 Poster: A snowHead
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Interested to hear from anyone who has done a ‘pre pre season’ in Levi. Last year around mid-October I would frequently visit their webcam and it looked pretty decent. From what I could see, seems like they had floodlit skiing till early eve and loads of snow. I’m not expecting an après-ski scene but if I was looking to put some time in on the slopes, is it worth it? Any experience regarding costs, accommodation, possible lessons, travel there and back (without car hire) most welcome. This will be a solo trip so any thoughts on that front also welcome. By way of context, an alternative that I’m looking at is Landgraaf. I know that isn’t comparable on many levels but the aim is to get at least 5 days back to back skiing.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sun 8-09-24 20:52; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ps. From what I can gather seems like I've got to factor in at least 18 hours travel each way which seems like a major factor. I guess if it was too easy to get to we’d all be there! Have people stopped over at Helsinki or somewhere to make it more bearable?
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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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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 lived there for a while, half a life time ago, mind. Helsinki's a cool city. That's... a fairly dark time of year. The local ski hills... with global warming, probably they'll have nothing, but back in the day they'd be working early season too. Serena Ski is an easy cab ride from Vantaa... but isn't "downtown" so not where you'd want to stay as a tourist. Although the hotel there is cheaper than downtown hotels by the cost of a taxi fare and a lift ticket.
I'd be somewhat wary of opening dates, which are likely weather dependent in reality.
Most Fins would I think be more likely to look at flying south rather than north for early season snow. But it's not going to be a mass activity so unlikely to book up in advance - wait and see? I've only ridden in Helsinki, but down there it can be pretty cold so the short runs are handy as you can warm up each lap. In the south the sun should make it over the horizon for a couple of hours; floodlights are your friend. The "Mountains of Serena" [Finnish joke] are more like an indoor slope in character than an Alpine resort, in my experience. Typically dust on bulletproof with T-bar lifts and floodlights, underground cafe, decent snow park because... you'll get bored fast.
18 hours? You're probably doing it wrong. Helsinki's easy and Finnair have a lot of EU flights, so going (say) via Schiphol is worth checking. If you're heading to the north, some other Scandi countries [used to] run flights up there, but it's all bigger than it looks on the map so you may need to drive a bit.
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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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Thanks for the responses, very helpful.
It was getting to Levi that I mentioned in the context of taking about 18 hours but I hadn’t realised there were quite a few ski options nearer to Helsinki so I shall investigate those and I shall, as suggested, wait and see how the conditions pan out. Cheers.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Maybe a tiny bit of a hijack, but hopefully it might help you too @Mr Blue Sky, aside from the ones already mentioned, are there any resorts worth going to in mid/late October (i.e. whenever UK half term falls) in the Nordic regions?
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Levi will be open in November, they are snow sure and I’m quite confident to say that about 30-40 % of the (small, compared to Alpine mega resorts) area is skiable in early November, usually about 40-70 % by the time of season-opening Levi World Cup in mid-November which to me is the actual season opener. And that’s on a relatively good year. Bad year / late start and it’s just a couple of pistes.
October on the other hand, they usually open on the second week of October but the skiable area is restricted to a couple of pistes: the run to the village and I think the area around Alpine Training Park (where there are training camps for ski racers). Most definitely you cannot ski around the area in October (probably not even in November), but have to take the bus around the fell even if there were a few open pistes scattered around, since the connections will miss a couple of links.
Open area in early to mid November will probably include the front slope, Alpine Training Park, Levi Black and West Point. I think the pistes around lifts nr. 5, 6 (my personal favourite especially after the new for this season, long awaited chairlift opens), 7 and South Point open later in the season, 7B being the last one to open.
So I’d say anywhere from mid November you’re going to have good skiing to keep you entertained for a few days, October it’s going to start to feel a repetitive quickly as you’ll mostly spend your day in one lift coming back the same piste, or taking the bus to the other side and doing the same thing over there. But it’s still miles better than Southern Finland.
Staying in a hotel the Break Sokos Hotel or Levi Hotel Spa are both sure bets, centrally located next to the village centre and virtually next to the home run to the town.
Staying self catered… well I have a place but I’m not sure how’s the forum policy about advertising so I’ll let that be. For anyone interested just shoot me a message.
Travel… well there are direct flights twice a week from both Gatwick and Manchester to Kittilä, 15 minutes by car or shuttle bus from Levi. Apart from Innsbruck not many resorts can compete with that short a transfer time.
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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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@Ravensburger, you can put your apartment in your signature on your profile
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@holidayloverxx, thanks, hope it works now and that a link to a third party site is OK.
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