First day, first ski resort

This is the first day of the year, and I am at my first ski resort. Not just the first of the year, but my actual first ski resort that I skied at age 7 ... or 8, can't quite remember. In any case, a few years ago. A few decades ago... five. Uh. Anyway, a really nice experience once again. And a very nice local ski hill that trains little kids to ski and to race, like it did back when I was here the last time. Wonderful.

Except maybe for the gripping cold, I only had fifty minutes to spend here, but out of that time I had to spend ten minutes in the hut to warm up. It was freezing!

The hill gives a view directly over the Porvoo river and towards the city center, the historic parts being maybe a kilometer away. And there are apartment buildings nearby on this side of the river, more being constructed as well. Close to the people. Easy to walk to from your home. Like it should be! Well done.

There's a steeper main slope and one side that goes to the skier's right in a roundabout way. Along the way there are some old concrete ruins. I was unable to find any information about this from the Internet, but to me they look like the concrete base for a gun position from some old war. But I have again not been able to confirm this anywhere. However, there's plenty of other history about Kokonniemi that you can read in Finnish here. Interesting that there's been some old burial sites, including one at the top of the hill (now no longer visible after the hill was raised some years ago).

Usually, Finnish ski resort huts are depressing, but here there was a very nice cafeteria, with both indoor and outdoor space. Offerings food-wise were limited, however, more in the usual Finnish style. See my earlier reporting about this discrepancy to French ski resorts here (alt. link) :-) But the hut was nicely decorated:

The ski resort used to be called Kokonniemi, now they go by the name of Porvoo Ski. Ugh, not sure I like making everything English in Finland. But ok, the hill is still great, so whatever works I guess. Mutta perkele :-) 

The ski resort resides on a hill near the river and towards the Kokonniemi citizen's park on the other side, and onwards from there is sea. On the 

Links: wikipedia, ski hill home page. They are at N 60.384604 E 25.661533. The gun battery is at N 60.382228 E 25.660360.

Views:

Slopes:

Snow guns:

The concrete ruins:

Ski area hut:

Tickets:

This article has also been published here. See more Planetskier stories from Blogspot, and Planetskier.net. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2026 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Oulu Airport

Managed to visit Oulu airport on the way to ski at Pyhä; flights to Rovaniemi and especially car rental prices there were exorbitant, so Oulu was a good backup choice. Three more hours to drive, but ... much cheaper. And as it turned out, less of a hassle as Rovaniemi airport became a disaster zone during the storm season in end of 2025, as many flights were cancelled and hundreds of tourists had to camp at the airport. Can't understand why better accommodations couldn't be organized, in local schools, emergency shelters, etc. Finavia, are you doing anything about this???

Nevertheless, our flights and other arrangements were all fine. And there was beautiful sunrise as we lifted off Helsinki airport towards Oulu, early in the morning.

Flight and then Oulu airport in the early morning hours:

Check-in area in Oulu:

Helsinki airport:

Other articles from this are skiing in Pyhä (alt. link) and visit to the amethyst mine & spa (alt. link).

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) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Amethyst mine and spa

In Luosto -- near the better known Pyhä ski resort -- there's an amethyst mine that runs tourist digging tours. In the summer you may hike to the mine, but in the winter the better option is to take a ride on a snowcat " Amethyst Pendolino" and visit the mine. A visit includes the ride, a presentation about the history and purpose of the mine, and then you get to .. digging. You may take the smallest finds home, and everybody is guaranteed a find. And afterwards you might also visit the Amethyst Spa, a Lapland Hotels Luostotunturi resort who has a spa with an amethyst theme.

The mine visit is an experience! The snowcat train, the winter scenery, the descent to the mine, the digging, the joy of finding small gems. 

My loot:

These are maybe 1cm across, so not big but nice!

The mine isn't really an underground one, though the stairs to descend to the mine make you feel like it. The dig site is on a steep hill/cliff, but still above ground. In the summer you can dig outside. Which could be warmer and nicer experience, but the inside-the-wooden-tunnel setup certainly made it feel more like a real underground experience. 

Do get warm clothes though, in the outside air you'll be waiting at least some moments, and then in the mine it is almost outside temperature, though no wind. Don't get your best clothes on this trip either, as the digging may make you dirty.

