GUIDES
All our staff are certified wilderness guides with a long experience of the Ylläs region. We all have our own personal favourites when it comes to activities and routes, and those are the places we want to take our guests to. Everyone of us lives in the area all-year-round, meaning we strongly believe we know what to recommend for you.
Even if you weren’t joining a tour right now, you are most welcome to pop in and have a chat at our sales point in Jounin Kauppa, the supermarket in the centre of Äkäslompolo.
Jana Schett
The coldness-lover.
Originally coming from Austria, Jana found her home surrounded by the fells of the Finnish Lapland. Here she can roam peacefully and inspire her guests by taking them to the places she loves. Jana is quite a combination: certified wilderness guide, shaman, and integrative health coach. Still, her many interests share one deeper core – nature and deep harmonious connection with and to nature, to support balance in body, mind and spirit.
Don’t let her tranquil mindset mislead you, though. She is without question the toughest ice swimmer of the team! In addition, whenever she provides you with some wilderness tips or tricks, you’d better write them down. In other words, she knows things many of us didn’t ever even think of.
Jana speaks: English, German and is busy learning Finnish
Saku Nummi
The one with the skis.
For the whole of his life, Saku has been a common sight at the fells of Ylläs, first as a regular visitor and later as a permanent resident. His greatest motivation to guide in Ylläs stems from his deep love for the area — his goal is to make every visitor here fall in love with it, too.
During the Winter season this certified wilderness guide is at his happiest when he gets to stand on skis of any kind. Occasionally it's also a lot of fun to spend a day ice fishing, snowshoeing or snowmobiling. When the Summer arrives, it's easiest to spot Saku on the trails, either mountain biking or running. Quite often he also finds himself kayaking or fishing on the Arctic waters.
As you can tell from the above, you'll most likely be guided by Saku on our human-powered tours. Beware of some low-quality jokes, they are usually guaranteed.
Saku speaks: Finnish, English, on a good day also German & Swedish
Jussi Pusa
The allrounder.
Jussi has been boiled, fried and frozen in all possible conditions in the Arctic wilderness. He’s a passionate outdoor guy and guide, who always finds great things to do outdoors, no matter the season or weather.
He knows the terrain of not only Ylläs but also half of Lapland like only very few others. This combined with the joy and satisfaction he gains from guiding result in unforgettable tours and adventures!
When Jussi has a day off, he heads outdoors, of course. Sometimes a little day hike is not enough and he may end up hiking several months in a row, if just given the chance. Quite a guy.
Jussi speaks: Finnish & English
Anniina Simula
The master of languages.
If you ever feel stressful, and the nature in Lapland only isn't enough to cure it, you'd better join one of Anniina's tours. With her calm, relaxed and professional appearance and attitude you can just leave everything to her hands - and stop stressing.
Should you ever have needs for a professional translator between Finnish, English and French, you can make a deal of that with Anniina after the day's adventures. Just so you know.
Anniina speaks: a lot of languages, at least Finnish, English, French and German, maybe a little Swedish and Greek, too.
Pauliina Herronen
The most-likely source of a laughter.
Pauliina, our to-be adventure educator, takes you to her favourite locations in the Ylläs area with a wide smile on her face. Joining Pauliina outdoors, it's not once or twice on a tour when you hear a cheerful laughter from behind a tree - she may have stopped there to admire something really beautiful and fascinating, like animal footprints, beatiful moss or whatever tiny miracles there is to be found.
Despite the cheerful appearance, it's not just joking and laughing, but Pauliina sincerely wants to make sure everyone in the group feels equally safe and happy.
Pauliina speaks: Finnish, English, a bit of Spanish (un very poquito), too.
Juha Karvonen
Anything goes.
Juha has a hard-time deciding what to do on his freetime as he likes pretty much everything outdoors. According to him, he likes to do things on land, sea and in the air, uphill and downhill, as well as on ice, snow, gravel, rock, moss and trails. Due to that, you may meet Juha on any of our tours - he may seem serious at first, you realize he's got a soft side, too, especially when he starts to talk about the beauty and peace of Lapland.
Juha speaks: Finnish and English, understands a bit of French and Swedish, too.
Susanne Niemi
With our without reindeers.
Susanne, Suski, Susan, S, she recognizes quite a few names, more and less international versions. With reindeers - her closest colleagues - she mainly speaks Finnish. Luckily it's not only reindeers that she hangs out with, but also human beings, our guests, get to enjoy her deep knowledge of wild food, nature's health benefits, fishing methods (a fishing guide in the making at the moment) and traditional way of living. If you are lucky, you have a chance to try some of the snacks made by this former pastry chef.
Susanne speaks: Finnish and English. And to reindeers.
Visiting Stars
The specialists.
Despite all the combined experience we have gained, there are sometimes activities or areas where we are not yet confident enough to guide you. In these cases we don’t hesitate to be in touch with our partners and friends who will guarantee you a top-notch experience thanks to their special expertise. Sometimes we also employ wilderness guide students to allow them to learn in a real environment. With their fresh thoughts it’s not only them that learn but we and you as our visitor as well. If you feel you'd love to belong to this team, don't hesitate to be in touch!
