Korpijaakko

While I’m guiding a group on the mountains of Sarek in Northern Sweden, the mysterious forces of the Internet automatically publish this little post of some things I consider worth reading and/or following. This time most of my picks are in Finnish ony but there are some in English too, and a few videos.

Fjell tops in Sarek, March 2013.

PS. I’ll be carrying a SPOT tracker in Sarek so starting on March 2nd you should be able to follow the tour in Sarek on SPOT shared page and also via the awesome Social Hiking.

A blog

The first tip is a blog of a local (at Taivalkoski area) musher and outdoors woman: the Wander Woman. And it’s even in English! Lots of information on outdoors with the family and dogs. And as this post goes online are Anu and his husband (who used to be guiding husky tours as well) are ski touring around Kebnekaise with their dogs Mora and Miilu (whose sister and brother are working here at Husky Center Kolmiloukko). Here’s a little video of their final rehearsal on top of a local hill called Jänisvaara. Windy and cold i.e. good training.

Activity on Arctic areas

The next tips are about Finnish activity on Arctic areas later this season. Vaiska is guiding his sixth expedition (!) to Svalbard along the same route I was doing in 2011. The expedition has a blog but unfortunately it’s only in Finnish: Huippuvuoret2013.

Little later in the season the two middle aged man (their own words) of the Ice Cap Crossing 2013 expedition are trying to cross the Greenland icecap along the “normal route”. I was instructing them on a basics course in 2012 and they’ve been for example developing an interesting tent with with Finnish outdoor company Halti and adventurer Pata (nice and helpful guy and also a great speaker).

The third interesting project is by Finnish adventure runner Jukka Viljanen who is also crossing Greenland along the same route but instead of skiing he will be running across Greenland! And the site/blog is in English.

PPS. In most cases Iceland and Vatnajökull glacier are considered as Arctic areas so I could add my forthcoming Vatnajökull crossing on the list but don’t really have anything to share about it yet… We will be on the ice 11 days starting on April 27th and will ski roughly 150km across the glacier or maybe more if the weather and conditions permit.

Views on Vatnajökull, March 2012. Hoping to get more of this and less freezing super-cooled rain with wind…

Some books

Quality Finnish outdoor books are not too common (it’s a small market) but every now and then few are published. Big news is that the long waited mammoth project of creating the first ever Finnish Off-piste skiing handbook is finally completed and the final product is now available. Of course it’s only in Finnish but those who are interested in steep snow-covered places and manage written Finnish should take a look at Vapaalasku.com.

The other book news is that Kari “Vaiska” Vainio has secured a book deal on series of instruction books on traveling in demanding conditions. The first book will be available at the end of 2013 and will be about winter travel on Arctic areas and above the tree line in Lapland. With 50 years of outdoors experience and having lead over a dozen of demanding expeditions it should be quite something.

And the bonus video

The narrative on the bonus video is also in Finnish but it’s quite awesome anyway. It’s digitalized archive material from a journey to the remote village of Kilspisjärvi in North-West Finland… done in 1947 with dog team, horse, skis and hiking. It wasn’t an easy journey before the road was built! Nowadays you can get there easily by bus or with your own car.

Click yourself into the archives!