-
samdZ180LP
We have skied in Scandinavia for a few years and our first visit to Yllas didn't disappoint. We flew direct from London to Helsinki then took the overnight VR train (with cabins) to Kolari (best value and most fun form of travel). Busses are waiting to take you the 40 min journey (around 9 euro each) to Yllas. Our rental was longer than the 500m from the bus stop and be prepared for the cold at this point as we arrived to -27 temp having to drag suitcases to our large lodge (Nordic Glow)(sleeps 10) in the village. Beautiful setting in the woods, shed full of sledges and snowshoes for us to use. Northern lights a regular sight so keep your boots and coat handy to pop outside. We used a taxi service (due to fairly unreliable ski bus service) to take us to the slopes and back each day (18 euro each way) which was just a couple more euros more expensive than the bus which is paid separately to your ski pass and you can arrange to your own timetable. Great to be able to ski until 7pm too. We used Annen taksi - very flexible and always reliable. At the end of the week we used them to take us back to the train station for the journey home too (96 euro for 9 people). We had time to kill on the last day so we went on a snow mobile trip which was enjoyed by all of our group - we used SnowFun, great service and good value compared to others nearby. The skiing is good fun, large wide slopes and a few that challenge. Buy sausages in the supermarket and cook them over the fire in the many Lappish huts that are on the mountain - don't forget the ketchup. We had 3 teens that can ski well and have no interest in lessons so we booked a private session (for 3 days) to take them to just have fun and teach them safe snow park and off piste techniques. They loved it (the ski instructor did too). Overall a fantastic place and if you plan well (especially the journey) you will have a great time.
-
RichieRock
Stayed at the Sport Resort, which is on the south side of the Fell, for a week as part of an Inghams package.We generally go 'traditional' down-hill skiing in the Alps, but decided this year to try something different and really pleased that we did.To start with, obviously, it's cold! You can hire a thermal suit, but good skiing clothes are just as good and have the benefit of not having been worn by someone else! Either option, you'll still need some extra layers underneath.We have been skiing annually for over twenty years and I would say we are average intermediate standard and happy with that! We pre-arranged ski and boot hire as part of the package - it's miles cheaper than similar in a French alpine resort. The equipment was brand new and top-quality. (From the hire shop by the Lift Pass office).For our week, the quality of the snow was excellent. As it's so cold, icy patches don't really form so you can really ' trust' the snow. The pistes are wide and well-groomed - the most enjoyable skiing experience I think I've had. More advanced skiers would probably get bored, but you don't just come here for the skiing, do you? There's lots of other activities and trips available. Also, there appeared to be a lot of off-piste opportunities on untouched powder snow.The weather during the week wasn't great, with a few days of poor visibility and horizontal snow in a driving wind. When the sky did clear, it was beautiful. The days are short, so even late January it was dark by about 4pm. Dark here means a kind of twilight - some of the pistes were floodlit and the lifts stayed running until 5pm - a rather nice ambiance.It was low season, so not all the lift were running and the main gondola didn't run on 3 days due to the wind and the top. The other lifts on the Sport Resort side are T-bars with a few button lifts. There are no chair-lifts, so that could be a problem for those who grapple with the T-bar style.We also did a number of the excursions, arranged by Inghams, including the longer reindeer and husky safaris, an evening snowmobile trip and a trip to the snow-village. All were well-organised and I have to say seemed to be really good value. The Lapland Safari company brochure had pretty much the same trips at about twice the price we paid via Inghams. We both really enjoyed the week. The highlight was riding snowmobiles out to an isolated hut in the beautiful forest in the evening. Then having a hot drink around a fire and seeing the Northern Lights appear, right on cue! Fantastic...
-
MLGCEssex
Yllas is great for a short break. We went on a short package over the New Year with Thomson. However, in addition to their organised activities - snow mobiling, husk rides and the ice village, we hired our own skis to try cross country skiing. It was amazing, we skied across the frozen lake, when a herd of reindeer came out of the woods and crossed the lake in front of us. An unforgettable moment. We also booked an evening snow shoe walk with Sabrina from Seven Fells Up Tours (www.sevenfellsup.com). She has founded this Company with a friend and they do small groups only, she took the four of us quite happily. She took us into the forest at 20:30 on their Northern Lights tour. We walked for over an hour until we reached a small hut in the valley where we met up with her colleague who had a group of 8 people. I fell over a few times but this just added to the fun. We roasted sausages by fire light with hot berry juice and home made cloudberry cakes. We then walked back under a starlit sky. I saw a shooting star and we saw the northern lights very faintly. At the end of the walk they even dropped us back at our hotel. It was fantastic, not too expensive and an amazing experience. overall the ski resort is not for experienced skiers as the slopes looked rather gentle, although as I'm not keen on downhill skiing my attempt at cross country was much better for me.
