 Poster: A snowHead
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Are they like the indoor snow slopes at Hemel Hempstead & Milton Keynes, ie the LED floodlights mean you can easily see the details of the snow surface you're trying to ski on, even in the absence of daylight?
Reason for question: I'm keen to get away from the damp dullness of late autumn in the UK but I don't want to travel as far as North America. I'm attracted to the tour operators' offers for northern Scandinavia in late November/early December but the snag for me is lack of daylight. (Even in the alps in February I don't enjoy flat light conditions when they occur.) My skiing level is at best early intermediate ('perpetual beginner' according to my relatives) and I'm looking for green and blue slopes. Easily accessible with operators organising transfers etc, not glacier skiing or anything adventurous.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm going to Vuokatti Finland December 13th for a week.
Interesting question - I've been looking for some light enhancing goggles with yellow lenses. My Red Bull Spect Magnetron Goggles have removable lenses but they don't make light enhancing options.
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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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I've only ridden down south, Helsinki and there abouts. Down there, mid winter the sun just creeps above the low hills around mid day, but they have high power lighting. It's not like skiing at night in Canada for example; you just forget about it. There's certainly no problem in seeing where you're going, or the details of the surface etc. You aren't going to need UV protection though, so photochromic goggles or a night-skiing lens may be handy.
I suppose if you have fog the light would be bad, but living there I'd not go riding in those conditions. I don't think "flat light" is something to worry about in Finland more than anywhere else; less so if anything I'd say (because it's so cold fog is maybe not so much a thing..).
I'm unconvinced any goggles can "enhance" light - they're all filtering stuff out, not adding it in or shifting it around.
I'd say Finland probably works best for those looking for relatively easy slopes.
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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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I have always used clear goggle lenses for night skiing.
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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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I take the point about needing goggles with clear /non-light-reducing lenses.
This is not an issue indoors at MK/Hemel where the naked eye is OK because it's never snowing or windy or extremely cold, nor is the lighting too bright or too much UV.
But in order to give us enough light, there is a long row of many LED lamps down the side of the short piste. Although the overall level of light is dim compared to daylight (even British daylight) it is sufficient and it is directional, you can see any slight ridges or bumps in the snow easily.
This makes me think, suppose they had just one such lamp at the top of the artificial slope and another at the bottom. In the otherwise unlit hangar, I'd be able to see the top and bottom of the slope, but not the details of the surface I'm about to ski on. I'm guessing that similarly, the lamps providing outdoor floodlighting for Finnish slopes must be at least 100m apart?
Maybe the floodlighting isn't enough for the black of the night but is enough to supplement the arctic twilight for most of a December day? Even for less-than-expert skiers?
Advice appreciated folks.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If I were doing that, with very limited scope/slopes, I think I might be looking out for some lessons.
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From memory, the floodlights are maybe about 50 meters apart. Depending on the piste they’re situated only on one side or both. Usually the main piste descending straight to the lifts having bidirectional lightning and the ones twisting and turning in the trees having only one set of lights.
As for seeing the contours, granted you can’t see small moguls as well as in broad daylight but I’ve managed thus far.
Be warned, it gets dark very early in mid-November through September to mid-January in Lapland. Like 2 PM.
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Swapping the miserable dark days of the UK for the miserable dark days of Finland.
Makes sense.
Several glacier resorts in the (sunnier) Alps will be open, such as Zermatt or Tignes.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@peerless ploughman, We took a group to Ruka which had night skiing and I wouldn't say as bright as Hemel but certainly brighter than a gloomy day and enjoyable to ski, bloody cold though !!
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I went to Ruka last year, no problem with visibility in the evenings.. I was using a low light lense during the day and evening.
Skiiing into the evening was great fun and made things easier with the kids allowing them to have a long break in the middle of the day.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Was there over Christmas during lockdown. As your so far north even at night there’s an ambient light that’s closer to dusk than middle of night. Combined with lights you won’t have an issue.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Thanks for reassurance folks re Finland.
Picking up Whitegold's point: our miserable dark days in the UK relate not just to cloudy damp weather. It's also the combination of being relatively far north but (usually) lacking the winter snow cover which is normal in more continental places at similar latitudes.
And yes I do have more lessons booked at Hemel in the meantime.
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@peerless ploughman, it is cold, but not at all miserable. It's not damp cold like here, it's dry cold. If you dress right, it's actually really nice.
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You know it makes sense.
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My son got back yesterday from Skiing in Sweden, first thing he said as we came out of the airport was it was nice to see the sun/daylight and not be freezing cold. (this was in the South of England where the storm had been raging all night.) He'd been skiing moguls and didn't find visibility problematic, even during the late afternoon floodlit session. Some of his old teammates were a lot further North than him in Sweden, where it was floodlit sessions all day long, but again no problems with the visibility and really good cold/firm conditions for race training.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Reading with interest as we're going to Norway over New Year and plan to spend a day skiing at Oslo Winterpark. The website sags that its floodlit and open until 10pm, so we're keen to get some night skiing in.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Here’s an idea of how many light’s there are on the hill. This is Ruka in 2017.
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