Skiing at Christmas

We are considering going skiing at Christmas and we think the decision will between a resort in lapland or somewhere like Slovenia.

Is the snowfall at christmas good in lapland?

Can anyone give me advice on which resort would be most suited to a novice skier?

i have read a number of blogs which give the impression Finland is very expensive, would a hotel HB be better value than the apartments offered in many brochures

Finally, do you need to hire special clothing as the temperature is so low or is normal skiwear ok?

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The more northern or eastern location you choose the best probabilities for skiing there are in December. Usually all ski resorts in Northern Finland have opened their season by December, the last ones tend to open them by the Finnish Independence Day (6 Dec). Snowfall cannot be guaranteed, but most likely there will be snow on the ground by then.

That said, Saariselkä will be the most snow certain, but usually Ruka (located in Kuusamo) is the first ski resort to open its ski season (around late October). Even if there wouldn%26#39;t be natural snow on the ground, the season will start with %26quot;artificial%26quot; snow (with snow cannons) on the slopes. Both of the resorts are also suitable for novices. In fact all resorts have separate areas for kids and other novices to safely practice skiing/boarding.

The current price level of Finland for Britons is more thanks to the lousy exchange rate of the pound more than that of the country being THAT expensive. And therefore all countries within the Euro Zone (incl. Slovenia, Austria etc.) will be more expensive than before for you. HB will make it easier for you to do your budget for the holiday, as breakfasts and dinners are then included in the price. Usually most half-boards in Finland serve pretty decent food (buffet type) that will cater to most needs (also special diets will be taken into consideration), unless you happen to be a very fussy eater.

Temperature can be anything between +5 and -30 degrees of Centigrate, so it is impossible to predict what it will be like, so you%26#39;d better be prepared for everything ;-) .

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I have skied twice at christmas and I am a novice - I have also skied at other times in lapland too

I would say from my experience that yes, there is plenty of snow in dec but having been to lapland later on in the year the skiing is much nicer later on as the snow is much softer, I find the slopes in dec hard and icy where as in feb they are wonderful, the skiing is still good in dec but I just prefer going to lapland in feb time as the snow is great to play in

I have been to levi, yllas and saariselka, being a novice I like yllas for skiing however, I really love saariselka as a resort and even though the slopes are steep I was able to get down them....eventually, lots of learners found saariselka fine, I just think it was me being a baby

I liked saariselka ski resort as it is small and compact, also being right up in the north the snow maybe better in dec than yllas and levi

as for going half board, personally it%26#39;s not something I have ever done, I much prefer to self cater - if you are HB in a hotel then you are stuck with eating out all the time and there is nowhere to make snacks etc which will keep costs down.

I personally think that if you want to keep costs down then S/C is better as you can cook and eat cheaply in your cabin, our last visit we did on the cheap and we took out a load of meals such as chili, casseroles etc that I made at home and then froze and bought them out with us, we saved a lot of money doing that. Finland can be expensive for some things, a carton of soup is something outragous like 8 euros so we took our own soup out with us, but most things are about the same price as somewhere like waitroes - it all depends on the exchange rate - if you want to budget you can be savvy

as for clothing, outer ski wear is fine but you will need more layers underneath, the temps can vary from day to day, last new year we arrived to temps of +3 and the next day it was -27, we love the cold but skiing in anything colder than -15 was tiresome as you just had to stop all the time and get warm

if you want more info on what to wear go to www.lapland.fruitbandit.com

I am not far from you so if you need any more help or advice on where to get stuff locally just give me a shout, I can also show you pixs of where we stayed etc

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Hi Karen,We went to Phya on 27th Dec and are returning to Saariselka this time for New year again.The snow was just lovely and even had a great fall when we were there.I was at least ankle deep and the trees were laden..perfect.We had been a few times to Kranjska Gora,slovenia which is just the loveliest village,with the slopes in the middle,its picture perfect but the first time we had quite a bit of snow(nothing like Lapland however)but the second time there was very little.The paths were icy and mushy,the trees green and the slopes were artificial,just not the same.We wore the same clothes in lapland as we did in Kranjs but with extra layers of thermals,extra socks and gloves and always hats under hoods.It is certainly colder but if prepared it wont affect your enjoyment.Drinks out were expensive(We paid £35 for a bottle of red in the hotel).However the supermarkets are about on par with most others abroad.We had the best of both worlds in an apartment but H/B with meals in the hotel opposite.This time we are going self catering as the meals werent really that nice.I would defo say go to lapland its just pure magic and the trips available,like husky and reindeer farms are a delight.Let us know if you anything else.xxLesXX