A visit to the mine costs different amounts depending on day and time, but for our time it was 76€ per person. What a perfect business model for the mine! So you run a mine with people who pay to dig, and any bigger finds you still get to keep yourself :-)

In any case, this is an experience worth trying :-) 

The transport:

The spa runs as a part of the Lapland Hotels Luostotunturi hotel, but you can also enter the spa as an outsider guest. The spa cost for adults is 18€. The spa is advertised as the having an amethyst "cave" where the jacuzzi is, but IMHO it was nice but not super impressive. There was a bigger pool to play around, though, and nice, warm saunas. Worth a visit unless you're staying in some other place that has saunas and pools. Certainly a fitting end to an amethyst mine visit, but maybe not worth a trip otherwise.

(Photo by Lapland Hotels Luosto)

Mine pictures:

Mine snowcat/train pictures:

Spa pictures:

Author:

Other articles about this trip include the skiing in Pyhä in winter storm (link, alt. link).

This article has also appeared here. Read all urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and underground stories from planetcaver.net, swimming stories at planetswimmer.com, and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Or all blog articles from Blogspot. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. The pool is by Lapland Hotels, on their webpage, all rights belong to them.

Skiing in the cold storm at Pyhä

We flew to the Finnish north and drove to Pyhä just before the big winter storm of the end of 2025 hit. And came back after it, missing the storm impact on our flights. However, it did it the skiing time. I was wondering if something was wrong with my helmet visor setup, because I couldn't keep it clear... could see almost nothing. But it wasn't the visor or my use of it, it was the supercooled water flying around and freezing on everything. Even the tops of my skis froze up with an ice layer. Clothing. Helmet. Everything. 

Nevertheless, very nice skiing! Amazing views, darkness, fun slopes, like the Huttu-ukko, at 32 degrees is listed as Finland's steepest official ski piste (link).

It is surrounded by the Huttu free-ride area with plenty of other things to explore.

And the first slope, as always when skiing from Hotel Pyhätunturi, is the Palander slope. Named after the most successful Finnish skier, Kalle Palander. It is an excellent, steep and icy slope that just continues and continues. It is the only ski run right next to the hotel, so you have to at least start from that, although of course hiking 200 meters to the other direction you can find the easier slopes. Ski map is here, by the way. 

But my favorite slope was Blue 5, which starts and ends where Palander does, at the top and the main bottom facilities. But Blue 5 goes around, feeling like it goes to a different direction but eventually comes back to the same bottom point. It is a nice cruising run with great views and no people. You feel like being in the middle of the mountain. And you are :-) Here are some Blue 5 feelings:

Pyhä's official web pages are here.

Skiing photos, ordered by color: orange-blue,  yellow, white:

Sunsets and sunrises (same thing!) at Pyhä:

Pyhä's facilities:

Pyhä bars and restaurants below. They must be selling ice wine:

On the same trip we also visited the Alaskan husky farm and did a husky ride. In the middle of the storm... it was cold and wet but in an amazing environment and felt very real. You were able to steer your own pack of dogs in the handles of your own sled. Recommended! The husky farm breeds their own dogs, and was busy growing a dozen puppies this winter. The husky rides can be booked from Kairankutsu, costs vary depending on what kind of ride you are looking for and when but our hour's ride and farm visit was about 175€ per person.

We stayed at Hotel Pyhätunturi (today also called Pyhä Ski-Inn). The hotel is legendary, but newer parts of the Pyhä Ski-Inn -- the other hotel buildings and the villas/apartments next door are newer. The views on the downslope side from the hotel are wonderful though, with trees covered in snow and the mountain dropping away underneath. 

There is no spa or pool at the hotel, but there was a sauna. Also accessible to outsiders and not just hotel guests, cost 6€ if you are not a guest. There's a gym as well.

Lift tickets:

Other articles from this trip include the amethyst mine and spa visit (alt. link) and the Oulu airport experiences report (alt. link).

This article has also been published here. See more Planetskier stories from Blogspot, and Planetskier.net, swimming stories at planetswimmer.com, and sauna articles at saunablogger.cool. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. Sauna photos have been taken when the facility has been closed and empty.