European snow adventure trip review
Mr McCrankypie and I are now halfway through our European honeymoon and have just arrived in Finland, ready to start the snowboarding half of our trip! I thought I would share some of our photos and adventures for anyone who is interested in heading over to Europe in the future and those who are bored at work!
Hong Kong
So not technically Europe but still an amazing place! I’ve spent a bit of time in HK in the past as my dad lived there for a few years. I love HK so it was nice to show the husband around. We flew Cathay Pacific and as always I was very impressed with the service, food and entertainment. Only slightly mishap was that our snowboard bag did not arrive in HK with us but it was delivered to our hotel later that night so not really anything to get too bothered about!
Being the first night of our trip we splurged and stayed at the Island Shangri-la which is an incredible hotel. It’s on HK island which I massively prefer over kowloon (which is on the mainland and nowhere near as clean or nice as HK island).
We were even lucky enough to get a room upgrade!
We only had one full day there so we went up Victoria Peak to take in the views. We caught the tram up but you can also walk up along the trails (which is a good workout!). There are plenty of restaurants at the top with spectacular views but be warned they are pretty pricey!
We also headed out to Stanley to check out the markets and enjoy the nice weather. If anyone is heading over to HK I’d definitely recommend it. It’s easy to get to by bus and the bus ride itself is worth doing as you get to see HK away from the busy centre. Another must do is catching the star ferry across to kowloon from the Island (or vice versa). The ferry is mega old and looks like it’s about to sink but it’s a good experience. I would have loved to have spent a few more days in HK but sadly not enough time on this trip.
All in all though it was the perfect start to our honeymoon before heading to France for a huge family Christmas!!
Looks awesome so far, Erin. How was France? I can’t wait to hear about the snowboarding in Finland. Enjoy! 
Looks awesome. More keen to read the snow part though hahaha 
Got a few more countries to get through before the snow part :p
Day 3 - Paris
Landing at Paris CDG airport always feels like coming home to me. Probably because I lived in France for 3 years in my teens and my dad still lives there with his French girlfriend. I didn’t take too many photos because I have a million from other visits already but had to get a few cliche shots of the Eiffel tower and Notre dame cathedral
To me the highlight of any trip to Paris is the food! Cheese, baguettes and lots of croissants!
If anyone is ever heading over to Paris and needs any tips on getting around or things to see feel free to ask. I may be biased but it is one of my favourite places to be.
Day 4-6 Dax
So Dax is a little town in the south west of France about 40 minutes from the Spanish border. It is where my dad’s girlfriend is from so we headed down to spend Christmas there with her huge extended family. The amount of food and wine we consumed over Christmas was ridiculous and I think we all gained a few kilos!! At least I got plenty of practice using my French as no one there really speaks English. Dax is not really known for much other than being very foggy.
Honestly its not somewhere I would really recommend visiting (there is not a lot to do or see there!) but it is not to far from Biarritz and saint Jean de luz which are definitely worth seeing if you’re down that way. They’re pretty popular summer spots and known for surfing
Day 7-9 - San Sebastian, the Pyrenees and Basque country
On boxing day we headed down to San Sebastian for a few nights. It’s considered the capital of Basque country and is right on the ocean. Being Basque it is very different from other Spanish towns and has a lot of energy and vibrance. Most of the photos I took were with my camera so I can’t upload any just yet and unfortunately it rained most the time we were there so my phone pictures don’t really do it justice.
The Basques have their own version of tapas called pinxtos and pretty much every bar and restaurant serves them. Plus lots of sangria which made me pretty happy. Spain has is also a fantastic place for shopping, not only clothes but alcohol and food is much cheaper than France because of their low taxes.
On the way back to Dax we stopped at the top of the Pyrenees to eat at a tiny Basque restaurant nestled in the hills. One of the best meals we have had so far! Driving through the Pyrenees is remarkable no matter what time of year you go. The scenery is absolutely stunning.
After Spain we headed back to dax for a night and then back to Paris before renting a car and heading out on our own for the next part of our trip!
