Late Summer Hike 2017: Kebnekaise and surrounding areas

SOOPA’s (University of Oulu Scout Troop) traditional Autumn Late Summer Hike will this year be heading to Kebnekaise and surrounding areas in Sweden. We are leaving for the hike on Wednesday morning, August 16th, and will return to Oulu on Wednesday evening, August 23rd. You are welcome to join the hike even if you are not a Scout or have no previous hiking experience.

SOOPA’s Autumn Hike is a week-long trip in the arctic hills of Lapland. We will divide into small groups and walk about 50 to 100 km during the hike, depending on the wishes of the group. Some days can also be set aside for short day trips with light backpacks, and you might then climb to the summit of a nearby arctic hill. The weather can be anything from +20 °C with a full sunshine to -5 °C with heavy sleet rain, with or without wind. Likewise, the terrain can be anything, ranging from rocky mountains to boggy valleys and anything in between. In the lower valleys there will be trees as well. Whatever the weather and terrain may be, great views and company can almost be guaranteed.

The last day for signing up for the hike is Sunday 21st of July 2016.

 

General guidelines and testing your fitness

Before leaving for Autumn Hike you should read through general guidelines for SOOPA’s hikes, especially if you haven’t been on a hike before.

Hiking requies at least moderate physical fitness. If you don’t have any clue of your fitness level, you can test your fitness for the hike by doing a fitness test (there are plenty online, for example google ’walking test’). Testing your fitness is not necessary, but hiking with the group will be much more pleasant when the members have about the same capability and attitude for hiking. If you do a test, mark down the name and result of the test and submit the information in the ”Physical Fitness” section of the registration form.

Groups, food and gear

People who have signed up for the hike will divided into groups of about 4 to 6 people for the hike. When arranging the groups, we will do our best to take into account the fitness level of the hikers as well as their personal wishes. There will also be some more experienced hikers in each group. Each group will also have a group leader who is usually a more experienced hiker. The most important tasks of the group leader is to make sure the group has got all the necessary group gear and inform SOOPA if there are any obstacles before the hike. Nevertheless, everyone in the group are expected to actively participate, in order to make sure everyone has the gear they need and that other preparations go smoothly.

Food will be prepared in small cooking groups, usually consisting of 2 people. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be needed for each hiking day, and the cooking groups can decide themselves what they would like to take. Read more about hiking food.

Autumn hikes can be challenging so it is important to have suitable gear for arctic weather conditions. Especially first-time hikers should take their time to prepare themselves and check their equipment carefully – especially the rain gear. The gear list for Autumn Hike gives you an overview of the most important equipment, both personal and group gear. It is not necessary to own all the group gear mentioned in the list because the group members can agree together on how to get the equipment needed. During the hike we will be sleeping in tents. Tents suitable for camping can be borrowed from SOOPA without charge. There are also other places where you can ask to borrow hiking gear such as www.kuinoma.fi or emailing other SOOPA members, soopa(at)lists.oulu.fi. You can also try our Facebook group, SOOPAn virallinen epävirallisen keskustelun kanava!

It is important to be active in the planning phase! Your group needs to know your wishes, the gear you have and overall situation concerning the hike. How else are you going to solve any of the problems you might come across?

Schedule for the trip

We will most likely travel to the hiking area by bus. Pick-up places are at the central bus station in the city center, in Tuira (Merikoskenkatu) or at Linnanmaa (bus station in front of door T2). When we return to Oulu, you can be dropped off at the above mentioned places. We will depart from Oulu, Linnanmaa at 8:30 on Wednesday 16th of August, and from the bus station at 9:00. Make sure you are there in time, because the loading does take some time! We will be back in Oulu on Wednesday evening 23rd of August, so that we will reach the bus station at 21:00 at the latest.

Before returning back home we will have sauna and lunch which are included in the price. Please note that you should take along towels, shampoo and fresh clothes in a separate bag for the after-hike sauna. Those things can stay on the bus during the hike so you do not have to carry them for a week.

Price and payment

The price for the hike is 85 euros. The price includes transportation from Oulu to the hiking area and back, sauna and a buffet lunch on the way back, and a map of the hiking area. The price does not include any insurance, thus everyone is responsible for that individually. The participants must also pay SOOPA’s member or supporting member fee for the year 2016 to take part in the hike. Please follow the instructions for becoming a SOOPA member and paying the membership fee.

All payments have to be made to SOOPA’s bank account:

IBAN: FI72 574136 20057718
SWIFT/BIC: OKOYFIHH
Reference number: 11565
Sum: 85 euros + SOOPA’s member or supporting member fee for the year 2016

The payments for the hike have to be paid to SOOPA’s bank account by 21st of July at the latest, so we recommend that you can pay it right after signing up. Those who have not paid the participation fee for the hike or SOOPA’s membership fee by the deadline will not be considered as participating on the hike. If they still want to join the hike, they must follow the instructions for late sign-up.

If SOOPA must cancel the hike for some reason, all payments will be reimbursed, and you can also ask the membership fee back if you do not plan to attend any other SOOPA events.

If you get ill before the hike, you can ask about the reimbursement of the payments with a written message from the people in charge of the hike (soopa.vaeltaa(at)gmail.com) and they will forward your message to SOOPA board.

Signing up

Sign up for the hike with online form.

The last day for signing up is Friday 21st of July, before midnight. This is also when all the payments for the hike are due. The first 50 hikers to sign up will get on the hike.

You can try to get on the hike after the sign-up period has ended by contacting the people in charge of the hike (soopa.vaeltaa(at)gmail.com). If the late sign-up is possible (that is, a group is able to take you in, there’s space in the bus etc.), we will charge an extra 15 euros fee for each late sign-up.

SOOPA has the right to deny access to the hike from a person who is seen as dangerous to himself or the group. This might occur due to, for example, fitness level or health condition. In such a case, all the payments will be reimbursed to the person.

All SOOPA’s events are alcohol-free.

Contact information

If you have more questions about the hike
contact soopa.vaeltaa(at)gmail.com
or ask via Facebook in our FB group.

Welcome to the Late Summer Hike!
-Yntti, Mikko and others