tour. Check into the hotel and meet your guide and group. Last gear check for the week.
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Enjoy an exclusive hut-to-hut ski tour of the remote Käsivarsi wilderness area! Enjoy a proper arctic adventure: Learn the fundamentals of cold weather survival, ski across frozen fells, admire ice-bound waterfalls, and summit the highest point in Finland, Halti, at 1,330 m/4,365 ft!
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After breakfast at Kilpisjärvi, leave all unnecessary gear at the Hiking center and set off, following a snowmobile track up the fells. After lunch enjoyed from a food thermos, it gets serious – you will lose cell reception for the full week! The snow will be perfectly packed, but the distance and elevation gain will make this a tough day. Ski up to Kuonjarjoki Wilderness hut and spend your night there. Or, if you’re feeling brave enough, you can sleep in a tent outside!
Distance: 20 km/12 mi
Elevation change: + 400m/1,320 ft -
After a hearty breakfast, continue your journey skiing along beautiful snow-covered arctic landscapes to the next hut, located only 10 km/16 miles from Halti Fell peak. Get ready for a day full of ups and downs. After descending below the treeline for the first time, warm up with a warm lunch, surrounded by dwarf and fell birches and a cascading creek, where you can grab some fresh water. Proceed onwards to Pihtsusjärvi wilderness hut, where you’ll rest for the day.
Distance: 20 km/12 mi
Elevation change: +400m/1,320 ft, -300m/985 ft -
Today, you will ski for 7 km (4.3 miles) to Halti hut, where you can leave most of your stuff behind and enjoy an indoor lunch. After your meal, start heading up the Halti summit with light daypacks, and reach the highest point of Finland in about an hour and a half!
Take a break to admire the views, enjoy some tea or coffee from your thermos, and you can even pick up a cell phone signal to share a brief greeting with the outside world! After some time spent at the roof of Finland, ski back down along a nice and fast, but not overly steep, powder downhill. (no previous downhill skiing experience required). Return to your cabin at the Halti hillside in only half an hour.
Distance: 13 km/8 mi
Elevation change: + 600m/1,970 ft -
Start your return to Kilpisjärvi – but this time, it’s mostly downhill! Enjoy a much-needed day of relaxation after yesterday’s climb and some long days of uphill skinning. Enjoy a nice lunch in the Pihtsusjärvi hut before following the route you took when getting to Halti.
Distance: 20 km/12 mi
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Today, you will find your own route through the trailless landscapes between the fells, aiming to reach the Termisjärvi Wilderness hut. There is no snowmobile track to follow this time! Ski through a wide canyon formation surrounded by magnificent fells, and have lunch from food thermoses along the way. Spend the night at the Termisjärvi wilderness hut.
Distance: 20 km/12 mi
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Start slowly moving back to civilization; Follow an easy snowmobile track back to Kilpisjärvi. Once back in town, enjoy a tasty final dinner at Kilpisjärven retkeilykeskus, and if you want to, end your tour with a final visit to the sauna! In the evening, visit the local pub and enjoy a well-deserved beer!
Distance: 15 km/9.3 mi
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Following a final breakfast at the Kilpisjärven retkeilykeskus, say farewell to your guide, and get transferred back to the airport to meet your departure flight.
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What you get on this adventure:
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- An experienced, English-speaking ski guide with extensive knowledge of the area
- 6 days of backcountry ski touring
- Airport transfers to and from Tromso airport
- All meals for the duration of the tour
- Hotel accommodations on days 1 and 7
- Wilderness hut accommodations on touring days (rental beds, optional tent accommodation in yards available)
- Skis, bindings, and poles
- Camping gear and cooking equipment
- Safety gear (carried by the guide)
What’s not included:
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- Accommodation before and after the tour
- Ski boots (can be rented from your guide for 50 EUR ($55 USD) per person)
- Travel insurance (mandatory)
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To enjoy this backcountry adventure, you need to be in excellent physical shape. You will be on your feet for 6-8 hours a day for 6 consecutive touring days, covering around 12.5 miles (20km) of terrain every day.
