Getting the drift

Lapland is a warm heart in a cold place—so cold that you need multilayer thermals to go snowmobiling, sleighriding, swimming in icewater, ice-fishing, or just reviving your faith in Santa Claus.

By V Krishnaswamy
in Rovaniemi, Finland

Conventional winter sports raises visions of skiing, slaloms and bobsleighs, for that's what we get to see on the television during the Winter Olympics. But the truth is that for most of us normal people, winter sports are really something else: they are fun sports—making snowmen or indulging in snowmobiling, reindeer sleighrides, quadbiking in the snow, being hauled by Siberian huskies, ice-fishing, and disembarking from icebreakers to bathe in frozen seas and sip sweet lingonberry juice in snow castles. And so it goes.

If there is one place that has all this and more in abundance, it is Rovaniemi, a tongue-twister of a name but difficult to get out of your head once you get used to it. Sights and activities apart, it's also all about delicious meals with reindeer steaks, bear meat, salmon, deer, piping hot soups, and local sweet dishes.

A cloak of sheer fresh snow and a big board that says "The official Airport of Santa Claus" greets you the moment Finnair lands at Rovaniemi, the capital of the Finnish province of Lapland, which forms the Gateway to the Arctic Circle, beginning at 66 degrees 33'07.

This is also the land of Santa Claus, whom you once believed in and then discarded. Come to Rovaniemi and you will believe in him all over again. And to convince the disbelievers, just ring them up and ask them to log on to www.santaclaus.fi/webcam, stand in front of the webcam placed in front of Santa's office and wave vigorously to your family and friends. Voila! Immediate suspension of disbelief!

The Santa Claus Village and the SantaPark, together with Rovaniemi Airport, the official airport of Santa Claus, form a Christmas Triangle that thousands of tourists visit each year to indulge in an array of winter sports that would be hard to find elsewhere.

Rovaniemi is a city of snow and the Northern Lights. Winter sports are just a step away, crosscountry ski trails abound, and the Ounasvaara Ski Resort offers downhill skiing and snowboarding. In case you choose to leave that to the pros, as I did, there is Lapland Safaris' snowmobiling, dogsledding and reindeer sleigh rides.

Snowmobiling is one of the most popular activities. Vehicles, which are easy to handle, are available for single or double riders. And it is the best way to get around the vast expanse of Lapland. The snowmobile routes take you around the magical arctic landscape of forest and fell to the more remote wilderness areas. Zipping at 40-50 kmph over frozen rivers and through forests covered with snow—it is an amazing experience.

Stop midway for some ice fishing by drilling through the ice and dropping a fishing line with plastic bait attached. There are areas where you are sure to land a catch, says Timmo of Finnish Tourism.
Siberian huskies raise visions of ferocious dogs—these are anything but. They just love the cold. You can ride on the reindeer sleighs if you wish, but then you go on a predetermined circuit.

Lapland, established in 1938, is Finland's largest province and covers 93,937 sq km (roughly 30 per cent of Finland's area). It is home to 190,000 people, of whom only 7,000 are the indigenous Sami. It is also home to 200,000 reindeer. If you dislike crowds, this is the place for you: it has a population density of a mere 2.1 persons per sq km.

It is on tourism that Lapland thrives. The province might have hydropower, minerals, agriculture, cattle farming, reindeer management and so on, but tourism employs a total of 4,000 man-years in Lapland, and produces a direct income of Î 344 million.

"In the years to come, this will be the big growth area," says Rauno Posio, marketing director and partner in Lapland Safaris, one of the biggest and most prestigious companies specialising in winter adventure sports."Another interesting aspect from the viewpoint of the automobile industry is that many of big manufacturers come to Lapland to test the sturdiness of their vehicles," says Posio. "The terrain here gives them a perfect training venue for testing vehicles in extreme cold conditions
as temperatures often reach -30 and -40 ºC."

Every country has its pet sport: Indians are hung up on cricket, and the Finnish on winter sports. But the Indians are fast catching on. Taina Tornstrom, director, Finnair, says, "The traffic from India has been on the rise ever since we started flying and we are increasing flights from both Delhi and Mumbai."

Finnair is acting smart by picking up more slots. From three flights a week, it is moving up to 12, adding Mumbai in June. "It will be extremely hard, if not impossible, for airlines to secure new arrival and departure slots at Indian airports in the coming years," says Tornstrom. "By adding to India-scheduled traffic just now, we are ensuring our presence in these fast-growing markets."
Don't let the subzero temperatures faze you: assurance comes bundled in the form of special clothing for each activity. Thermal safari clothes, boots, woollen socks, scarves, gloves and warm outer thermal suits are there to keep snowmobilers and sleighriders from freezing into clods of ice. And if you wish to do something that angels fear to do—a dip in icewater—there is a watertight suit that'll keep your bits warm.

There's plenty of warmth in this iced-up part of the world.