Day 1
London - Kuusamo, Finland

Our Arctic Adventure begins when we meet at the airport in London and catch our flight to the Winter Wonderland of Kuusamo. A coach transfer later, our awesome local ground handlers welcome us to our base camp in Kuusamo’s Narnia-like countryside.

As we admire our magical, snowy surroundings, we tuck into a delicious lunch of local food, followed by a challenge briefing. Now it’s time to prepare for our challenge.

Together with our Arctic Expert Challenge Leader, we’ll work out our route through the wilderness and get familiar with our gear. We’ll take time to ensure we have everything we need to stay safe, warm and dry in the -1 to -38 degrees conditions.

Next, we try out orienteering and snowshoeing for the first time, preparing for much more to come and acclimatising all the while to our new environment. We end our day with a traditional Finnish sauna and a refreshing roll in the snow.

Day 2
Kuusamo – Into the wild | approx. 5-8km

After fuelling up with a hearty homemade breakfast, we split into teams to prepare our meal plans for the challenge.

Then we learn how to cook the meals we’ve promised ourselves. This wilderness cooking lesson isn’t like anything you’ve experienced before. Our Arctic experts teach us how to make an open fire without matches and cook our lunch using expedition cookers.

We have a final gear check after lunch and a bus ride later, we alight in the pristine wilderness of Lapland.

We head our compasses North and then, carrying the gear in expedition sledges, we snowshoe as a team to our first night’s camp. We may feel alone, but please don’t worry. Our professional wilderness guides will be skiing nearby and we’ll have a walkie-talkie connection with them at all times.

The trek should take us about three hours and then we prepare for our first night in the wild. Everyone pitches their tents in the snow and we’ll cook the evening meal together over the campfire.

Tonight, we're reunited with our professional wilderness guides, who'll accompany us for the rest of our challenge.

Day 3
Expedition in Riisitunturi National Park | approx. 8km

We rise to the stunning view of bright snow and start our day by preparing our own hot breakfast. Then, always leaving the No Trace policy, we pack up camp and continue our journey through the natural winter wonderland.

Soon, we enter the Riisitunturi National Park, where we enjoy our lunch over an open fire, with enchanting panoramas. Then it’s back on our feet to crack on with our trek.

We reach the awesome Littolampi Pond in the early afternoon, which marks our day’s end point. Here, we set camp, before drilling holes into the frozen water and ice fishing for tonight’s dinner. (This isn’t obligatory, so if you don’t eat fish, you can prepare something else.)

Day 4
Riisitunturi National Park | approx. 10km

Day 4 sees us continuing our exploration of the gorgeous Riisitunturi National Park. After a warming breakfast and packing up camp with no trace left, we venture into the heart of the National Park, known as a paradise for winter hikers. 

Hearing nothing but each other and the crunch of snow shoes in snow, we trek through unending amazing panoramas.

We can look out for the park’s variety of birds, including whooper swans, yellow wagtails and meadow pits. We may even see other snowshoers and get a chance to swap stories with the locals.

As we reach the more remote parts of the National Park, we pitch our tents and explore our surroundings in the darkness. 

Looking and listening out for hawk owls, we return to camp and cook our dinner. If we’re lucky, the Northern lights may dance for us tonight!

Day 5
Igloo building and overnight in an igloo | approx. 2 - 6km

After a hot breakfast and clearing up with no trace, as has become routine, we take an approx. 3km trek to tonight’s camp.

The trek may be short, but this is by no means an easy day. Now, we have the awesome challenge of building our an igloo!

This is a full-day activity and we’ll work as a team to start the base – a huge pile of snow, which we’ll let freeze and harden until afternoon.

While we wait for our base to harden, we enjoy an optional short expedition to what some say is the most “Instagrammable” spot in Finland. Have your camera at the ready! We tuck into our lunch next to a wilderness cabin and then we’re back to finish the igloo.

Tonight, we’ll feel the fruits of our labour, as our new snowy home is much warmer than outdoors. After tucking into a hot dinner, we’ll nestle down into igloo and sleep like Santa after Christmas.

Day 6
Igloo - Adventure Apes Lodge

You’ll be pleased to know that our work here is done. After our last breakfast in the wild, we clear up the last traces of our challenge and transfer to our finish line: the Adventure Apes Lodge.

Here, we complete gear maintenance and enjoy a traditional Finnish lunch, before resting our tired muscles in the heat of the sauna.

A chilled rest of the day awaits and we enjoy a relaxing stretch in the sports hall, before our dinner at the lodge. 

Day 7
Kuusamo or Optional Ruka Adventure (98€)

We have earned a joyous day of rest to end our challenge. You can either kick back at the lodge and take the opportunity to use its sauna to your heart's and muscles' content.

Alternatively, you can take part in an exciting optional adventure in Ruka*. We’ll learn about reindeer husbandry, you will also have a chance to meet and feed the reindeer and talk with the reindeer herders. Next, we get a chance to spend some time at the Ruka Ski Centre to enjoy as you wish. You may book activities, such as downhill skiing/snowboarding or an ice swim and sauna. 

Alternatively, you can find a nice cafe or restaurant or spend your time reading your favourite book. 

Tonight, we toast our extraordinary achievement, having conquered an incredible challenge in the extreme cold!

*Please note, the optional Ruka Adventure is not included in your challenge costs and amounts to an additional 98€ per person (not including lunch or optional add-ons, like skiing/snowboarding and the ice pool). If you'd like to take part in the reindeer and ski centre visit, you'll also need to budget for this and book in advance. When the Ruka Adventure is open for bookings, we'll put a link to the booking page here.

Activities in Ruka, like skiing and ice swimming with sauna are add-ons at an extra cost and will require advance booking.

Day 8
Kuusamo – UK

This morning, we have the chance to join our Challenge Guide for a short walk and an optional ice-fishing tour in the biggest spring in Europe, Lake Kitka.

Returning back to the lodge, we bid goodbye to our awesome Arctic Guides and transfer to Kuusamo airport and catch our flight back to London. This is where we part ways for home and a very good rest in the relative warmth of the UK!