Ski tour to Korvatunturi

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Trip start
January 11, 2026
Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Day 0, Savukoski
Jan 11–12 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ -29 °C
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
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Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Day 1, Kemihaara - Vieriharju
Jan 12–13 in Finland ⋅ 🌫 -18 °C
This is written four days after the actual date. The weather and how exhausting the tour actually was made it pretty much impossible to write down day to day events.

We started from Kemihaara around 10:45 am in pretty typical winter weather in Eastern Lapland. The sky was cloudy most of the day and the temperature was between -25 to -30 degree Celsius depending a bit on the location.

Our four person group made steady progress towards the Vieriharju wilderness cabin some 10 km away. We skied along the snowmobile tracks made by the Border Guards and reindeer herders.

The landscape was amazing. Just picture perfect! The fresh snow had covered the trees and painted the landscape like a postcard.

Considering my nearly non-existing experience in skiing I managed quite well. Only the uphills were really problematic with heavy pulkka behind me and those few uphills drained my energy completely.

We arrived at the Vieriharju wilderness cabin around 5 pm. Originally the plan was to sleep every night in tents but everyone was so tired that three of us slept in the wilderness cabin. It was also a matter of safety as the weather forecast was showing the temperature dropping down to -35 degrees Celsius.

Not that it made much difference temperature wise as the cabin was so frozen that it was colder indoors than outside which showed around -18 degrees Celsius in the evening.

Still, sleeping in the cabin does save some time and energy as you don't need to set up a camp and there's also a gas stove for heating water.

Unfortunately the maintenance of this cabin was poor. There was not much wood available and the outhouse was so full that you couldn't really use it.Read more
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Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Day 2, Vieriharju - Rakitsanoja
Jan 13–14 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ -14 °C
This is written three days after the actual date. The weather and how exhausting the tour actually was made it pretty much impossible to write down day to day events.

In the morning two members of the Border Guards visited us with snowmobiles. They were just casually asking where we are going and if we've seen other people. They just try to have an idea of who and how many people are in the area if there's a possible emergency.

For us it took about three hours of non-stop doing from the moment your eyes opened to get ready to get going and ski again. It's just insane how much time and energy it takes during the winter to boil water, make breakfast, make lunch ready, boil more water, wash dishes, pack your stuff. Add to that everything is so much slower, requires more concentration and effort in heavy winter clothes that I was already tired by the time we started skiing! And Vieriharju wilderness cabin was an easy place when it comes to water! There's a stream which stays pretty much open no matter the temperature. But when you need to melt water from snow it takes even more time. It's a constant hours long effort for three to four people!

We started around 9:30 am in around -15 degrees Celsius which was surprising as the weather forecast was saying that it's -25! Oh well, we were not complaining!

The distance to Rakitsanoja was only 6 km but it was enough for me. Constantly performing from 6 am onwards with the water circus, then skiing with heavy pulkka and finally starting camp setup and again hours long water boiling this time from snow made me welcome a shorter day.

I was tired. I was really tired when we arrived in Rakitsanoja. I had difficulties even setting up my tent that I have set up hundreds of times.

It was a humbling realization standing in waist deep snow unable to get the tent up in perfect weather conditions, that I would have been in serious trouble if I would have been there alone in bad weather.Read more
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Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Day 3, Rakitsanoja
Jan 14–15 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ -18 °C
This is partly written during the actual date and partly three days after as the weather and how exhausting the tour actually was made it pretty much impossible to write down day to day events.

I woke up around 6 am and started immediately to melt snow for water, cook breakfast, boil water, melt more snow, wash dishes, boil and melt more water and cook lunch ready to be eaten during skiing to Korvatunturi.

At around 8 am I hadn't even yet prepared my tent for the evening, ready clothes and skis for the day and God knows what else.

Thinking that I need to do all this and more in the evening coming from Korvatunturi and then next morning all above plus take down my tent I decided that I will rest at the camp while others go to Korvatunturi.

I'll go some other time.

I just want to enjoy a bit and not be doing something constantly which basically is what winter hiking with skis and pulkka is all about. There's no time to sit around. Everything just takes so much time that you won't believe it until you experience it.

Others headed to Korvatunturi around 9:15 am. I made myself another cup of coffee and just listened to the silence around me which is the thing that originally fascinated me with winter hiking, the total silence.

Other than that I modified my gear a bit, cleaned tent from snow and ice and took a one hour nap!

I also went skiing on my own to the nearby Rakitsanaapa. I could see Korvatunturi in the distance. It was nice to ski alone in the big swamp. And enjoy the total silence.

I also admired the short duration that sun appeared. Basically sunrise and sunset happened at the same time.

Others arrived to camp around 4:30 pm having skied closer to 20 km in 7 hours. By the time they arrived I had gathered and melted snow and boiled a huge pot of water for them!

Weatherwise the morning started around -10 degrees Celsius but towards evening it dipped closer to -20. Generally speaking the weather forecast has been nearly useless. It just is not accurate at all here. Weather can be anything and you have to be prepared for that.Read more
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Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Day 4, Rakitsanoja - Vieriharju
Jan 15–16 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ -11 °C
This is written two days after the actual date. The weather and how exhausting the tour actually was made it pretty much impossible to write down day to day events.

I woke up around midnight to the sound of pots and pans and the noise of a person from our group going to her shelter and then out again. I almost asked from my tent how come you are starting to cook at midnight!? You can't seriously be hungry again?

In the morning I crawled out of my tent and saw that my pot, spoon and fuel canister had been thrown around the snow field. I asked my neighbour if she stumble into them during the night? She said she didn't think so as she had actually slept in the wilderness cabin and not in her shelter. But I had heard someone...or something going into her shelter during the night...

