On our recent winter adventure in Finland (Oulanka National Park, near Kuusamo), Frau A and I did more than just hang out in our self-built igloo -- we went snowmobiling, too!
Snowmobiling obviously is not allowed inside Oulanka National Park. Therefore, we rode about 1 hour to the resort town of Ruka (full name is Rukatunturi). Ruka is not an Alpine-level ski resort; the mountain rises to only 490 meters. But it's the best downhill option around! A Finnish ski jumping team was practicing while we were there and I grabbed this shot from afar:
For snowmobiling, however, Ruka offers 600km of trails of which 100km are private routes maintained by the rental/tour companies. We went on one of these "snowmobile safaris".
To start, you need to get outfitted with the right gear, and this means snowmobile suits. It reminded me of my winter attire as a kid, playing in the snow of western New York State. Here is Frau A all decked out, including the helmet and thick mittens. (Mom -- got any old pics of me in a snowmobile suit for comparison???)
We were lucky enough to use relatively new smowmobiles. In fact, these models have a 4-stroke engine (vs. 2-stroke), are more fuel efficient, and have lower emissions. (Finlnad's tour companies are very vocal about their eco-conservatism.) We took turns driving. Here is Frau A ready to hit the gas:
We spent a little time on a warm-up track (for people to get used to driving) and then hit the trails through the woods. Beautiful scenery (but could not take photos while riding). After 45 minutes, we reached something just like an Alpine hut. You know this is a winter country when you get specific parking spots for snowmobiles!
The hut and the weather were perfect. We grabbed a snack (something like a sugar doughnut) and a hot drink, and relaxed at outside tables:
Notice that the seats had reindeer pelts covering them! They weren't needed with such beautiful weather, but deeper in winter they would be a welcome warming device.
After finishing the refreshments, we could explore the area a bit. It turned out that this was an entire family entertainment complex. Options included...
1) Reindeer petting (Santa would not need them for another 9 months)
2) A circular sledding ride (I have no idea what it's called in English, "sled-go-round" or "sled carousel"? Some sites claim it translates as "pole sleigh".). One end of a long lever is pushed -- the sled at the opposite end is further from the fulcrum and therefore has a higher linear velocity... it feels fast. Kind of like a small carnival ride. Kids loved it. Here's the Finnish Wikipedia entry for those interested.
3) Mini-snowmobiling for children! The machines are powered by what was effectively is a small lawnmower engine. Wish we had these when I was growing up!
Once the break was over, we circled back on another trail through the woods to the starting point. We turned in our gear and headed into the small "downtown" part of Ruka to see the shops and have some lunch (resturant entrance below).
Yeah, this was a little less true-to-nature than most of our activities in Finland, but it was great fun.