The snow is packed and you will mostly follow a snowmobile track, which makes the skiing part a bit easier. However, you will encounter a fair share of fatiguing climbs, especially at the beginning of the tour. You will always ski in one group, while the person breaking the trail will change when necessary. All of your gear will be carried on sleds and in your backpacks.
The arctic terrain is mostly above the treeline and highly exposed.The weather conditions can make this trip very challenging, and you should be prepared to face less-than-optimal weather. Note that the route selection can change according to the guide’s judgment depending on the conditions and the abilities of the group. The group’s safety is your guide’s number one priority.
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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.
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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.
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For backcountry ski touring & traversal gear, you will need to bring:
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- Expedition-ready fell skis with bindings (provided by guide)
- Touring boots (can be rented)
- Poles (provided by guide)
- Pulks and backpacks (provided by guide)
For personal items, we recommend bringing:
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- Hat (windproof if there is no hood in the jacket), wool is best
- Balaclava
- Sunglasses or ski goggles
- Shell jacket or light anorak
- Long shell pants
- Gaiters to cover your footwear
- Skiing mittens (preferably unlined over-mittens with loose wool or fleece inner mitten)
- Down jacket or vest
- Briefs (with windshield)
- Long underpants (long johns)
- Insulated overpants — optional
- Bivy booties — optional
- Long sleeved undershirt
- Wool neck warmer or scarf
- Socks compatible with your footwear (two pairs are good if you are
prone to having blisters) - Pullover or similar warm garment
- Hat
- Extra socks
- Undershirt
- Briefs
- Long johns
- Mittens
- Backpack
- Headlamp or torch
- Thermos
- Small towel for saunas
- Personal medication
- Binoculars — optional
- Camera — optional, but recommended
The following items will also be provided by your guide:
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- Sleeping bags, liners, and closed cell mattresses (your guides will provide them, but you still need to carry them yourself)
- Tents (for emergencies)
- Toilet paper
- Cutleries
- Cup
- Plate or bowl, food thermos
Standard expedition-ready fell skis (Fischer E109 easy skin) with Rottefella NNN BC bindings will be provided by your guide. If you want to use your own backcountry skiing equipment, please let your guides know in advance so they can confirm their suitability for the tour.
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Ski boots can be rented on notice before booking with the additional price of 50 EUR ($55 USD) per person. The rest of the necessary ski equipment will be provided by your guides.
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Group sizes and prices:
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- For this private adventure, the max client-to-guide ratio is 8:1.
- The cost is per person and doesn’t decrease as the group grows.
Backcountry skiing in Halti, Finland, can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
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- If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.
- Minors are not permitted to join these tours.
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To get to your Halti ski tour, you should fly into Tromso Airport in Tromso, Norway, 3 hours away.
You will meet your guide and the rest of the group at the airport, whereupon you will be transferred to Kilpisjärvi, the starting point of the tour. Transportation from the airport to the first day’s accommodation, as well as back to the airport from the last day’s accommodation, are included in the trip price.
Your guide requests you to arrive at the airport before 6:50 pm local time, so schedule your flight accordingly. After the tour, your guide will return you to the airport in time for a return flight departing at 11 am or later.
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We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with both emergency medical and travel insurance. With medical insurance, if you have an accident or medical emergency on or off the mountain, you’ll avoid paying out of pocket for costly expenses. This covers everything from hospital treatments to emergency air transportation and more.
Travel insurance covers canceled flights, natural disasters, and other scenarios that may interrupt your travel plans.
We also expect you to respect local regulations and take measures to protect yourselves, your guides, and the communities you’re traveling to. For more information on travel recommendations and restrictions in Halti, Finland, please refer to the Finnish government’s official COVID-19 guidelines.
If you need assistance selecting the right insurance for your group, let us know and we will be happy to help!
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