Lapland and Preparing the Tracks For Skiing

The ski slopes in Lapland are situated about a 5 minute bus ride from the cabin. In the winter months, the ski bus runs every 10 minutes or so and the bus stop is a short walk from the cabin. Snow naturally falls in Lapland around October but it takes quite a lot of work on the slopes before skiers get to try out the fresh powder as they call it. Snow guns are hard at work weeks before the ski slopes officially open in November. The snow gun will begin its operations when the temperature in Lapland is consistently -3 or below. This temperature is ideal for snow making and the snow guns are on day and night in order to prepare the slopes for some fantastic skiing. A basin is dug at the bottom of the fell in order to supply the snow guns with water and because the bottom layer of snow is made artificially, the snow lasts well into April and sometimes beyond.

Cross country skiing normally begins in October and once the first few inches of snow have fallen, the tracks will need to be prepared in order for the tracks to be ready for cross country skiers. Work is going on through the summer months with the trails levelled and new chippings spread over the tracks in order to make them acceptable when the first snow arrives. Once a couple of inches of snow has fallen, the tracks will be ready for cross country skiing. Yllas hosts around 330 km of mechanically prepared tracks which travel right into the heart of Yllas national park which is absolutely beautiful. In the summer months the trails are used by hikers and you can walk into Yllas National park where the wildlife and nature are breathtaking.

The first snow ski trail is opened on 1st October using last season's snow In the spring snow is piled into mounds, covered in sawdust and chippings which manages to keep the snow at a low enough temperature. The summer sun will melt a portion of the snow but the majority will remain frozen. The sawdust and chippings will be removed when the temperatures dip low enough and the snow will be mechanically spread over the trails. A snowmobile will be used as a plough to prepare the tracks and then they are ready to be used. The frozen snow is soon covered as the snow fall increases through the end of October into November. As more snow falls, more tracks are prepared and by the spring all tracks are open and the massive network of cross country trails is available to everyone. The first track is also lit with lights to enable evening skiing which the locals absolutely love and it is an age old tradition to cross country ski under the stars on Christmas Eve.