Yllas Saaga Yllasjarvi

Lapland - Departure home Our shuttle bus picked us up at 7 a.m. together with a number of other guests. Our flight was to depart Kittila at 10.05 a.m. We got to the airport in only 45 minutes. The airport was pretty boring. Nothing to do. Luckily our stopover in Helsinki was only two hours, and so we got back to Frankfurt by 3.30 p.m. By the way, Frankfurt had this ...

... were more like a lightning than a colorful display of colors. Maybe part of the problem was that it was nearly full moon by March 21, March 23, 2008 was Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday following the first full moon event after the onset of Spring. During this 21st century, this Easter Sunday will be the earliest Easter event in a calender ...

... 4.5 hours including a one hour break at the dog camp for lunch, was much more enjoyable than the first excursion. As said, the dogs were much better behaved and less forceful. They could be much better controlled and handled. Applying the brakes actually slowed them down or even stopped them very quickly. But I hardly had to apply the brakes on this excursion. I could remain standing on the sled's runners and ...

... him on the other dogs. So the other dogs joined the fight. If Arctis were killed or seriously wounded then he would have to give up his runner up to lead position and all dogs would climb in hierarchy. So it was in the interest of each dog to sufficiently injure Arctis (who was most likely not free of guilt of having injured many other dogs in earlier days) to force him to give up his high ranking position. This fight was a success for the other dogs ...

Lapland - Second snow shoeing excursion This was a second day at our free disposal. As we could have breakfast at our lodge, we took it easy. The day was overcast. It looked as if it was going to snow. Finally, we once again set out with our snow shoes, this time following the ski trails parallel to Äkäskero Mountain. After about one hour it ...

We paid 47 euros each for snowshoe hiking. This included the services of a guide, snowshoes, poles, artic thermal wear if needed and hot berry juice. We hike through the forest, trampling and making new tracks on the snow. Some areas are so deep that the snow reaches to mid-thighs. The forest has shaped Finnish lifestyle and the Finns hold the forest in high esteem due to its environmental values. The forest provide a place for ...

Our final day of skiing on the slopes in Yllas. We have got into a routine, alarm call at 7am, breakfast around 8am and catching the 718 bus to the slopes at around 9.45 - 10 am. Temperature is -7 degrees celcius this morning. It is foggy again with poor visibility but improved towards the afternoon. We barbequed sausages for lunch. I dropped one of the sausages on the ground where the snow had melted around the log ...

The Lappish cooking traditions have been influenced by the East and the West and has varied according to the seasons. The basis for this is due to supply of ingredients. Food was stored by pickling, drying, smoking and salting (we were served fish using these methods of preparation). We were served shavings of roasted reindeers with mashed potatoes. It tasted better than venison and has a mild game flavour unlike the usual venison I have ...

Downhill skiing is safe in Yllas. The resort height is just 718 metres. The majority of the slopes are illuminated so not even the twilight will slow you down the slopes. We skied for the next 5 days, leaving for the slopes before 10am and returning just after 4pm. There are 61 slopes and 29 lifts which are mainly drag lifts and T-bars. One chair lift and one gondola. Yllas provide an excellent opportunity for learners as there are ...

... very own private sauna next to the bathroom which we made used of every night. There is a log fire where we were provided with logs. I managed to locate my matches on Day 4 where we started to have log fires the rest of our stay. The cabin is equipped with a little kitchenette tucked away in a little corner. The twin beds face the log fire. A dining table for 4 seating is next to the beds. A little log ...