A bit of investigation revealed fox footprints around our camp! It had been a fox that had thrown my pot around. Also the fox had entered my neighbour's shelter! Most likely it had been interested in the smell of sausage that I had boiled in the evening.

What I also found out was that it had stolen my garbage bag full of garbage and that sausage wrapping! I cursed myself for being so stupid that I left the garbage bag so that the fox could easily take it and spread it around the National Park!

Just as we were about to head out to Vieriharju I saw something in the distance in the first faint morning light. My garbage! I found my garbage spread and torn around along the snowmobile track! Thankfully the fox hadn't taken the garbage far and I was able to gather everything back.

We arrived at the Vieriharju wilderness cabin around 1 pm. This was actually the first day that I felt great and had extra energy left. One rest day paid off. Of course also the body starts to get used to skiing with pulkka and winter hiking generally speaking.

At Vieriharju our guide showed how to build a "lumikammi". It's basically a bit like an igloo, but this is built from a huge pile of snow. One member of our group slept in this "lumikammi".

I also had energy to dig around my tent to build a nice kitchen area in the snow.

In the evening we sat around a camp fire and cooked food in an open fire. It was a really nice day and evening.

The temperature in the evening was around -8 degrees Celsius.Read more
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Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Day 5, Vieriharju - Kemihaara
January 16 in Finland ⋅ ☁️ -8 °C
This is written two days after the actual date. The weather and how exhausting the tour actually was made it pretty much impossible to write down day to day events.

Despite the night being the warmest just -4 degrees Celsius it was the first night that I felt a bit chilly. I did leave my second sleeping bag off as that would have been too much and also my warm sleeping booties, but I think the main reason being chilly was that as it's warmer the body heat warms the inside of the tent so much that it was really humid and moist. I actually felt ice water dripping to my face during the night and the sleeping bag was quite wet in the morning.

We started early at 8:30 am. It was still pitch black and everyone was wearing their headlamps.

I felt energized and good in the morning and the morning felt finally a bit like a routine. I had a feeling that I could still continue this ski tour. It definitely took a few days to physically and especially mentally to adjust to this type of winter hiking. But once the adjustment is done I really enjoyed being out there.

It was a nice day to ski. The distance to Kemihaara was about 10 kilometers. We stopped a few times to eat a bit and drink and then took a longer lunch break. Lunch needs to be done ready in the morning to thermos as it would take much time to unpack pulkka and start setting your cooking system and then cook. The weather also might be such, that it's nearly impossible to cook or it would take extra effort and energy to start cooking.

We also met a local reindeer herder who was heading to the fell to fetch a reindeer that had been lost a long time, nearly a year! A wolf had killed its mate and it had gotten scared and run away, most likely to Russia and the radar detector it's carrying stopped responding. Until this morning! So the reindeer herder was going with a snowmobile to bring the runaway home. Later the same reindeer herder was coming back with the reindeer walking behind the snowmobile. In Kemihaara the reindeer and snowmobile were packed into a van and the man drove both home.

We were at Kemihaara at 1 pm. So we skied really fast this last day. Of course the pulkka was lighter as most of the food had been eaten and fuel used.

We held a small end meeting, thanked our guide and he thanked us saying that we made his work too easy. 😊

Then it was time to pack equipment to cars and everyone started a long drive home.Read more
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Ski tour to Korvatunturi Taru Viero
Afterthought
January 18 in Finland ⋅ ⛅ -5 °C
The first few days of this ski tour was a bit of a shock to me.

It wasn't the cold, but the fact how much energy, effort and time even simplest things take. Sleeping one night in a tent in winter cannot really prepare you for what it requires to keep going for five straight days in freezing conditions.

The tent can be and will be hard to set up with gloves on and in heavy winter clothes even if you know your tent inside out and have set it up hundreds of times.

You wanna pee? Well start first by thinking which gloves you will still have at your hand. Can't take them off.

You sure that with the amount of clothes you have on you are able to squat? Or get up from squatting?

Don't leave peeing to the last moment and don't plan too long or you might pee your pants. 😄

Wanna remove skis? Well are you really sure that with heavy winter clothes you are actually able to reach the ski bindings?

Cannot really remove gloves off at all because it's really hard to warm the hands again. Try to live five days with gloves on and see how easy it is.

The amount of time and effort it takes to melt water from snow is just crazy. Also as you need to cook lunch ready in the morning it's an extra effort.

Washing dishes is never fun, but in freezing conditions it's a nightmare. Try to wash dishes so that you don't get your gloves wet.

The list just goes on and on. I've participated in several winter hiking courses and I've heard and read all above several times in advance, but still actually experiencing it for the first time was a bit of a shock.

But of course people are good at adjusting to changing situations and so did I after a few days of being out there and especially now after a few days from the end of my first ever ski tour I wanna go again! And I definitely will!

I'm pleased with my equipment. There wasn't a moment where I was really cold and I still had clothes in reserve to wear that would have been even warmer. So I'm definitely confident in my clothes and sleeping bags.

The one thing that I will definitely need before next ski tour is a bigger winter tent. My current tent is really good for Spring, Summer and Autumn but for winter it's really poor even when rated for winter.

I knew this in advance and our guide gave me permission to use it even when far from optimal.

The problem is that it's small and bulky winter sleeping bags and jackets are in constant contact with the tent walls from where they suck moisture. The end result is that they start to lose insulation quality and it's just not nice that everything is wet in the morning. Then you go outside and the moisture freezes. I could actually feel ice inside my heavy winter jacket!

For the next time!Read more
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Trip end
January 16, 2026