Tag: Ounasjärvi

Posted on

May Triathlon: Biking, Skiing and Grilling. A Night on Jyppyrävaara.

Sunset past 10pm
Looking to the North: Sunset past 10pm

On a nice early May evening with some friends we wanted to make a fire and grill some food at the lean-to shelter on the top of Jyppyrävaara, in Hetta. Since the melting of snow and ice continues fast, not every passage that has been maintained as a skiing tracks is snow covered any longer. Thus, I needed to take my bike for a short ride, with the skiers attached to my backpack, to reach a spot where the tracks were still in bearable conditions. After a short trip with the skiers I arrived on Jyppyrävaara, where we enjoyed some grilling action in a bright and almost cloudless night. Continue reading “May Triathlon: Biking, Skiing and Grilling. A Night on Jyppyrävaara.”

Posted on

Hurdle Skiing: When the Ice Disappears and the Snow Quickly Melts

Hurdle skiing around Rautujärvi
Hurdle skiing in April

Since a bit more than a week, the plus degrees (Celsius, of course) have taken over, leading the snow and ice to melt quickly. While there is still enough snow to go skiing, the melting of the ice, especially on the rivers, makes skiing increasingly difficult because of certain barriers that the holes that are left behind: Crossing rivers by following the regular tracks became impossible. However, going through some kind of hurdle skiing, it is still possible to ski toward Pyhäkero, in the Pallas-Yllästunturi national park. After one colder night and a sunny day, we thus decided to make a short trip to the lean-to shelter at Rautujärvi, to enjoy our dinner while looking at the Pyhäkero fell. Continue reading “Hurdle Skiing: When the Ice Disappears and the Snow Quickly Melts”

Posted on

The ’46 km for 360° of Pyhäkero in 48 Hours’ Round Trip

Pyhäkero fell
Pyhäkero in a view close from Hetta

The peak of Pyhäkero is the most visible part of the Pallas-Yllästunturi national park when looking from Hetta toward South – toward the national park. Several trails are leading to – or over the Pyhäkero fell. For our weekend trip, we chose to make ski around the Pyhäkero fell, including one overnight stay at the Sioskuru open wilderness hut, instead of just taking the shortest way up. Continue reading “The ’46 km for 360° of Pyhäkero in 48 Hours’ Round Trip”

Posted on

Ice Fishing on Ounasjärvi

drilling an ice hole on frozen lake
Ice fishing on lake Ounasjärvi

Now that it gets warmer again during the days, not only skiing and playing ice hockey are possible outdoor activities, but also ice fishing  becomes way more attractive than during the colder season. It is still though some work to drill through the ice: after shoveling away about 30 cm of snow, there still has been a layer of approximately 60 cm of frozen Ounasjärvi water. However, after succeeding with the warm up operations, the relaxing ice fishing can begin! Continue reading “Ice Fishing on Ounasjärvi”

Posted on

Sunrise today at 10:12. Sunset today at 14:10. Length of day is 3 h 58 min.

JyppyrävaaraThe days are getting shorter quickly and the Arctic night seems to become tangible. Currently the day length decreases by ten to eleven minutes every day (The headline, by the way, I stole from todays weather forecast site of the Finnish meteorological institute).

The other information I found on that site, which however also was obvious by looking out of the window, was that today was a clear sky. Continue reading “Sunrise today at 10:12. Sunset today at 14:10. Length of day is 3 h 58 min.”

Posted on

Last Bike Trip in First Lasting Snow – Lunch at the Frozen Pahtajärvi Shore

Laavu at Pahtajärvi
Laavu at Pahtajärvi

Last weekend – and thus mid of October, apparently this years winter started. There has been already a few centimeters of snow in late September, however, now that the temperatures are persistent below freezing, conserving the snow and keeping it from melting away again. And so, the few centimeters of snow from early last week are still remaining. Since there is more snowfall predicted for the upcoming days, we decided to once again take out our bikes, and ride them through the forest, where soon we will be only able to ski or walk with snowshoes.

It turned out to be easier than expected, even though the trails were quite slippery of course. Maybe it helped that we Continue reading “Last Bike Trip in First Lasting Snow – Lunch at the Frozen Pahtajärvi Shore”

error: protected content