How to Move Safely on Ice

It Is Safer and Merrier to Go Out with Group of People

When you are on the ice, you should avoid sounds, points, rushes, reefs, steep shores, bridges, piers, fairways, cracks and river mouths. For fishermen these may be lodges, and it is advisable to use a dry suit when entering these fishing hauls.

It is safer and merrier to go out with friends! So take your friends with you and remember to wear ice picks around your neck. An inflatable backpack with a lap belt and a heaving line tied in the backpack assist others while saving and also when the backpack carrier sinks into the ice. You should also pack a change of clothes and a thermal blanket (a space blanket) in the backpack.

It is good to practice the use of a heaving line in advance, so you can use it in a real scare.

Ice picks are an important safety equipment when walking on the ice.

Sledge Trail Does Not Guarantee That Ice Holds

When you are moving on the ice alone, the ice shall have a minimum thickness of 5 centimetres and be steel ice, but going onto the ice can only be recommended when the steel ice has a minimum thickness of more than 10 centimetres. Remember to pass on information about ice safety to those you encounter, if you have spotted a weak spot on the ice, or they have no ice picks or other safety equipment with them.

You should only go to Tenojoki and Utsjoki ice with a local guide. A sledge trail does not guarantee that the route carries a skier or a pedestrian. In the spring, the ice melts quickly and in unpredictable spots, and the route you have previously used in the winter may become weaker quickly. Both rivers have a strong current, which brings anyone sinking into the ice easily under the ice sheet. In fell lakes you should also avoid the upstream and downstream of rivers, as the course of even a small lake/pond may be weak.

If you are still unsure about going onto the ice, the conditions seem bad, or a guide cannot be found, fortunately there are many other things to do in Utsjoki!

This sustainability website has been created as part of a project on Sustainable Tourism in Utsjoki. The project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the Regional Council of Lapland and the municipality of Utsjoki, the aim of which is to make Utsjoki an even more responsible travel destination and to steer the travellers to travel in a responsible. More information on the project can be found here (in Finnish only).