Vätsäri's remote location, demanding terrain, and countless lakes, ponds, and streams make it a really special wilderness area.

Nowhere else in Finland are lakes and ponds as dense. The small features of the waterways and terrain make the area a labyrinth, where beautiful coves, headlands and streams repeatedly meet.

The fells of Vätsäri are relatively low, but thanks to the water bodies, even the lower ridges of the woodless plateau offer beautiful views of the lake mazes.

Vätsäri is an roadless and almost pathless wilderness, one of the most remote corners of Finland. There are not many passers-by, so you can definitely experience the peace of the wilderness, even during the race.

Navigability in Vätsäri varies enormously. There are very fast areas with lichen, and the open fell-plateau as well as the basic forest are easy to move in.

There are rocks almost everywhere. Where there are more and bigger rocks, the pace of the walker slows down and in the most awkward places even pulsates. On the other hand, in some places the rocks are positioned so that it is faster to walk in the open rock than in the adjacent forest – as long as the rocks just aren’t very wet.

Routasenkuru Gorge

Routasenkuru is Vätsäri's absolute gem. It is a ten-kilometer-long gorge valley, at the bottom of which a river flows a large part of the waters of the fell plateau to the Uutuanjoki River and from there on to the Arctic Ocean.

The gorge begins on the north side of an idyllic fell lake, when the waters of the lake first squeeze into a steep rapids and then through a beautiful pond into a large waterfall, from which the actual Routasenkuru begins.

After the fall, water flows at the bottom of the gorge directly under the control of steep rock walls rising from the waterline. At times the narrow river widens into long backwaters and at times it disappears into rock mounds or accelerates into bubbling rapids and eventually subsides into alder ponds before joining the Uutuanjoki.

Conditions

When moving in Vätsäri, its location in the Arctic must be taken into account. Conditions vary from almost winter to hot in June and turn bad very quickly.

The snow cover in Vätsäri typically melts at the end of May, but snowy areas can also be found during Midsummer. The water is certainly clearly colder than in the south, which is worth considering when choosing equipment.

Typically, daytime temperatures move between +5 and +25 at the end of July.

On the watershed

Vätsäri is the upper reaches of four different water bodies. The waters of the area flow into the Arctic Ocean either through the Näätämöjoki, Paatsjoki, Tuulomajoki or Uutuanjoki rivers.

There is a valuable salmon stock in all the rivers, and to protect it all watercraft and equipment used in the area must be disinfected. Disinfection should be done whenever moving from one water body to another.

Kairacross Vätsäri takes the protection of salmon seriously. We will tell about the exact procedures later.

Event info | Vätsäri | Venue | Schedule