Arto's Blog

A message was out, inviting people to play with snow and to build an ice sauna. The people behind the invitation were Philippe, a Canadian mathematician who had settled down in Finnish Lapland some years ago, and his Finnish girlfriend Kirsi. Wow, that was something not to miss. :) Read on, or go directly to the photo gallery on Phil's site.

The meeting was held at Phil's home in Torvinen, a village about 80 km north of the Arctic Circle and about 30 km south of Sodankylä. Three French and a Belgian guy had already arrived a couple of days earlier and helped to cut some seven tons of ice from a nearby lake, using a chainsaw and Phil's Land Cruiser. The ice was chopped to about 50 kg (35x35x40cm) blocks which could be lifted without a winch or other heavy tools.

The ice blocks were then used to build a round shaped small room, leaving a small entrance on one side. Between the blocks we put snow sprinkled with water which worked as glue in the -15°C temperature. Two seats inside and the roof were made out of wood. A sauna stove was installed in the middle.

We were 16 people in total so not everybody could be building the sauna at the same time. In the kitchen Kirsi together with guests baked and cooked Lappish bread, Carelian pies, salmon soup, apple pie with vanilla sauce and other tasty food with enough butter and fat to maintain human energy and good mood.

On Saturday sun shined beautifully and most people went out skiing, snowshoeing or ice fishing. I climbed on top of the Luosto fell with two friends. The small trees carrying a thick snow cover were simply beautiful. This year we've had very little snow in Helsinki, but even during a normal winter there's rarely anything similar in Southern Finland. Only in Lapland and other arctic areas, where the wind blows hard across vast open spaces, does the snow get packed in fascinating shapes like that. See page 5 and page 6 of the photo gallery.

How about the sauna, did it work? Well, not perfectly but at least the temperature was above zero. :) The stove was a bit too small and the wood we used for heating were waste pieces with low energy content. When the stones on the stove were finally hot, it was 2:30 am and most people were already sleeping. I had decided to test my sleeping bag outside and didn't want to get wet just before going to sleep under the stars. So only two people got naked, went in the sauna, poured a lot of water on the stones to get as much steam as possible, and had fun.

The following day some improvements were made and more people tried the special sauna experience. I was already on the way back towards the south with a few fellow travelers by then, but we had a nice sauna evening in Riihimäki. Now I also know that if I put my two sleeping bags inside each other and wear some woollen underwear, a fleece and a face mask I can sleep outside in about -30°C — there's no need to buy a separate winter sleeping bag.