-
392markkur
I have been visiting Ylläs for few decade's and it still has the best slopes in Finland. Whether you like on piste or off piste skiing Ylläs has good selection of possibilities from early December to Early May. We have done excellent off piste telemark skiing as late as in early May in Ylläs Kellostapuli/Kesänki hills. It is good to know on a windy day Ylläs slopes can be cold as those are not protected by trees.
-
241keithp
Visited ski resort as part of Lapland Christmas 4 night break with ThomsonTook ski bus from resort to Yllas Ski school (€3)Walked in off the street as to speak, never tried sking or Snowboarding before.Straight into a 90 minute Snow Board Lesson, 4hrs later boarding down the slopes, which were deserted. Returned on the Saturday 90 minute ski lesson, same story done my first run after a few hours.Apart from my family group there could not of been more than 20 people on the slopes.All the gear for all day,inc. 90 minute lesson, for €50 best value for money ever.
-
C2167LTchrisc
I have visited yllas twice and its the most amazing place, stunning scenery, I would highly recommend the snow mobiling and if your brave enough renting them out for sole use for a day. Take some food and drink with you, stop off at the cabins on your travels and get a hot chocolate, yllas is the quieter place but still plenty to do! Far to much to do than what i could possibly review, so don't hesitate you won't regret it!
-
1plato23
We stayed in a Yllas log cabin which was really nice - warm and comfortable. It was quite a long walk to the bus stop for skiing and so very cold waiting around. It was too far to walk to the shops as well. My wife and daughter do not ski so they did not go out much because it was -33 deg C some days. We really enjoyed the reindeer ride and the snowmobile trip. Snow shoes were provided but we could not get the hang of them and it was easier to walk on the roads. The skiing was limited and T-bars were common which in the very cold winds were awful. It could be cloudy on one side of the mountain and a totally different day on the other side with glorious sun (but still cold). I hardly saw another skier whilst up there for a couple of hours each morning. The bus is very infrequent so you have to plan your day and there is no return for a couple of hours during the mid part of the day which is a real nuisance. We eventually saw the Northern Lights on our last night which was great.
-
329anttik
I rated Excellent as I really enjoy doing winter activities here. There are a lot of different slopes and you can access both sides of the fell easily to have a different kind of experience every day. The personnel is taking good care of the slopes and are very helpful. I like the Goldola Lift as it takes me to the top quite fast and I can enjoy full length of the slopes. Also as I usually snowboard, Gondola lift is more convenient for my inner thigh than the T-bar lifts. All of our children have been downhill skiing in Ylläs from the beginning when they learn to do it. There are excellent places to train, mat lifts for taking the little ones to a bit higher place and then they can gently ride down. Then there are possibilities to go a bit higher when they have learnt to ski and want to challenge themselves. There is also a very nice park at the side of the slopes, where children can play. We usually have accomodation from the Ylläsjärvi side, but ski also in the Äkäslompolo side slopes. We come here every year.
-
Moose_Hunters
I just asked Hubbie what he would rate Yllas and he said excellent, so read this review as somewhere in between! I have rated as very good because there are way too many drag lifts and the visibility was just appalling.At not one time during our weeks stay was the top of the mountain visible and this made skiing quite scary at times when you couldn't see more than 5 meters in front of your face, hubbie thought this was great fun, me being more if a wimp thought this was dreadful! The cable car was only running for 3 days out of our weeks stay but that at least meant that I didn't need to take the terrifying run down from the top in the clouds!The snow conditions are amazing and I really loved the resort, there some really pretty runs. There are very few queues here but I did have to relearn how to use a t bar, that was quite embarrassing!!! The staff are lovely and very helpful. I just adore the firepits and how everyone brings their food with them and cooks it over the fire. We didn't do any cooking but did warm up with a thermos of coffee.We ate our lunch most days at Hesburger, really cool burger place and pretty good value. A cup of coffee and tea was only about 4 euros at the bottom of the slopes so not as expensive as we were expecting.
-
PowderNSunAddict
In late April, Yllas is one of the best resorts for downhill skiing in the whole Europe. The snow quality is excellent and there is about 100cm of it, even more at the summit. But the real reason why this place beats the alps hands down is the non-existent lift queues. During my 3-day extended weekend, there was never another person with me in the 8-person gondola lift! Check out my pictures as they speak for themselves. The day is also much longer than in the Central Europe and the typical weather is sunshine. There are two villages and two ski resorts, but they share the same lift ticket. There can be different weather on different sides of the mountain. Remember check the webcams scattered around the area:http://www.yllas.fi/en/webcamsGetting to Yllas on an independent trip is as easy as getting to Helsinki. There is a bus connection running between Kittila airport and Yllas, which serves every arrival from and departure to Helsinki. It costs around £10 one-way. You can get return flights (daily flewn by Finnair) from Helsinki to Kittila at this time a year at around £100. In fact a nice addition to the skiing trip is to spend a day or two in the capital of Finland on the Baltic sea south coast. The flight between Helsinki and Yllas is only about 75 minutes but the difference in scenery and climate is vast.
