Really lucky we squeezed the VI skiing in!
A Visually Impaired Cross-Country Ski Holiday
We returned to the lovely village of Äkäslomopolo in the Finnish resort of Ylläs for a great week's skiing at the end of February 2020. We were out on the tracks every day and some of us even ventured off track.
We’d been given weather updates in the weeks preceding the holiday and on the 18th January it was reported cloudy with a temperature of -8°C to -9°C. This was exciting with the prospect of good skiing conditions and temperatures several degrees warmer to what we experienced last year when it was -20°C and below.
Three of us arrived early and enjoyed a few days' skiing together. It was an opportunity to check out the tracks and even try out some backcountry skis.
The rest of the group travelled with Inghams and arrived at Kitillä airport in bright sunshine to find everywhere covered in snow. They enjoyed breathtaking views through tired eyes during the 45 minute journey to Äkäs hotel where the group stayed.
We were a mixed group with a couple of beginners, some with more experience, a couple of new Guides and some non-guiding friend*. Each day we split into smaller groups for skiing. The beginners worked hard and learned. The new Guides were fantastic, they picked up the ideas naturally and were soon being trusted to guide.
The more experienced Skiers were out all day often skiing 20km or more on varied terrain, stopping at track side cafes or shelters for lunch and snacks.
Ylläs is a well developed cross country skiing area and offers opportunities that added a little variety to our holiday. Two of the Skiers wanted to ski in the dark so Ed and Pam got their head torches out and we had a memorable evening, skiing along floodlit tracks up a long hill, round a challenging loop then back down the hill again. This introduced an interesting aspect as Lyn could see more and Rachel less. Rachel sees quite a bit and uses her sight when skiing so one particular dip was challenging for her - it looked like a descent into a big black bottomless pit. After we had spent some time describing the whole thing she put her trust in the Guide and braved the dip of doom, skiing it perfectly.
The ski back down the hill was fantastic, as Ed commented, "Awesome, Rachel and Lyn crushed it!" Lyn put it a bit more eloquently, “For most people this is just night skiing – something different, a bit of excitement. For me it’s a lot more than this – almost spiritual. It’s being enfolded in the quiet darkness; the magic of the night; the forest; the beautiful snow-clad trees which have stood here for centuries. It’s friendship; it’s the light that guides us. It’s spinning along feeling the energy in my little body as the lights fly by. It’s the continuum of time and space. It’s me, in this moment, here and now. What’s before and what’s after doesn’t matter."
Another day some of us hired OAC skinbased backcountry skis from SISU Outdoor, they have a binding that fits in any winter boot and we found that walking boots with good support were adequate.
It was a great day and we enjoyed the freedom they gave us, out on the lake and in the woods. If anyone has ever emanated joy, it was Lyn running free on them.
Reflecting on the holiday it just reaffirmed that we are A Group of Friends. This year we were joined by a new Skier, two new Guides and lots of new non-guiding friends. New non-guiding friends, always a worry on both sides but there was no need and Steve thanked our group with the words, "I was a late addition to the group as a non-guiding friend. Given I'd never met anyone in the group I was a little nervous. I needn't have been, from meeting at the airport everyone was so welcoming, like old friends meeting again." We welcomed back some old friends too. Ed took a week off from his sandwich year job to join us, he can still do this cross country skiing but we did give him a day off on the downhill slopes.
We even feel that we have friends in the resort, we've skied there for many years and are often greeted out on the tracks. Ying, who used to ski with us before he got too fast, was also there with friends. And it was good to renew acquaintances at the hire shop and cafes. There's always a warm welcome from the staff at SISU Outdoor where we hired skis and where Pam received an Instagram tutorial. The owner of Latvamaja cafe translated the information sheet that we circulate around the resort into Finnish for us.
We were lucky, and even when we travelled home we didn't realise that a strange time was approaching - many people missed out on their 2020 ski holidays, others had difficult journeys home from curtailed ones. We just went to Äkäslompolo, had a great week's skiing and then went home again. Life has definitely been different since then and looking forward to next year there will have to be compromises on any proposed trip,whether it's on transportation, accommodation, time of year,or guaranteed snow!!! But, if we don't plan we won't be going anywhere so we are currently planning to spend a week at Dalseter in Norway at the end of February 2021. Let's hope that we are lucky again. Please get in touch if you are interested in joining us. Updates will be posted on Instagram, our website and maybe even on the blog.
Thank you to everyone who went on the holiday. We've freely quoted people and used their photographs.
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This article was kindly supply by Pam Curwen about their 2020 Ski trip. If you would like to get involved in guiding or just taking part in future trips, please email her on vi.nordic2016@gmail.com