Zooming in the Snow

A guest post from Michael Took

Located in the far north of Finnish Lapland and above the Article Circle, Torassieppi Reindeer Farm is a sleepy wilderness of calm. After a few days of relaxing and failing to catch dinner ( remember my ice fishing adventure? ) it was time to get the adrenaline flowing.

Spa or Snow?

Our guide for the trip, Emilia, takes a group of six of us on a short drive from the Farm to the nearby Hotel Jeris.

It’s a place that offers two moods; indoor relaxation (the on-site aurora wellness spa) and outdoor adventure (ranging from a gentle plod in snowshoes to heart-in-the-mouth rally driving on ice).

Careering on four wheels over the ice could bring on more than just an adrenalin rush but then collectively were weren’t ready to lie down and let someone put hot stones on our backs. Looking through the activities, a snow mobile safari sounded like a happy medium.

After kitting up, presenting our drivers’ licences and signing a few forms (something along the lines of ‘If you crash, you foot the bill’) Emilia takes us to our snow mobiles.

‘Has anyone driven one of these before?’ she asks. I half raise my hand to answer but then swiftly drop it.

I drove a snow mobile on a stag do in Iceland a couple of years ago. I say drove, it was more of a full-throttle speed mission. No skill or dexterity was required; I just started the engine and proceeded to eat up the miles of unspoilt snow ahead me. Such was my thirst for speed that I managed to crash… twice. Luckily, these were pathetic, chugging sideways flops into mounds of snow.

With flashbacks to those crashes and the forms I’d signed only a few minutes ago, I wisely pick a vehicle towards the back of the group. Emilia takes us through the controls and a few simple hand signals such as ‘stop’, ‘go’ and ‘woooooaaaah’ (OK, that last one doesn’t exist – well, not yet anyway).

Emilia takes the lead and the rest of us follow closely behind.

The Frozen Lake Jerisjärvi

We begin our adventure on the frozen Lake Jerisjärvi. The pace is swift but the flat surface is soon behind us as we head into a vast, woodland area. We snake through undulating terrains, taking in the beauty around us but also wary of keeping control of our vehicles (me probably more so than others).

Driving a snow mobile, especially through this varied route, is hard work.

Frequently turning the heavy handles requires sturdy upper body strength – a great deal of which I’d used up trying to drill an ice fishing hole the previous day.

The undulating route gives way to a gradual ascent which, after about 15 minutes, opens up and reveals the summit of a mountainous range.

Aside from a few wisps of thinning cloud, the view from the top is widescreen blue with a low-hanging sun. I take some more snaps and feel pleased with myself – I hadn’t veered off the tracks nor ploughed my snow mobile into a pine tree.

Emilia rounds up the group, ‘OK, time to head back to the hotel.’

Of course, we were only half way through. The tricky descent awaited. ‘Emilia, where’s the brake again?’

Disclosure : I travelled to Torassieppi Reindeer Farm courtesy of Three UK as part of their Feel at Home campaign. All the photos for this blog were taken on an iPhone 6, provided by Three UK for the trip. All views, opinions and snow mobile tracks my own.