Saariselkä
Saariselkä [ ˈsɑːrisɛlkæ ] ( Finnish for island ridge , North Sami Suoločielgi ) is a winter sports resort and fell area in the Finnish part of Lapland .
The place Saariselkä is in the south of the municipality Inari , approx. 30 km south of the main place Ivalo on the state road 4 and has 311 inhabitants. It is a touristically important winter sports resort with around 10,600 beds. With over 240,000 overnight stays per year, Saariselkä is the largest holiday center in Finnish Lapland. In addition to hotels and restaurants, there are grocery stores, an Alko branch, an ATM, a petrol station and a chapel in the village . On the slopes of the adjacent fells Kaunispää and Iisakkipää there are eleven ski slopes, five of which are illuminated. Cross-country skiing is possible on the 230 km long network of trails (34 km of which are illuminated). Because of its natural features, Saariselkä has fewer and shorter slopes than other northern Finnish ski centers such as Levi . In addition to the skiers in winter, the place also attracts many nature tourists in summer and autumn, so that the seasonality is less pronounced than in many other tourist centers in Lapland: The main season is the ski season in March and April with almost 34,000 overnight stays each, but also in Around 25,000 overnight stays are registered in July and September.
Saariselkä also refers to the fell area that extends east of the village to the Russian border. It is completely uninhabited and belongs to the Urho Kekkonen National Park . The highest point is the 718 meter high Sokosti Fjell in the municipality of Sodankylä .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ As of December 31, 2005, website of the municipality of Inari: Tilastotietoja Inarin kunnasta ( Memento of March 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Finnish)
- ↑ As of 2003, Lapin liitto: Tourism in Finland and Lapland (English), p. 77.
- ↑ As of 2003, Lapin liitto: Tourism in Finland and Lapland (English), p. 87.
Coordinates: 68 ° 25 ' N , 27 ° 25' E