Winter Hike 2018

This year we head to northwestern Finland on 1.-7.1.2018. The cost of the hike is 85€ which includes transportation from Oulu and a concluding sauna and dinner

If you haven´t been on a soopa hike before, or have questions about winter hiking there´ll be an information event on 14.11 17pm at the soopa kolo. The event is open without registering for hike, so if you are interested at all, feel free to come!

Link to registration:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfik4GbnsvA2xb3ZEU-H5zpDRM9Y24Kv8mOW6sevwV-Iu3jQA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Registration is open until 3.12.

What’s the hike like?

SOOPA’s hikes are approx. week long, and usually headed to the fjälls of Lapland. We’ll be using skis for the hike. The weather is probably going to be cold, averaging about -15 ℃ but both ~0 ℃ and -30 ℃ are possible. Ice in the area will generally carry a person, but caution is adviced especially at high-flow spots. Hikes will generally be between 50-100 km, meaning ~15 km daily. Rest days and day trips are also possible.<\a>

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.

At least some skiing ability is necessary to participate on the hike! If you have never used skis before, we strongly suggest you either find a way to practice before going, or reconsider your participation.

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 Winter 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 open cabins, but each group will have tents in case of emergencies. Tents suitable for camping can be borrowed from SOOPA without charge. Skis can be rented for a fee 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?

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 2018to 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 2018

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.

The last day for signing up is 3.12.2017, 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, skill 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.