Beyond the Cold: Dis­cov­er Win­ter in Oulu

Crav­ing the warmth and sun­shine of sum­mer to enjoy the out­doors again? Don’t wor­ry… Oulu’s win­ter sea­son is full of fresh air and out­door fun, even when the tem­per­a­tures drop. The cold doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t!) keep you inside.

In fact, many Finns swear by the say­ing “there’s no bad weath­er, only bad cloth­ing.” Snow and sub-zero tem­per­a­tures are no match for the locals’ love of out­door activ­i­ties. Win­ter may bring a more chal­leng­ing cli­mate, but it also opens the door to unique experiences that many eager­ly await all year. 

Ski­ing

Oulu offers two pop­u­lar types of ski­ing: cross-coun­try and down­hill. Both require some gear and a bit of prac­tice, but once you get the hang of it, they’re beloved win­ter pas­times for many locals. 

Cross-coun­try ski­ing is espe­cial­ly acces­si­ble, with well-main­tained tracks wind­ing through forests, parks, and even urban areas. It’s a peace­ful way to explore nature while get­ting a full-body work­out. Down­hill ski­ing, on the oth­er hand, is more adren­a­line-filled and can be enjoyed at a near­by ski cen­ter just out­side the city (Rusko­tun­turi €€).  

Ski­ing Vocab­u­lary 

Here are a few words you might hear when talk­ing about saunas in Fin­land: 

• Cross-coun­try ski­ing (Maas­to­hi­ih­to) — Ski­ing on flat or rolling ter­rain 
• Down­hill ski­ing (Alp­pi­hi­ih­to) — Ski­ing down slopes 
• Skis (Suk­set) — Equip­ment worn on feet to glide over snow 
• Ski boots (Monot) — Spe­cial boots that attach to skis 
• Ski poles (Sauvat) — Poles used for bal­ance and propul­sion 
• Snow­board (Lumi­lau­ta) — An alter­na­tive to skis, using a sin­gle wider board instead of two nar­row ones to glide down the slopes 

Whether you’re glid­ing through snowy trails or speed­ing down slopes, ski­ing is a fan­tas­tic way to embrace the sea­son and stay active. 

Ice Skat­ing & Ice Hock­ey 

Ice skat­ing is one of the most cher­ished win­ter pas­times in Fin­land. Dur­ing the cold­er months, many local parks and play­ing fields in Oulu are trans­formed into out­door ice rinks, open for every­one to enjoy. All you need are warm lay­ers and a pair of skates (which can eas­i­ly be bor­rowed or bought sec­ond-hand around the city) and you’re ready to glide across the ice. 

In Fin­land, chil­dren learn to skate as part of their phys­i­cal edu­ca­tion at school, so it’s com­mon to see con­fi­dent skaters of all ages. Some take up ice hock­ey as a hob­by, com­pet­ing in local teams, while oth­ers pur­sue fig­ure skat­ing for its grace and pre­ci­sion. What­ev­er your style, make the most of the acces­si­ble out­door rinks and expe­ri­ence a true Finnish win­ter tra­di­tion. 

If watch­ing is more your style, you can check out Oulu Kär­pät, the city’s pro­fes­sion­al ice hock­ey team that com­petes in Finland’s top league, Liiga. Kär­pät has a strong lega­cy in Finnish hock­ey, known for its pas­sion­ate fan­base and impres­sive track record, includ­ing mul­ti­ple nation­al cham­pi­onships. Home games are held at the Oulun Ener­gia Areena, where the atmos­phere is per­fect for expe­ri­enc­ing the excite­ment of Finnish ice hock­ey first­hand.  

Ice Fish­ing   

Ice fish­ing is a peace­ful and tra­di­tion­al Finnish win­ter activ­i­ty that com­bines nature, patience, and a bit of luck. Once the lakes freeze over, locals head out with their gear (an ice auger, a small fish­ing rod, and some­thing to sit on) to drill holes through the ice and wait for a catch. Pop­u­lar spots around Oulu offer beau­ti­ful frozen land­scapes and a qui­et escape from the city buzz.  

