Day 0, Savukoski

I arrived at Savukoski in the afternoon. This is the place where record breaking coldness for this winter was measured just a few days ago, -42,8 degrees Celsius!

Today it was "only" -35 degrees Celsius when I arrived a few hours ago. I've never actually in my life been in this cold environment. This is the first time.

Tomorrow I'll drive north about two hours to Kemihaara where the actual backcountry ski tour towards Korvatunturi will start.

This is a guided tour as this is my first ever backcountry ski tour. It's just not sensible to head out alone in winter with little to no experience especially when conditions can be so extreme in temperature wise. This is a small group of four people our guide included.

Thankfully it should start warming a bit so we won't need to sleep in tents when it's -40 degrees Celsius. The first few days are going to be coldest from -20 to -30 degrees Celsius, but then it will warm more and by Friday when the tour should end it should only be around -10 degrees Celsius.

Most likely I won't update this tour until Friday evening when I'm back in Savukoski as taking gloves off and using a phone for an extended period is not an option in these conditions.Read more