Day 12 - 17 Amsterdam and Bruges
On New Years eve we drove across to Amsterdam to meet up with some friends for New Years. We got talked into coming to a huge Dutch dance party with them at Ziggo dome. It started at 8pm and finished at 7am with about 15000 people in attendance. Needless to say we were asleep at the hotel long before it finished! Whilst it was a good experience I certainly think I’m getting to old for huge parties.
Our friends left on New year’s day to get back to london in time for work Friday so we spent the next few days exploring Amsterdam on our own. We headed to the van Gogh museum, did more shopping and checked out the Dutch WWII resistance museum.
We also checked out a little micro-brewery on the outskirts of Amsterdam that even had a real windmill (how very Dutch!). I’m not a beer drinker but the husband is and he reckons it was pretty good!
I’d never been to Amsterdam and with all the hype I really didn’t think I’d like it much but I was pleasantly surprised. It has a lot of charm. 3 days there was enough though and we then headed west towards Belgium.
In our way from Amsterdam to Bruges we stopped at koenigshoeven Abbey. It is where La Trappe trappist beer is brewed (by monks). Definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far. Beautiful scenery, amazing food and brilliant beer.
Not only was the food incredible but it was also really cheap. Even the bread is baked by the monks using leftover wheat from brewing. Seriously good bread!
Next we stopped in Bruges. I was blown away by how beautiful it is. We went up the belfry and were lucky enough to get there just in time for sunset.
And the view from the top..
More amazing Bruges scenery…
After Bruges we headed back to Paris for another 2 days. The drive was made slightly more difficult by the fact I spilled water on the navigator so that wasn’t working and we had no internet on our phones but my outstanding navigational skills saved the day! Next stop Finland!
Day 20 - Ruka!
We have finally arrived in ruka! The connecting flight to ruka from Helsinki was scheduled to leave 45 mins after our flight from Paris arrived so we decided not to risk it and spend the night in Helsinki. It’s a good thing we did as well because our flight landed over an hour late due to waiting for passengers to board from connecting flights. The fog in Paris was pretty intense so I was just glad we flew at all!
The flight to Kuusamo (the nearest airport to Ruka) was on one of those propeller planes. I don’t know how they even stay in the air! But despite my anxiety the 90 minute flight was actually pretty smooth! Here’s a shot of kuusamo airport at 2:30pm.
After a 20 min bus trip we arrived in Ruka! Our apartment is right in the middle of the pedestrian village. This is the view from our balcony..
Did I mention our apartment has its own sauna? Along with a drying cupboard and well equipped kitchen it’s a pretty sweet setup. We also have our own ski locker and they provide a work bench in the locker room for waxing etc.
Needless to say we were pretty excited to get the boards waxed and set up for some snowboarding the next day!
Day 21 - Ruka
Woke up this morning all ready to hit the slopes! It was lightly snowing, a bit windy and a chilly -9℃. By 9:30am it was getting light so we headed out not long after.
The husband and I both brought our gear with us. I was pretty keen to try out my new Now IPO bindings and husband had a totally new setup to try, Yes the Greats with Burton cartel bindings.
Overall I really like the IPO’s. Super comfortable and unlike my old bindings the toe strap stays put! I also really like the less bulky ankle strap. Overall the bindings feel much more secure than my old ones. The only criticism I have is that the ankle strap can’t be pulled back past the highback so trying to strap in standing up it kept getting under my boot. But that’s probably more a user issue than a critcism of the bindings :p Husband is absolutely stoked with his Yes the Greats and really impressed with how easy it is to initiate turns and how it holds on the toeside edge.
Terrain wise ruka seems to have a really good variety of cruisy flat runs, intermediate runs and some pretty daunting looking black runs! Didn’t get a chance to check out too much today as it gets dark around 3pm and we didn’t know which runs on the other side of the mountain were lit and being unfamiliar with the mountain didn’t want to get lost!
The highlight today (apart from being back on a board) was definitely the scenery. There is something eerily beautiful about the dawn like light, trees that are buried in snow and the quiet. I’ll make sure tomorrow I get some better photos. I did get one shot from the top but the snow and cloud kinda ruined visibility.
