Distance Average Speed Max Speed 29.6 km 14.2 km/h 26.1 km/h Got up at 0700 and found that the hut was a chilly but acceptable 11 deg C. After breakfast I was able to feed the dogs by adding hot water to the remains of last night’s food. I sent Timo a text to ask where I should be going and he replied that someone was out on a snowmobile making a route. A little while later two snowmobiles arrived
Category: Sledding
2022 Trip – Day 4
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 37.2 km 13.6 km/h 27 km/h There had been several cm of snow overnight and Timo had apparently gone outearly to make a fresh trail for me to follow. I left shortly after he returned at about 1100. The basic plan was to head up to Janisvaara first with a detour through the training loops then continue east across the swamps to the snow mobile trail. I would then turn south, cross Lohilampi and follow
2022 Trip – Day 3
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 43 km 14.2 km/h 33.2 km/h The “plan” was to drive up the snowmobile trail from Tilsa, across the Hameenvaara swamps and then proceed over to Kylkeinen to spend the night there. Mostly this was achieved! Timo had changed one dog from yesterday’s successful team but otherwise it looked good. With the alarm clock problem fixed I got off at a reasonable time but almost immediately stuck a problem. One of my team dogs, Muns,
2022 Trip – Day 2
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 49 km 15.9 km/h 26.9 km/h The day got off to a bad start! Last night I set my alarm clock to Finland time. Unfortunately, since it is radio controlled, some time during the night it set itself back to UK time so when it went off at 08:00, it was actually 10:00 in Finland! After a rather late breakfast I reviewed my maps with Timo. I say this every time I come, but I
2022 Trip – Day 1
The moral of today’s story is never to rely on a bus to get you to an airport! After a reasonable night at a Heathrow hotel I gathered outside the front door at 0820 for the once per hour bus to the terminals. With a last check-in time of 0930 and a travel time of about 15 minutes this seemed just fine. However, by 0855 there was still no sign of the bus and the small group gathered to wait
2019 Trip – Day 7
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 46.9 km 11.4 km/h 34.7 km/h A very warm day up to 3 degrees above freezing. Equipment started to get wet and the “English snow” repeatedly clogged the brake. Managed to get away by 10:30 and after a great deal of pondering decided to see if I could explore the western half of the north swamps and then follow the trail across the other side of the main trail around Parkavaara. As it turned out
2019 Trip – Day 6
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 43.1 km 10.1 km/h 25.6 km/h An even warmer day with some snow and sometimes above freezing. Got away from Kylkeinan at about 11:15 and tried to make my way towards Lohilampi. I had already heard from Milla that it wasn’t possible to cross this year due to concerns about ice state, but thought it would be nice to visit the general area. One trickiness was trying to avoid ending up on the Tilsa road
2019 Trip – Day 5
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 42.1 km 11.2 km/h 24.7 km/h I was collected from the hotel at 1100 with a Dutch day trip group. They left first and I got away at about 1230. The weather was warmer with snow and some strong winds. Dog Change – Amber replaced by Foxy. I drove to Tilsa doing my best to avoid the swept Tilsa road. This involved a roundabout route including the usual hair raising descent of the Tilsa canyon.
2019 Trip – Day 4
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 67.9 km 12.6 km/h 30.2 km/h A much colder start with a low of -28 °C when I was feeding the dog’s their breakfast but another sunny day which warmed up to about -5 °C by the afternoon. I headed over in the direction of Saija and on the way decided to turn south on the disused railway line. I was hoping to find a trail which would lead me to the area south of
2019 Trip – Day 3
Distance Average Speed Max Speed 31.5 km 11.7 km/h 24.6 km/h An unusual day with much better weather. I got a text from one of the guides, Laura, to say that her uncle was coming to take some publicity photos and would I help. After a late start I met up with Laura, Milla and the uncle and we drove to Janisvaara hill whilst Laura and I were photographed. The uncle then departed and we had lunch on top of