'Arctic Tourism School'. A cross-country skiing program
The beginning of spring on the White Sea Coast is a wonderful time for polar expeditions. The blizzard is still wandering across the ice covered sea, but the sun becomes warmer and keeps rising higher, although the northern lights may still be seen in the night.
The White Sea "breathes" with ebbs and tides, it raises and lowers its ice shell, hummocks, piled on the banks and shallows, decorate the route with unique sculptures. The snow crust in the forest makes cross-country skiing quite comfortable as the skis do not sink in the snow, but glide gently.
At this period we propose to join a skiing trip across the winter taiga, the ice covered of lakes and the frozen sea, to spend the night in a warm heated tent with a stove, to drink fragrant camp tea with a smoke of a taiga fire. And also get the skills of travelling along the route, camping and hiking tour organization. The skills and knowledge how to protect oneself from cold and overheating, dietary and psychological aspects of polar tourism are also included in the program.
As a result, you will not only get in touch with the unique nature of the winter White Sea Coast, but also gain experience for further travelling in the Arctic. Perhaps, even to the North Pole!
Minimum age of participants: 18 years old or over
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Provisional program schedule by day: |
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Day 1 |
Transfer from the railway station or the airport to "The Arctic Circle" Dive Centre and Lodge (Nilmoguba village, Karelia, Russia). Check in the hotel. Briefing, welcome meals and getting acquainted. Sightseeing walk around the Dive Centre and the Lodge premises and some rest. Learning about the White Sea, Pomor people and their way of life, local nature and history. Lunch. Start of the preparation for the skiing trip: learning about cross-skiing tactics, choosing the equipment, camping life skills, orientation skills, natural obstacles, safety on the route and many other things that are required for the winter cross-skiing trip. Practical work with personal equipment. Evening rest, dinner, Russian bath. |
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Day 2 |
Breakfast. Continuation of training with examples and exercises. Lunch. Skiing practice in the forest and on ice of the frozen bay. Testing and adjustment of the equipment. Picnic in taiga with a campfire, packed lunch and hot forest tea. Preparation and packing of the equipment for the trip. Evening rest, dinner, Russian bath. |
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Day 3 |
Breakfast. Start of the skiing trip, the group takes the route. Skiing over the White Sea to Kastyan Island. Setting up a camp. A skiing excursion around Kastyan, uninhabited in winter. |
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Day 4 |
Breakfast. Cross-country skiing to Blinkova Varakka. Setting up a camp. Walks around Blinkova Varakka. Geological sections, quartz, mica, blue icefalls. Beautiful seaviews, picturesque panoramas of the islands and taiga. Skiing across "lambina" - small forest lakes. Dinner and overnight stay in a tent. |
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Day 5 |
Breakfast. Skiing passage over frozen lakes, marshes and taiga to Panfilova Varakka Canyon. Lunch by the campfire. After lunch we'll make a through passage of this rocky Canyon. On the way back to "The Arctic Circle" Lodge we'll pass over the frozen sea. Evening rest, dinner, Russian bath. |
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Day 6 |
Breakfast. Analysis of the ski trip with the instructors. Equipment drying. Lunch. Visit to our reindeer farm or sled dog breeding kennel. Interaction with the pets and making pictures with them. Packing up, farewell dinner and departure from "The Arctic Centre" Lodge late in the evening. Transfer to the railway station or to the airport. |
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The program schedule may be changed according to the weather and other conditions
The price of participation in the program for the coming season is given in the Price list.