Ski tour to Hammastunturi

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Trip start
March 14, 2026
Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
1
Day 0, Espoo - Ivalo
Mar 14–15 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C
Arrived to Ivalo in the afternoon. The snow is almost gone from most of the country. In Oulu where I was last night there was almost no snow. At least not enough to ski and drag pulkka behind you.

In Ivalo there's still enough snow. At least 70 cm of it. But it's warm. Really warm, +6 degrees of Celsius! It is highly unusual and unheard of according to locals that it's this warm in mid-March. Temperature wise this is like Spring or Autumn hike and I was wondering is all this 45 to 50 kg of winter hiking gear really needed? But the weather can change quickly in the fell and in Korvatunturi in January the weather forecast was constantly wrong about the temperature by even ten degrees!

This warm weather is going to make this a challenging ski tour. It could be that we need to change the route as crossing the Hammasjärvi might be impossible. The lake is frozen for sure, but it might have water on top of the ice, a lot of water making it impossible to travel. We'll see on Monday.Read more
Tsemppiä reissuun 🙏 [Orvokki Palmgren]
3/15/26ReplyTranslate
🙂 [Orvokki palmgren]
3/16/26Reply
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Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
Day 1, Neivalahdenjärvet - Kuoppajärvi
Mar 15–16 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C
Our day started a bit after 10 am and whole day was mostly climbing and climbing up. With heavy pulkka and warm weather it was rather sweaty job. But I'm very glad that I got those skins or hairs for the full length of my skis. Climbing the hills was much easier with them. Also the new harness for pulling the pulkka is good, much better that the previous backpack system that I had.

We reached our camping spot among the fells in later afternoon. My rented tent is so nice. So much space to sit, cook and change clothes. The Kuoppajärvi camping spot is also beautiful. A small lake surrounded with fells.

Still winter ski tours is heavy job. No matter the gear it still is going to take a lot of time and energy. Now however I knew in advance how it's going to be and it wasn't that bad. Also the stuff and food that I have with me are now packed neatly into boxes which makes unpacking and packing the pulkka much easier and quicker job.Read more
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Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
Day 2, Kuoppajärvi - Vuorhasalmi
Mar 16–17 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
Day started from Kuoppajärvi around 9:30 am. Start was a steady climb lasting about a kilometer. Doesn't sound much, but with pulkka behind me it was. After the climb we started descending towards Hammasjärvi. The descend wasn't that easy either as the pulkka wants to go one route and the skier another resulting an upside down pulkka which needs to be turned up.

Hammasjärvi itself was still frozen solid with no water in sight which was good. It was rather monotone skiing through the lake. Halfway through the sun started to shine so strongly that we needed to apply sunscreen.

We were at the southern end of Hammasjärvi already around 2:30 pm and camped near Vuorhasalmi among the trees and lots of snow! You can't really walk anywhere. Need to put skis on if you wanna go toilet in the woods or to talk with somebody. It's impossible to walk around. Tent also needed to be set up with skis which is a bit tricky and needs concentration with my long 2,5 meter forest skis so that I don't destroy the tent with them.

Rest of the day went as usual. Cooking, boiling water, eating, resting. Winter ski tour is not like during other times where you can just sit, stare into the distance and get lost into your thoughts. Here you are constantly doing something. Still now that this is the second time for me things definitely are easier and more manageable.Read more
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Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
Day 3, Vuorhasalmi - Hammastunturi
Mar 17–18 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
During the night the wind was quite strong and it was snowing as well. The weather is also warm and wet which is not nice. Everything gets wet and it's easy to start feeling cold. Must say that I preferred really cold temperatures over this. Cold is much more manageable than a bit cold and wet.

We headed towards Hammastunturi around 10 am. The fell stands at 531 meters.

The wind was blowing strongly throughout the day and temperature was well above plus degrees. We crossed a few lakes before the climb to Hammastunturi started.

The 531 meters doesn't sound much, but it was a though climb with skis! Somewhere during the climb I also started to worry something that I hadn't considered in advance. How am I going to get down?

The rather steep icy hard slope of the fell didn't seem that inviting to come down with my heavy and clumsy forest skis that are 2,5 meters long and not really made for coming down fells.

A short distance before the peak I gave up. I let the others head towards the peak and decided to wait for them and gather my strength. I wanted to reserve my strength also for the eventual coming down and sking back to camp.

As soon as I turned my back to the rest of the group to take a warmer jacket from my backpack a total whiteout hit. The snowstorm had gathered force behind the fell peak unseen to us. Rest of the group was nowhere to be seen anymore, but my visibility down was decent so I aimed towards one tree and started to climb down with skis on my shoulder. The wind was strong and it was snowing heavily which reduced my visibility and even when I looked back I couldn't see the rest of the group.

Finally as I got lower elevation I could also see the rest of the group emerging from the snowstorm. Some were carrying skis like me and some sking down.

I was so tired after we got down. Really tired. Even when the slope was icy hard it sometimes gave up under your feet and you sank waist deep into the snow. The forest skis are also really heavy and cumbersome to carry. Finally I was forced to put skis back on to make it down from the fell. Alone during winter I would never ever venture to a fell which stands above the treeline.

