Winter Bushcraft in Finland’s Boreal Forest
This April I spent ten days away in Finland, on a course run by Woodlore that taught us the skills needed to travel Earth’s Taiga biome.
The Taiga, also known as the Boreal Forest, spans the Northern Hemisphere and is the second largest biome on Earth. It sits just below the Arctic tundra and lies within the Arctic Circle.
Based in the very North of Finland, we were staying around Lake Menesjärvi, often skiing over it to campsites near the shores.
Spending several nights out in the snow under the Milky Way there were some amazing views, and if you stopped to listen, there was the peaceful absence of any sound.
This is a small selection of my favourite photos from the trip.
Our first day was spent in the “classroom”, a large kota, learning all about how to deal with the cold environment.
The second day was all about learning to cross-country ski. They were the only way we could pass across some of the deepest snow that had built up over the winter season.
The course covered three different types of shelters we could build. The snow grave was our first, and Ray had us building them on our second day for our first night out that evening.
The lakes in Northern Finland turn into snowmobile super highways during the winter. Signposts included!
Our second shelter, the quinzee, took three of us a day and an afternoon to build. One full day of making a pile of compressed snow, and then an afternoon of digging out the inside.
Such a nice shelter, once it is built, a little candle and a cold well keeps you very warm.
This was a brilliant way of managing a very open and controlled fire on the snow. Started with a tinder of birch bark and a handful of shaving clusters.
Our departing view of the Taiga, with the forest and lakes clearly visible, and not a single house to see.
If you found any of this interesting, you can find much of the course detailed in Ray’s latest book, Out on the Land: Bushcraft Skills from the Northern Forest.
