Saariselkä in Northern Finnish Lapland received its first snow overnight!

The Elk are winning!

There are estimated to be 100,000 elk in Finland and during winter young pine trees are their main source of food. The elk love to eat the new growth at the crown of the sapling. The good news is this doesn’t kill the tree but does cause it to grow crooked therefore making it considerably less valuable as sawn timber.

Some of the foresters spray their saplings with an array of natural and chemical deterrents but few seem to be effective. The alternative is culling. The government grant hunting licences each year but only for a fraction of the 50,000 winter population that the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) estimate would have to be culled to give the forests a better chance of being productive.

For the full story in Helsinki Sanomat click here.

according to the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Finland, Denmark and New Zealand share the top score of 9.4 in the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index. The index looks at perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories. It scores countries on a scale from zero to ten, with zero indicating high levels of perceived corruption and ten indicating low levels of perceived corruption.

Below are the top 20 countries, for the full list go to http://www.transparency.org/

country	country	2007 CPI	surveys	confidence range
rank		score	used
1	Denmark	9.4	6	9.2 - 9.6
1	Finland	9.4	6	9.2 - 9.6
1	New Zealand	9.4	6	9.2 - 9.6
4	Singapore	9.3	9	9.0 - 9.5
4	Sweden	9.3	6	9.1 - 9.4
6	Iceland	9.2	6	8.3 - 9.6
7	Netherlands	9	6	8.8 - 9.2
7	Switzerland	9	6	8.8 - 9.2
9	Canada	8.7	6	8.3 - 9.1
9	Norway	8.7	6	8.0 - 9.2
11	Australia	8.6	8	8.1 - 9.0
12	Luxembourg	8.4	5	7.7 - 8.7
12	United Kingdom	8.4	6	7.9 - 8.9
14	Hong Kong	8.3	8	7.6 - 8.8
15	Austria	8.1	6	7.5 - 8.7
16	Germany	7.8	6	7.3 - 8.4
17	Ireland	7.5	6	7.3 - 7.7
17	Japan	7.5	8	7.1 - 8.0
19	France	7.3	6	6.9 - 7.8
20	USA	7.2	8	6.5 - 7.6

* CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

** Confidence range provides a range of possible values of the CPI score. This reflects how a country's score may vary, depending on measurement precision. Nominally, with 5 percent probability the score is above this range and with another 5 percent it is below. However, particularly when only few sources are available, an unbiased estimate of the mean coverage probability is lower than the nominal value of 90%.

*** Surveys used refers to the number of surveys that assessed a country's performance. 14 surveys and expert assessments were used and at least 3 were required for a country to be included in the CPI.

if the Late Finnish President had been successful!

The late Finnish President Urho Kekkonen had offered half of Lapland to the Soviet Union in 1968. The offer was made to former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in exchange for Karelia.

An recent article by Juha Pohjonen in Kaleva reveals that Kekkonen had proposed offering the area north of the 67th parallel. The region would have included several municipalities including Enontekiö, Inari and Utsjok would have been swapped for Karelia.

"The deal did not take place, but it was meant to spark interest in the matter among top leadership in the Soviet Union," said Pohjonen.

In return, Finland could have asked for the city of Vyborg back, the region west of the city, and the Saimaa canal.

The deal however did not move forward. Pohjonen said that the Soviet Union was not interested in the trade.

"If the USSR would have accepted the proposal, I would assume that Kekkonen would have been ousted from power," Pohjonen said.

Results of the eight month feasibility study have been presented.

The Fédération Internationale de Ski ("FIS"), have reported on plans to create an indoor ski jumping facility in Ylitornio in Finnish Lapland.

The area is trying to develop plans to become the first venue to stage indoor Ski Jumping competitions. The municipality, close to the Swedish broder in western Finnish Lapland, presented the results of an eight-month long feasibility study to the representatives of the Finnish Ski Association on Tuesday.

The innovative plan calls for building three hills side-by-side, a Ski Flying hill (K 185) enabling jumps of up to 250 meters, a large hill (K 120) with jumps of approx. 140 m, and a normal hill (K 90).

The top part of the in-run track is planned in a tunnel to be dug into the Aavasaksa mountain. The rest of the facility would also be covered to ensure that weather conditions have no impact on the competition results and that safe and equal conditions can be ensured for all competitors. Given the indoor set-up, the hills could be in use almost ten months a year.

The estimated budget for the project amounts to €30 million and financing is expected to be available by the end of 2007. The construction is estimated to begin in 2009 and last 2-2.5 years.

“The Aavasaksa project is very interesting and innovative. I have followed the project’s planning phase carefully,” said Janne Marvaila, Director of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined at the Finnish Ski Association. “Having the will to push things forward is very positive. The Ski Jumping Committee of the Finnish Ski Association will review the detailed proposal this Friday and formulate its official stance.”

In addition to the Aavasaksa project, a competing Ski Flying hill project is underway at Suomu, Kemijärvi, in the eastern part of Finnish Lapland. This plan foresees a normal Ski Flying hill with construction completed by 2011. There is currently no Ski Flying hill in Finland.

you can take a dip!

After an exciting day of husky safaris, snowmobiling, ice fishing and of course meeting Santa we return to our hotel.

For many there is no such thing as too much snow and they head straight back outside to go tobogganing, skiing or making snowmen.

Others they reach a point where they can’t spend another second in all of those layers of thermals, jumpers and safari clothing. Some head for the bar for a well earned drink while others decide they are off for a dip.

Taking a dip varies dramatically depending where you are……….

In Saariselka, north eastern Lapland, in the Holiday Club Hotel is the fabulous  swimming pool with slides, spa pools and wave machine. Entrance to the pool is free to Holiday Club guests. Guests from other hotels are welcome but pay an entrance fee.

At Hotel Iso-Syote in Northern Finland guests can enjoy a relaxing warming sauna and take a dip in their cooling indoor pool.

At Hotel Jeris, western Lapland, taking a dip can involve more of a challenge if you are feeling brave.

While most guests choose to soak in the wonderful warm lakeside spa pools the crazier guests take a short swim in the outdoor lake pool!

At Hotel Harriniva, in western Lapland, there isn’t a pool but clients can hire an outdoor hot tub in a snowy riverside setting. The braver adults can take a dip in an ice hole!

It goes without saying that as this is Lapland all of the locations have a warming sauna to hop into after your dip!

The anniversary season will start with Sibelius symphonies.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO), a superb ensemble of 98 players begins its 125th anniversary season with a series of Sibelius concerts at Finlandia Hall on September 20 and 22. These ‘Jean Sibelius in memoriam’ concerts are a tribute to the maestro who died 50 years ago. All seven symphonies will be performed in the three-concert series under the Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Leif Segerstam.

The celebrations will continue in October with concerts and a broad presentation of its work. An 125^th anniversary disc called Picures from Finland will be released to mark the occasion.

Leif Segerstam was appointed Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in the autumn of 1995.

The Helsinki Philharmonic is based in magnificent Finlandia Hall (seating capacity 1,700), designed by Finland most famous architect, Alvar Aalto.

A unique gastronomic event in Finnish Lapland.

On Saturday 29 September 2007 Levi in western Finnish Lapland will spend a day celebrating the gastronomic delight that is reindeer.

The day that is organised by the Reindeer Herders’ Association and companies at Levi area will start with an indoor Lappish market where handicrafts, reindeer meat and delicacies will be on sale. During the day there will be cooking demonstrations and an exhibition will be held depicting “Reindeer life by the fell Levi”.

To round off the special day the highlight will be a reindeer dinner cooked the regions top chefs.