Canoe rafting, Lieksa 17-20.5.2012

Duration: 4 days
Place: Lieksa, Eastern Finland
Company: ViGu16+,

Four days of paddling rapids in the eastern part of Finland. We learned how to tackle the rapids forward, backwards and up-side-down. Fun and wet. We also rescued an unlucky canoe from Jyväskylä that an other group squeezed against a concreet pillar. This was naturally a welcome engineering challenge for all the boys and Ann-Lis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtV6ISzUHGg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuGbMfHNr-k

Mountain Skiing2, Narvik 21-29.4.2012 / Vigu

Duration: 7 days

Place: Narvik, Norway
Company: ViGu16+

After too long a ViGu break we headed up to northern Norway to enjoy 7 days of fantastic randonee skiing. We spend two days in the slopes of Narvik before we headed off on a longer tour up the mounains in an area about 1 hour drive west of Narvik. We stayed in a hut at a lake called Blåvattnet. With the hut as our basecamp we explored the suronding peaks and enjoed the slopes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIB5J2VbT3I

Sea kayaking1 6-11.8.2011 Åland / ViGu

Duration: 5 days kayaking

Place: Åland Islands,

Company: 10 ViGu + 2 instructors

This Sea kayaking course offered five intensive days in the beautiful archipelago of the Åland island. The 10 hour days included morning theory, morning kayaking, lunch break, more theory, afternoon kayaking, making camp and cooking. And then finishing off with another two hours of paddling techniques and rescue exercises.

Cliff climbing1 28.5-2.6 in Lofoten, Norway / ViGu

Duration 4 days trevel + 4 days climbing
Place: Kalle, Henningsvaer
Company: 16 ViGu + 4 instructors/mountain guids

This cliff climbing course offered four exciting days at Lofoten in Norway. We learn the essentials of cliff climbing with experienced mountain guides in the most beutaful suroundings you could imagine. And the fishing was good. I cought four cods and a trout.

Mountain skiing 26.3-1.4 2011 / ViGu16

Place: Hemavan / Tärnaby in Sweden
Duration: 6 days, 4 nights in snow caves

The course started with two days Telemark skiing instructions in the slopes of Tärnaby. After that we headed of into the wilderness, up in the mountains. We made our homes in a large snow drift an spent four cosy night in 'three bedroom apartements' under the snow. We learned how to move safely in the mountains and avoid avalange dangers, and we learned how to use beepers (transceivers) and probes. We did a lot of digging during the week, but luckily we also managed to summit a number of nice peaks and enjoy the nice powdery slopes. In fancy Telemark style, naturally.

Ice-skiing 11-15.2.2011 / ViGu16

Place: Replot Runt
Distance: 88,5 km
Duration: 5 days, 4 nights
Night temperatures: -22C - -26C
Company: 12 ViGu16 + 2 instructors

During five extremely nice days we skied around the island of Replot. We had the best possible weather, even though quite chilly. Night temperatures fell to between -22C and -26C. We spent the nights in light shelters with double sleeping bags, and melted all drinking water from the snow. One night we slept in snow caves that we dug out from a snowdrift. Nice and cosy. One day we also had 13 husky dogs and got the opportunity to test dog sledge driving.

Long distance skating2 22-23.1 2011 / ViGu14

Place: Svartlögan i Roslagen, Kapellskär, Sweden
Distance: 31,1 + 36,8
Duration: 2 days
Company: 8 ViGu14 + 2 instructors


For this long distance skating course we took the night ferry from Turku to Kapellskär in Sweden. We were ready to skate at sunrise on Saturday morning. After only 45 minutes on the ice one of the group members took a dip in the water. We got to practice how to change the clothes on the windy ice. We spent two nice and long days on the ice skating all the way out to sea where the ice shelf meets the water. We had varying weather with clouds, sunshine, snowfall and some wind. During the second day we took turns to lead the group as a part of passing the exam.

Maps at:
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/iceinspired/4g8o9jg7mu0dqj0j
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/iceinspired/78q10mappeprlk4o

Survival training 28-31.11.2010 / ViGu 16

Place: Ovanmalm, Tenala
Distance: Insignificant (app. 10 km)
Duration: 4 days/ 3 nights
Company: 18 ViGu16 + 1 instructor

In this module we learned a lot of valuable outdoor survival techniques. We leraned how to make water filters, shelters, backpacks and how to lite fires with fire irons. We had to make due with the food we found in the nature like roots, lichen, berries and a few fish. And we experienced headaches, nauseaness, fatigue and vomiting. A real nice and valuable experience in other words.

Lemmenjoki 12-16.9.2010 / ViGu16

Route: Koiraoja, Korkiarova, Buljahanoaivi, Searitjavri, Marestunturit, Paltsavaara, Iiskonkatoamavaara, Korkiavasko.
Distance: 53 km (11/10/10/12/10)
Duration: 5 day / 6 night
Company: ViGu16 + 3 ViGu instructors

This hike is the first module of the ViGu16 education program for wanabee wilderness guids. The ViGu vocational education program is arranged by Axxell.

Five days hiking with 20 new people was a truly exciting experience. Lapland showed its finest side and offered us lovely ruska colours and mostly beautiful sunshine. This training program is going to be fun!