Ylläs
A 718-metre fell inside Pallas-Yllästunturi national park, a village at either end and the cross-country network running straight out of both. The quiet alternative to Levi.
The quieter fell
Ylläs rises to 718 metres, the highest ski fell in Finland, with the village of Äkäslompolo at the northern end and Ylläsjärvi at the southern. Nothing here is concentrated. The two villages are twenty minutes apart by road and most of the accommodation sits in forest between them, which is precisely why clients who dislike resorts like it.
The fell stands inside Pallas-Yllästunturi, Finland’s third-largest national park, so the cross-country trails leave the villages and run directly into protected forest. Lit near the villages, unlit beyond. For a client who wants to ski all day and see almost nobody, Ylläs is the better of the two western fells. For a client who wants a lift queue, a spa and somewhere to eat at ten at night, it is Levi.
The transfer from Kittilä is about an hour. Build it into the arrival plan, because a late flight means arriving in the dark on a forest road, and the properties are spread out.
All of Finland →
Stay, experience, aurora, summer
Log houses in the trees
Private log houses with their own sauna, most of them in forest rather than in a village, and a small number of lodges in Äkäslompolo itself. Glass-roofed cabins for aurora nights are within half an hour. Inventory is limited and the good positions are taken early.
Skis, snowshoes and dark skies
The largest lit and unlit cross-country network in Finland, snowshoe routes into the national park, private husky teams and downhill on the fell. Fewer operators than Levi, so the good guides are booked further ahead.
Less light, more sky
Little ambient light between the two villages, and an hour further from anywhere that generates any. Nothing about aurora can be promised, but the odds of a clear dark horizon are better here than on a resort fell.
Fell walking and ruska
Marked trails over the fell tops from both villages, bikes on the lower routes, and in September two to three weeks of ruska colour. The dates move year to year, so we confirm them late.
What clients come here for
Cross-Country and Snowshoe
Aurora Nights
Private Husky Teams
Private Sauna
Fell Walking
Ruska Autumn Colour
Ylläs by season
Polar Night
A few hours of blue light in the middle of the day and no sun above the horizon at all around the solstice. Quieter than Levi at Christmas, though not empty.
The Ski Window
The reason to come. Deep snow, daylight back, and trail conditions at their best through March. April is still skiable and much cheaper.
Midnight Sun
Continuous daylight, fell walking and biking, mosquitoes in July. Almost no international clients and the lowest rates of the year.
Ruska
Two to three weeks of autumn colour on the fells with the first aurora of the season. Short, and the dates shift, so book late and flexibly.
Ways to shape this journey
Starting points, not packages. Every programme is rebuilt around the client in front of you.
Skis and Silence
Kittilä arrival, four nights in a forest log house, cross-country and snowshoe days and two aurora attempts built in.
Design this journey →Two Fells, Two Speeds
Ylläs for the quiet and the trails, then Levi for the lifts, the restaurants and the activity density. An hour of road between them.
Design this journey →Regions that combine well
Levi
Twenty minutes from the runway at Kittilä. The resort fell, with the lifts, the restaurants and the operator density that the rest of Lapland does not have.
Finnish Lapland
The Arctic heart of our operation — aurora nights, husky trails, reindeer herding country and the properties we know best.
Inari & Saariselkä
The far north of Finland — Sámi heartland, the great lake of Inari, and the darkest, clearest aurora skies we work with.
Send us a brief for Ylläs — we'll do the rest
Tell us about your client — who they are, what moves them, and how they like to travel. A senior specialist responds personally.