Our intern, Sophie, went ice fish­ing last win­ter and enjoyed the calm and peace­ful atmos­phere. 

- I wasn’t too inter­est­ed in catch­ing a fish to begin with but when I caught one it was quite excit­ing. I also found that sit­ting out on a frozen lake, enjoy­ing the peace and qui­et was par­tic­u­lar­ly relax­ing. I’ll be head­ing back out soon once it’s safe to do so. 

Impor­tant Safe­ty Notice: Always make sure the ice is thick enough to walk on before head­ing out onto a lake. Don’t go alone and try to fol­low vis­i­ble paths where oth­ers have already walked. If you’re ever unsure about the ice con­di­tions, it’s best to stay off.  

In addi­tion to ice fish­ing, frozen lakes around Oulu offer a mag­i­cal set­ting for win­ter walks. There’s some­thing sur­re­al about stand­ing on top of a lake you’d nor­mal­ly swim in dur­ing sum­mer… now trans­formed into a vast, icy land­scape. It’s a peace­ful way to enjoy the out­doors, take in the crisp air, and expe­ri­ence nature from a whole new per­spec­tive. 

Sled­ding   

Sled­ding is one of the sim­plest and most joy­ful ways to enjoy win­ter in Oulu. All you need is a sled and a snowy hill… no spe­cial skills required! Pop­u­lar sled­ding spots around the city come alive with fam­i­lies and friends rac­ing down slopes and laugh­ing in the cold air. It’s a great way to get out­side, stay active, and embrace the sea­son, whether you’re a child or just young at heart. 

One of the most pop­u­lar spots for sled­ding is in Rak­si­la close to Ouluhal­li and the Swim­ming Pool. There is a large hill that trans­forms to a sled­der’s par­adise once the snow falls.  

Sauna & Avan­to  

No guide to win­ter activ­i­ties in Fin­land would be com­plete with­out men­tion­ing the sauna and its icy com­pan­ion, avan­to. Avan­to refers to the hole cut into a frozen lake or sea, allow­ing brave souls to take a dip in freez­ing water, often right after warm­ing up in a hot sauna. This prac­tice, known as avan­touin­ti (ice swim­ming), is deeply root­ed in Finnish cul­ture. Many Finns believe it boosts cir­cu­la­tion, strength­ens the immune sys­tem, and sharp­ens men­tal clar­i­ty. 

If the idea sounds a bit too chilly, don’t wor­ry… you don’t need to stay in long. Some peo­ple sim­ply dip in and hop right out, while oth­ers grad­u­al­ly build up their tol­er­ance over time. It’s per­fect­ly nor­mal to keep your head above water, and if you’re new to it, make sure you’re not alone. Safe­ty and warmth go hand in hand with this invig­o­rat­ing tra­di­tion.

You can read more about using the sauna in our arti­cle: Steam and Spir­it: Sauna Tra­di­tions of Fin­land.

Equip­ment Rental

If you are inter­est­ed in some of these activ­i­ties but aren’t sure where to start, you can find local places to rent the equip­ment so you can try before going out to buy the lat­est gear.  

Liikun­tavä­linelainaamo is the pre­mier sports equip­ment lend­ing ser­vice in Oulu, locat­ed at the heart of the Limin­gan­tul­li recy­cling cen­ter, Likke. 

You can read more about it how it works in our arti­cle: Dis­cov­er Liikun­tavä­linelainaamo: Your Gate­way to Active Liv­ing. 

Embrace the Sea­son

Win­ter in Oulu is far more than just snow and cold, it’s a sea­son full of adven­ture, tra­di­tion, and con­nec­tion with nature. Whether you’re ski­ing through qui­et forests, sit­ting peace­ful­ly on a frozen lake, or warm­ing up in a sauna after a brisk dip, there’s some­thing for every­one to enjoy. So lay­er up, step out­side, and dis­cov­er the mag­ic of win­ter the Finnish way. You might just find your­self look­ing for­ward to the cold­er months every year. 

Remem­ber to wrap up warm!

Text by: Sophie Platt