Skiing inside the Arctic Circle
There is not a range of mountains in Lapland, just individual fells with a range of pistes. We stayed in Levi which is the largest of the Finnish ski resorts and where the World Cup slalom kicks off the season every November.
The town has a few different equipment hire shops and places to buy clothing. This was especially useful as we noticed very quickly how cold it was in comparison to skiing in France, so a few extra items were required. As they all speak very good English, hiring skis and snowboards was no problem and at reasonable rates.
It is a great place for a family or beginners to ski because the pistes are quiet, they are fairly gentle with red runs being similar to blue in France and the quality of the snow is amazing. The instructors speak English but if you want to go off an explore on your own, it is an easy network of T-bar lifts, a couple of chairlifts and a gondola. Ski passes were cheaper than in the French resorts, but you may not be out from all day, it will depend on the weather!
In December there is daylight from around 10am to 2.30pm and otherwise it is dark and the main pistes are floodlit. This is great fun and the front pistes in the town are open into the evening.
It is essential to dress up warmly, this sounds obvious but at -20C it is pretty chilly and handwarmers in our gloves were a must! Across the fell, you will find kotas, which are wooden huts with a fire roaring inside. Take along some sausages to roast (they are all equipped with toasting forks to use!) or simply enjoy the warmth of the fire. There are also a few cafes for hot drinks and snacks, so you can regularly warm up.
One of the amazing things was the beautiful colours and scenery around us. As we were mostly skiing at sunrise and sunset (not that much difference in time of course!) we saw the resort and surrounding countryside in some amazing light and the snow heavy trees were magical.
The resort offers so much more, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, dog sledding and reindeer sleigh rides as well as ice fishing, snow shoeing and meeting Santa! When we weren't skiing we also visited a small animal farm and the local Ice Gallery at Luvattumma. We've already decided we'll go back!