Must say that these winter ski tours have been the hardest thing I've ever done physically. The difficulty and extra physical demand also comes from the fact that I'm with a group. Alone my pace is very different. I might stop often, admire a view, a tree, listen to a bird sing or just stop and listen to nothing, the total silence. But here we ski 45 minutes, stop for a short brake to drink and eat snacks and off we go again. Lunch break of course is longer. My own pace is different when I'm on my own. Totally different.

It has been really nice to be with these groups and the guide is great, but I think I prefer much better alone. These two group ski tours however have been really valuable and needed to test my winter equipment.Read more
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Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
Day 4, Vuorhasalmi - Kuoppajärvi
Mar 18–19 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
Strong wind was blowing through the night. In the morning the average wind speed was somewhere in the 12 m/s vicinity and fiersom gusts of 22 m/. I wondered how am I going to get the tent down in one piece or so that the wind won't blow it to the other end of the lake.

Thankfully the wind eased a bit when the time to take the tent down came. When we reached the lake it was a different story. Strong wind blew on our backs and made any idea of a longer brake impossible. So we skied really fast across the lake and finally in the shelter of the forest we took a lunch break.

I've been cursing my pulkka as on the snowmobile tracks that we are sking it's constantly upside down due to the uneven ground. One of our group members has the same pulkka and same problem.

I haven't been taking much pictures on this trip even when the weather has been really good and picturesque. Our group just skis so fast that there's no time...which is as insane as it sounds...

I mean what's the hurry in the wilderness?

Of course I could stop and take pictures, but when others are already so far ahead then there's a pressure to keep up. My own pace and philosophy when I'm solo hiking is just so very different. No need to be anywhere. You are already there. I know I'm not the fastest skier and to be honest I don't want to be. I'm here in the wilderness because I want to leave all that "best", "fast", "more", "quick" crap into the city.

We reached our familiar campsite at Kuoppajärvi already around 2 pm. Considering that the sun doesn't set until around 6:30 pm we could have taken the journey a lot slower and still be early at camp. It's not the destination, but the journey...

The weather forecast is promising really heavy winds tomorrow. Over 20 m/s is promised. That's a lot!

We will stay at Kuoppajärvi tomorrow too and do few smaller journeys to the nearby fells.Read more
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Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
Day 5, Kuoppajärvi
Mar 19–20 in Finland ⋅ 🌬 4 °C
The wind has been blowing extremely strongly throughout the day. At one point the wind even ripped one end of my tent from the snow. Thankfully I was inside and could react quickly. Most likely the open tent door caused the wind to blow straight in and lift the tent up.

The sun has been shining warmly throughout the day so much so that inside the tent it was plus ten degrees Celsius during the day!

In the morning the rest of the group headed to Kuoppapää fell but I didn't want to go as it's a treeless fell and coming down from it would have been again a nightmare on an icy slope. I also wanted to roam the area alone at my own pace so I rounded the Kuoppajärvi following the four fells and stayed just below the treeline. It was really nice to be on my own, admire the views, take pictures and be in no hurry to go anywhere.

In the afternoon we all headed to Kuoppa-Risupää fell with skis. This fell is just at the height where trees stop growing, but there's still some small birches on top so this one was still good with skis. It was really fun and everybody was laughing so much as the snow sometimes suddenly gave up under the skis and you were waist deep in snow with your skis. At one point the snow gave up under my skis and only my head was visible, or so the others said, and the person coming behind me was upside down with skis visible. I will remember this ski trip forever. On top of the fell the wind blew even harder but it was still unbelievably warm. I mean I skied most of the trip jacket open as it was just that warm. I also managed to burn my face in the sun.

Tomorrow is an early start as it is supposed to start raining in the afternoon and we hope to reach the cars before rain.Read more
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Ski tour to Hammastunturi Taru Viero
Day 6, Kuoppajärvi - Neivalahdenjärvet
March 20 in Finland ⋅ ❄️ 2 °C
I slept pretty badly during the night as I guess I was a bit stressed about the early start. We had agreed to leave at 7:30 am in order to reach the car before the weather forecast had promised rain in the afternoon. So I set my alarm to 4:45 am to leave 2 hours and 45 minutes to eat breakfast, pack pulkka and be ready to start.

Nearly three hours to take camp down, eat and pack sounds a lot but for a ski tour it's not. It's just enough. Due to the early start we also didn't prepare lunch for ourselves as the plan was to be at cars so that we could eat lunch in Inari.

And skied fast we did. I manage to take one picture. One. The others skied just so fast never looking back or stopping and waiting to keep the group together that at one point I just said f*** it, gave up and adjusted my speed like I would be alone which I was. Well the guide stayed with me, but I ignored him as well as it really would have been his job to keep the group together but I sensed that even he was in a hurry to be somewhere.

You might say that perhaps it was my subjective feeling that everyone went fast? On Sunday when we skied this exact same route it took us 4,5 hours. Now the group skied the same route in 3 hours. I arrived 15 minutes later to the car where everyone was already packing their car and had congratulated each others for reaching the end. It's not subjective. It was just that fast.

I was really fed up to this group. I packed my car, said a few words and drove off

Oh, and it never rained...Read more
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Trip end
March 20, 2026