 Poster: A snowHead
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Flew out from Gatwick to Rovaniemi on 27th March to spend a night in Santa Claus village before taking a coach journey 100 miles north to Levi. Snow had fallen earlier in the day so there was a few cms of fresh snow to add to the existing snow cover and it was nice to wander around a resort at the end of March in crisp cold with snow cover everywhere.
We stayed in the Levi Suites accommodation in the centre of town. It was well equipped (including our own sauna obviously), warm & comfortable. The location meant we didn’t have mountain views which was a shame, but everything was within 5-10 mins walk, although we were woken by bin lorries at 6am on a few mornings ! Also, the Easter weekend meant there was a lot more in the way of “celebrations” happening until quite late – the receptionist even pre-warned us ! After Easter Monday though it was very quiet.
The skiing is spread across one large “fell” in all directions, with the vertical drop being no more that around 300m and 40+ pistes. You can cover the whole area in a day quite comfortably and ski every piste within a few days (depending on how easy you are taking it). As mentioned before, the blues are easy and most of the reds would class as tricky blues in many of the big European resorts. There are a couple of short steep blacks (one used for World Cup slalom), but again I’ve been on some reds in France like that. The pistes are lovely and wide and well groomed every morning.
Apart from Easter weekend when the “crowds” were no worse than a busy weekend in the Alps (I can’t recall queueing for more than 5 mins in the 7 days of skiing I had – after the Easter weekend I would ski straight up to the lifts). Also, like our trip to Valloire last year, I only heard English voices a couple of times – English is, though, spoken widely.
Previous reports noted the tricky descent down to Zero Point. The runs down are quite steep (reds) for beginners and on the right side (as you look at the slopes), the camber is very annoying. However, for the 2023/24 season they built a new 6 person chair on the left side and re-profiled the slope on that side to remove the camber. I would usually drop halfway down this one and then traverse across to the other side (nearer to our apartment). Beginners could take the green connecting route to the top of these slopes and cross over to the other side and take the gondola down (though I never tried it)
Apart from Good Friday when the temperature was a balmy 2c, it never rose above zero for the remainder of our stay. A couple of mornings I was skiing with blue skies and -13c (with some added wind chill at the top) – on near empty slopes. Once I’d got my hat/snood combo sorted and stopped taking my gloves off for the phone/photos it was generally fine. Quite what -25c with no sun is like is another matter !! As others have said – don’t hold onto the t-bars either – they suck the warmth out of your hands ! It did drop below -30c a couple of nights, with the lowest April temperature of -33c for 50 years recorded close by.
Talking of t-bars – this was what I was dreading most, but actually they’re fine. There is usually a life attendant to place it for you or they slow them down. I did miss a couple, once because the poles were covered in frost and there was no attendant. I never had to share one once. You need to use them a lot and if the chairs/gondolas are closed due to wind (happened on one day) then you have little choice apart from the bus that runs every 30 mins around the fell (free if the main lifts are closed otherwise 3 euros/day pre-bought or 4 euros to buy on the bus). I never used it, though I wish I had one day when the very flat connecting green I took back was into a headwind with fresh snow drifting across the piste – exhausting.
Apres-ski – it’s a small place with a few restaurants. We ate at the pancake place (Pannukakkutalo Levi) which was very good – 2 mains and 1 dessert plus beer & soft drink for 57 euros. Also at Nillipor with 2 mains (one a reindeer steak) and 2 desserts plus beer and soft drink for 112 euros. Also had 2 decent fish and chips with soft drinks at Zero Point café for 40 euros. We self catered the rest of the time with food from the well stocked restaurants with prices comparable to European ski resorts I think – apart from wine, although we had a nice Chilean red for around 8 euros and lots of “long drinks” – cans of 5% alcohol or less that they sell in the main supermarket. Above that %age you need to go to the Alko shops. Didn’t try any of the handful of mountain restaurants – largely because …
First morning of skiing the OH (cautious blue run skier) caught some soft snow on a run down to South Point (it was late morning and the extra traffic was causing one steeper section at the top to break up a bit) damaging knee ligaments. Cue a lift down to the first aid on a stretcher where she had excellent help from the team. They arranged a free taxi around to Zero Point and wrote a letter to give to the lift pass people to get a refund for her (which we did). The health centre was equally excellent and discharged her with a knee brace and crutches (we also went back a few days letter for more treatment). The ski hire (Elan) was also excellent as they charge you only for the days you use your equipment.
So despite a resort that would have suited her perfectly (the blues through the trees in area 7B were lovely), she could only hobble slowly around town. We did however have two trips out – for a reindeer ride, a peaceful 20 min sleigh ride with a sleigh each and no-one else. Also a short (musher led) husky ride at a husky/animal farm which was very enjoyable.
Northern lights – being a bit of a geek I had several apps and kept an eye out for activity myself instead of booking an aurora hunt which is really hit and miss. After the clocks went forward, the window of opportunity shortened to 11pm onwards, but on the evening of the 1st I had just dropped off to sleep before getting an alarm, then getting dressed again and walking/jogging 5 or 10 mins to the edge of town to catch a decent display. This was bettered though on our last night in Levi on the 4th – this time I took the OH up the top of the street where a side road allowed us to see a really good display and lots of photos were taken – I then went out to the edge of town again to watch the end until the -18c temperature started to take its toll !!
We then went back to Santa Claus village for a couple of nights at a chalet at the Nova Skyland hotel – again very warm & comfortable. We had a longer 5km husky ride here which was fantastic, plus some food at Santas Salmon place – excellent large pieces of salmon, worth the wait – 55 euros for 2 salmon meals & cokes. We were then going to spend 2 nights in Riga – but came home instead 
In conclusion, if you change your expectations this is a fantastic place. We’ve been to 15 (I think) different resorts and this was our first northern European experience and I’d put it up there as one of my favourites. In terms of consistent snow quality for the whole holiday – number one. Unthinkable on the Friday morning, the OH is seriously considering going back and we’ve never done that.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Sounds a great place but man those restaurant costs are wild
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Mike Pow wrote: |
| Sounds a great place but man those restaurant costs are wild |
Having had a few birthday meals out in Brighton recently we weren't completely shocked tbh !!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Really enjoyed your report as I’ve never skied there. I hope your OH’s rehab goes OK and she feels like making that return trip next year.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Great report, thanks. Sorry to hear about Mrs G, hopefully a quick recovery.
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