Iso-Syöte: Traveling Like the Locals

I love that you can snowmobile directly from your log cabin at the Hotel Iso-Syöte. That's me in my best snowmobiling pose, getting ready for top speed!

I revved the engine of my snowmobile, in anticipation of  cruising through the forest in Iso-Syöte at top speed.  I would be just like the Iso-Syöte locals who used snowmobiles for hunting, ice fishing and just for plain fun – racing through the forest.  (And yes Finnish locals also use regular automobiles as well). It was my first time snowmobiling, but being a  bit of an adventure junkie, I was up for the challenge.  I like to get my hear racing, and my blood pumping – although sitting on this snowmobile, it did seem rather large.

“Don’t fight it,” Remco our snowmobile guide instructed. “The machine will try to follow the tracks so just let it do its thing.”  Ummm, OK, but what if “letting it do its own thing,” meant running into one of the trees lining both sides of the snowmobiling track? “When you turn, lean into it,” came the seemingly simple solution.

I followed the track near the back of the pack while the others left me in the dust.  My “top speed” through the trees was 33km/hour (21miles/hr), but I still found it exhilarating, my heart pounding – a completely different experience from dog sledding which I had found so peaceful or snowshoeing on the Baltic Sea, but I LOVED it!  Eventually we came to an empty field, this was our chance to play.  We all looked at Remco blankly, unsure of what he meant.  It turns out playing on a snowmobile means going REALLY fast and making sharp turns.  Remco demonstrated for us:
The others soon followed suit.  Not to be outdone, I gave it a shot as well.  Later that day, Julia a German gal on our snowmobiling adventure mentioned how much fun she had, especially when she got up to over 60km/hour (37 miles/hr).  I was impressed given that it was also her first time snowmobiling, but refrained from mentioning that my “top speed” was 42km hour (26 miles/hr) – but really I felt much more comfortable at 30km/hour (18 miles/hr).  Perhaps my “top speed” snowmobiling would be considered “slow travel” by the Iso-Syöte locals, but it was enough to get my heart pounding and give me an adrenalin rush – all without crashing into a tree!

Thank you to Hotel Iso-Syöte for providing me with a complimentary snowmobiling tour.  In addition to providing traditional Finnish cabins, Fjell top cottages or a stay in the hotel, visitors can also choose from a variety of  winter activities including: dog sledding, snowshoeing, skiing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, reindeer rides, Northern lights, kick sled rides,  a visit to a reindeer farm and of course snow mobile tours.  As always all opinions expressed are my own.

Getting to  Iso-Syöte:   Iso-Syöte is located 140km NW of Oulu.  Oulu is easily reached by multiple flights from Helsinki daily for reasonable prices.  Tourists can travel between Oulu and  Iso-Syöte by car, but visitors should be aware of winter road conditions.  Alternatively, bus service is also available.

Logistics of Snowmobiling at Hotel Iso-Syöte:

• Guests must be at least 18 years old and possess a valid drivers’ license in order to drive a snowmobile at Hotel Iso-Syöte.
• Guests under the age of 18 years old can ride as a passenger
• Guests will be asked to sign an insurance waiver and will be responsible for the first 500 euros of damage in case of an accident