Another good thing was that there are hardly any people around so no lift lines and no one getting in the way down the runs. Had a great time messing about with some flat land tricks and flying down some runs and generally just getting back into it. The husband reckons I’ve improved heaps since NZ in July; largely due to the shred I’d say. I always learn so much and push/challenge myself more riding with all the BW crew and it’s really made a huge difference to my confidence and ability so thanks guys :D
There were a few downsides to the day. Firstly the lines and loading area to the chairlift are basically just ice. Twice I lost my footing skating and landed on my hip. Now I understand why lifties in Australia and NZ are constantly throwing snow on the loading area!
secondly the chair lifts are SLOW!! The unload from one is practically flat and with the chairlift moving so slow it’s hard to get any momentum. Got clipped by the corner of the chairlift as I didn’t manage to clear it in time and smashed both my knees into the ice. Not looking forward to slow chair lifts when it’s -25℃ on Sunday!
Only other negative was that I took a pretty bad tumble in the afternoon. Not sure quite what happened but I ended up flipping over and hitting the back of my head pretty hard. All I can say is I’m very happy I was wearing a helmet!! With sore knees and a slightly sore head we decided to call it a day.
Tomorrow we are hoping to check out more of the other side of the mountain and the park. With any luck it will be a slightly clearer day so I can get some good photos!
I just flip my ankle strap forwards so it rests on the outside of the toe strap with my NOW Selects
Thanks for the tip Deano, worked a treat!
more Ruka
I think one of the best things about ruka is the sunrise/sunsets. I’m not a morning person so I could probably count on one hand the number of sunrises I’ve seen but here in Ruka in January sunrise is about 10am. The highlight of my day (and possibly the trip) was snowboarding on almost empty slopes with the sun rising behind the trees. It really is breathtakingly beautiful!
The higher up you go, the more the trees just look like white blobs. I love it!
Today up on the mountain it got to a chilly -17℃. Down in the village it’s a much warmer -15℃. Decided to call it a day when the sun set and my face mask literally started to freeze to my face! Considering how cold it is; aside from face masks we are not dressed any differently to how we dressed in NZ. That may change over the next few days though when the temperature drops to -25℃.
We did get a chance to check out the park today. Was a bit disappointed to see that there were only 2 kickers and no rollers. Plenty of rails and boxes though. There’s a bigger park and a halfpipe but they are both way beyond our skill level :p
Looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow for another sunrise!
That sun rise is pretty spesh!
But how are the chips???
That sun rise is pretty spesh!
But how are the chips???
Haven’t found the chip guy yet 
Today it is actually “sunny”. It’s a nice change boarding with blue sky, and the view from the top is amazing (the better half will post pics later).
At the top of the mountains it’s a chilly -21 today. Thankfully our hotel is at the bottom of the main run so we can stop and warm up when needed (and eat)
More Ruka
Well Sunday and Monday were absolutely freezing! -23 to -27℃ both days and a chilly wind up top. Lucky we had some clear skies so I was able to get some photos (warning: do not ever take your gloves off in -20℃ weather!).
Unfortunately because it’s so cold staying out for any more than 1-1.5 hours at a time just isn’t possible so we haven’t got as much snowboarding in as we’d have liked. But we are off to the French alps for a week on Saturday so it kinda makes up for it.
We’ve spent the majority of the last two days in the park as any time you build up considerable speed on a run everything just freezes. On the bright side I have nailed boxes (only attempted them for the first time in July). Yesterday I even jumped on to a box which is a first for me!
Because if the short days and how low the sun stays to the horizon it’s almost like sunrise all day. Here are some of the shots I got. Unfortunately none with my camera as it froze (literally) as soon as I took it out and now won’t work.
These photos were all taken between about 10:30am and 12pm.
As you can see there is hardly anyone around.
This morning we are going dog sledding and then out for a final Finland snowboard!
Looks really beautiful
All I can say is… WOW! 
Looks and sounds bloody amazing, Erin! I’m going to have to get myself there one day! 
I was in East Finland area over the xmas break as it got to -23 for a few days. I would have to say you really need some serious gear for them conditions. I wore my thermals, trackies, snowboard pants, jump, tees, jacket, beanie, face mask, neck warmer etc etc..couldn’t feel my feet after 15mins out.
Be sure to lap and warm up. Have a couple of Minttu’s for me!