Day trip to Latvia, part two: caves and more caves

Skiing is done, done, done. Now some caves? 

The first cave, Kalēja Ala, is a sandstone cave. It seemed it had formed in a hill with very soft sandstone, and I wasn't sure how it was fully holding up... sand dripping from the roof. However, there was no exploring of this cave as in the winter season the bats need their rest... while there were many footprints to the cave, I stayed at the entrance, just took a photo towards the insides. It would have been a spectacular cave to visit, though, I need to come back in the summer! This cave also had a short side cave higher up on the hill.

Once I left these caves, I drove towards Riga and found the second pair of caves, including Latvia's largest cave, Gūtmaņa Ala. Massive cave, in volume but not that long. A hole on the mountainside, and with a spring at the end. Nice, and easy to visit. And open all year along :-)  This one also had a side cave that was much smaller, and this time much more cave-like.

Here's a more detailed run down of the caves, along with coordinates. I also scanned two of the caves with my iPhone's lidar capability, and created maps using my Cave Outliner software package.  

Kalēja Ala, Raiskums. Coordinates N 57.379438 E 25.262701. The cave is 46 meters long. More information here.

Photos of the cave:

Kalēja Sānu Ala. Side cave to the above. Coordinates N 57.3795475 E 25.262771. The cave is 6 meters long. This one I was able to scan with my scanning pole, the model is loadable here, can be rotated on your browser screen here, and the high-resolution map can be downloaded here.

One photo of this cave is the opening shot of this article. Other photos of the cave:

Gūtmaņa Ala, Sigulda. Coordinates N 57.176169 E 24.842373. More information here. My measurements indicate that the cave was 18 meters long, but various sources disagree on the exact length, however. 

This one I was able to scan with my scanning pole, the model is loadable here, can be rotated on your browser screen here, and the high-resolution map can be downloaded here.

Photos of the cave:

Gūtmaņa Sānu Ala. Side cave to the above. Coordinates N 57.175015 E 24.841227. I didn't measure this cave, but I wild guess is that it is around 14 meters long. Could be few meters longer or shorter.

Photos of the cave:

The previous part of this trip report was about skiing (link, alt. link). The next part is about the airport (link, alt. link).

This article has also been published at Planetcaver.net here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Hetan Hiihtomaa

Wow, a ski resort in Finland that I have not even heard of ... Hetan Hiihtomaa is a small ski resort run by the Enontekiö community, high up north. On their best day they may get only 100 skiers. Must visit some day!

The official home page is here, and the Helsingin Sanomat article that I read this place about is here.

This article has also been published here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Or read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko, photo is a screenshot of an article by Helsingin Sanomat, all rights by them.

Day trip to Latvia, part one: Ski resorts

Day trip to Riga for two ski hills and couple of caves. Full day but very nice hills and caves!. First up, Riekstukalns ski resort 45 mins southeast of the city... then Ozolkalns ski resort 90 mins northeast. Both were superb! Riekstukalns felt like Les 3 Vallees of Latvia with its multiple bases and skiing long stretches to the other side of the large ski resort. Ozolkalns shone with its chair lift and river views.

More information about Riekstukalns from their home page here. They only run on a vertical of 36 meters (about 100 feet) but wow they have 13 different slopes, distributed along a large area. This really felt like a large area. And it looked so nice among the beautiful trees and the forest.

And more information about Ozolkalns from their home page here. Their vertical is 80 meters (about 240 feet), but there was less slopes. Interestingly there would have been a second ski resort right next to Ozolkalns, the Žagarkalns. I didn't know about it while visiting... anyway, interesting. Their home page is here.

And if you were wondering, Kalns in Latvian means Mountain... so you know :-)

Photos from Riekstukalns:

Second base:

Food offerings. In Finland we just have meat pies or something horrible...

Me:

Map:

Slope above the first base:

Lifts are open .. very late!

Sign on the road:

More slopes:

Yes... healthy?

Photos from Ozolkalns next. First the base cafeteria building. I love it:

Me:

Lift:

There were a lot of cabins for vacationers, and a sauna. A sauna next to the slope!

The sign on the road. WTF camel park???

Views from the top of the hill over to the river:

The next part of this trip report is about caves (link, alt. link). The final part is about the airport (link, alt. link).

This article has also been published here. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot. Or read all swimming stories at planetswimmer.com and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko.

Day trip to Latvia, part three: Rīgas lidosta

Riga's airport, RIX, is located south of the city, in the community of Mārupe. The airport is also a hub for Air Baltic. I have been here before, but just transiting on Air Baltic. Now I flew here on Finnair, and back on the same day, on the day trip to ski (link, alt. link) and caves in Latvia (link, alt. link)... found a lounge that serves families as well as business travelers. Nice!

The airport is compactly sized and nice. I tested their lounge, the Primeclass Business Lounge (link). There was no warm food, but otherwise it was quite good, several types of sandwiches and ingredients to make more. And I loved the extra space, they had a meeting room, private suites, and a children's play room! Wow! Finally, someone understands what is needed from a lounge :-)

Official home page here, and wikipedia here.

Photos from the lounge:

Photos from the airport:

Photos from the flight and the Helsinki airport:

This article has also been published in Planetflier.com here. For more flying stories, check out the Planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot! Photos, videos and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.