Arctic Circle Ski Expedition
Ski hut-to-hut through the Käsivarsi wilderness and reach the highest point in Finland
What's Included?
Small Like-minded Groups
Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 8 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people…
…
What's it like?
Traverse the Arctic fells of Finland – an extremely remote area of untouched wilderness
Master Nordic skis and use them to travel to frozen waterfalls and search for Arctic wildlife
Chase the incredible Northern Lights – wildfire in the sky
Key Information
Day 1
To Lapland
Fly into Tromso – the Paris of the north - and cross the border into Lapland and the remote village of Kilpisjärvi. Once you've settled into your cabin and gone through your gear, meet the rest of your team for dinner.
Day 2
Kuonjarjoki wilderness hut
Skiing
Strap on a pair of Nordic Skis and follow the snowmobile tracks up the fells. It won't take long before you lose phone reception and that’s how it will stay for the rest of the week! Take lunch from thermoses provided en route, and then continue on to the Kuonjarjoki wilderness hut. This will be a relatively hard day due to the distance and elevation gain, but the powder is always good and the skiing worth it. Tonight, you can either sleep in the hut or try your hand at camping outside.
Day 3
The Pihtsusjärvi hut
Skiing
Continue through the beautiful, snow-covered Arctic landscape to the next hut, this time located just 10km from the famous Halti Fell. Descend below the treeline for lunch and stop by a cascade for a drink of fresh mountain water before spending the night on the shore of Lake Pihtsus.
Day 4
Halti hut
Skiing
Ski to the Halti hut in time for lunch and then leave most of your gear, except for a daypack, before continuing up Halti Fell - the highest point in Finland (1,324m). Follow a fast powder route back down and settle into your hut for the night.
Day 5
Meekonjärvi Hut
Skiing
Follow a flat route back to Kilpisjärv and then on to the scenic Meekonjärvi Hut in time for a hot dinner and some much needed down time.
Day 6
Termisjärvi Wilderness Hut
Skiing
Enjoy your penultimate day of skiing by tackling the trail-less landscape between fells - the perfect way to complete your Arctic experience. Ski through wide canyons surrounded by magnificent scenery and end the day at the Termisjärvi Wilderness Hut.
Day 7
Back to Kilpisjärvi
Skiing
Ski out of the wilderness and follow the snowmobile tracks back to Kilpisjärvi. Enjoy a farewell dinner with your team at the Kilpisjärven Hiking Centre and then spend your final evening at the sauna before heading to the local pub for a well-deserved beer.
Day 8
Back to the airport and home
Enjoy a last breakfast at the Kilpisjärven Retkeilykeskus and then head back to Tromso and home.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Tromsø Airport
19:15 on Day 1
Ends
Tromsø Airport
09:00 on Day 8
Transfers
On Day 1 - you’ll be picked up from Tromsø airport at 19:15. On Day 8 - you'll be dropped back at the airport by 0900 so any flight departing from 11:00 onwards will be fine to book.
Travel options
There are regular flights to Tromsø from major airports across the UK and Europe.
Tromso is a beautiful city to explore if you have the time and want to arrive in advance, or stay on after your trip - then it's only 15 minutes from the airport to central Tromsø via a regular shuttle service.
Day 1
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2 – Day 6
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 7
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 8
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
At Kilpisjärvi, you’ll enjoy continental buffet dinners and breakfasts. Out in the wilderness access to fresh foods is quite limited, so meals are typically dehydrated expedition food.
Vegetarian, vegan and most other dietary requirements can be accommodated.
What is the accommodation like?
Kilpisjärvi
You’ll stay in a twin-room at the Kilpisjärvi Hiking Centre. Amenities include showers, free Wi-Fi, a restaurant, sauna and hiking gear shop.
The Wilderness
You’ll stay in simple huts deep in the Finnish wilderness. Huts have no electricity and only basic amenities but the locations are unbelievable. You can also stay in a tent for a night if you'd prefer.
Please note that since this is a remote wilderness tour, some changes to the itinerary are possible on the location due to weather conditions. Therefore thr group will carry tents, sleeping bags and sleeping mattresses as a safety precaution.
This trip surpassed my expectations, which were high to begin with. The scenery and conditions were simply breath taking, and we saw the Northern Lights on multiple occasions, including a real 'light show' (thanks for reserving clear skies for us, Joose!). Required some strength and fitness, but everybody did ok.
Joose is a lot of fun to be with, and was a great guide for this adventure. I really hope to come back and do more exciting stuff in the far north with him! Thanks Joose (and Hena).
A beautiful place to ski through. This definitely requires a decent level of fitness and resistance to cold and long days. We had plenty of food, warm and cosy huts and very helpful guides!
What an amazing experience!! A true expedition. You rarely get the opportunity to completely disconnect from the hustle and bustle of normal life. It’s tough, the terrain is not flat and the conditions are harsh (I went in February) but it’s 100% doable. I was rewarded with a sense of accomplishment that no other experience has given me to date. Do it!!
This trip was an exceptional experience. We enjoyed 6 days in the beautiful arctic landscape, away from phone reception, cosy nights in cabins after a hard day skiing (playing lots of cards), multiple sightings of the northern lights as well as seeing a few reindeer. The trip felt like a real expedition into the wilderness - which is just what we were after. Our guide Joose was very knowledgeable and great fun to hang out with and we learned a lot about hiking in sub-zero temperatures - thank you!
Brilliant trip. A true taste of the wilderness. Joose is a fantastic guide and looked after us very well. It was great to learn a few winter survival techniques. Physically challenging and hugely rewarding with the most beautiful scenery.
Our trip with Joose through the wilderness in northern Finland was absolutely brilliant. He was a superb guide, full of knowledge and experience as well as loads of energy and enthusiasm! An absolute pleasure to spend the week with. We were very lucky with conditions, there were blue skies most days and northern lights on three nights. The skiing was arduous but by no means unachievable provided you are fairly fit and determined. It is completely worth it to experience the scenery and landscapes. The evenings in the remote cabins (or tents if you’re feeling extra adventurous) are just as much a part of the experience as the skiing. There’s no electricity, phone reception or WiFi, so look forward to card games by head torch, roasting sausages in front of the stove and a few well-earned drinks in the evenings.
I can't recommend this trip highly enough. We were a group of 6 plus Joose our guide. It was awesome, a really great, remote experience. It's very rare you don't see other people for a day - aside from reindeer and a few ravens, we didn't see anyone else for nearly 6 days. It's a challenging trip but definitely worth it.
The trip was fantastic - a really amazing experience. The guide was really knowledgeable and friendly and happy to help in any situation. The route was beautiful - I didn't see anyone else for 5 days! Even though the conditions were tough at times (cold temperatures you don't experience in the UK) I always felt safe and well looked after. Thank you for a great experience I will never forget!
Guides
Experienced, English speaking ski guides
Accommodation
2 nights in a cabin and 5 nights in wilderness huts
Meals
Munch on tasty food throughout
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in-between
Equipment
Fischer E109 Easyskin Xtralite skis and Rottefella NNN BC bindings
Permits
All permits and entry fees
Our trips are hassle-free by design. We include all the activities and equipment, as well as many of the meals, so you can simply rock up with your rucksack and share the adventure with your new pals.
Personal Expenses
You know your own spending habits best, so please budget an appropriate amount for things like optional meals and drinks, shopping, optional activities, and laundry.
What's included?
- Fischer E109 Easyskin Xtralite skis
- Rottefella NNN BC bindings
- Poles
- Sleeping bags, liners and a closed cell mattress
- Eating utensils
- Shovels
- Food thermoses (for lunch during the tour)
- Tents - this is a safety precaution in case of sudden blizzards
- Pulkkas (sleds) - one shared by two people each taking a turn dragging it
What's available to hire?
- Shoes suitable for bindings (see Optional Extras for price)
What do I need to bring?
- Shoes that fit Rottefella NNN BC binding (also available to hire)
- Technical underwear
- Mid-layers
- Shell-layers (windproof without lining): jacket, long shell pants
- Skiing mittens
- Hat
- Wool balaclava
- Sunglasses/skiing goggles
- Winter boots/warm hiking boots
- Backpack
- Torch
- Small Towel
- A good drinking thermos of about 1 litre capacity
- Food thermos for lunches (optional - some can be provided but many people like to bring their own)
Shoes suitable for Ski Bindings
Payable Before Departure
Shoes suitable for Ski Bindings
… Per person
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 97kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000 miles/1609km would be approximately 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person, if there were two of you in it).
- A return economy class flight between London and New York would be approximately 1619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approximately 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
You will be doing Umpihankihiitoa - a form of Nordic, off-track skiing designed for travelling over wilderness terrain in winter (a blend of cross-country skiing and ski touring that involves both uphill and downhill travel.)
Your days will involve skiing an average of 20km and climbing no more than 700m. While there are downhill periods, particularly on the way back, the decline is gradual and there are no steep sections.
You'll be using Fischer E109 Easyskin Xtralite skis and will need shoes that fit Rottefella NNN BC bindings. It is possible to rent a pair for an additional 50 euros (paid locally). Please confirm with your host in advance if you need to do this.
Any excess luggage can be safely left at the Kilpisjärvi Hiking centre at the start of the trip.
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).
For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
- 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
- 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
- 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
Need help finding flights?
From logistics and how to get there, to fitness, group dynamic and trip difficulty, Rory and his team of friendly experts are on hand to help.
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DEPARTURE DATES
