Icy cold – then the northern lights flicker in the sky

To see the Northern Lights is probably the dream of many people. The chances are particularly good in wintry northern Finland. At the latest when you return, you will always hear a question: "Did you see her?"

One person who knows exactly where to track them down is Thomas Kast. The 45-year-old from Karlsruhe stayed in Finland 22 years ago after a practical semester in Oulu in the North Ostrobothnia region and, after almost two decades as an engineer, fulfilled a dream in 2017. Since then he has been traveling as a photographer. His main motif: logically, the Northern Lights. With a lens and a tripod, he also goes hunting with tourists for the play of light in the sky.

On this evening, however, it remains an interesting theory. Because it's snowing heavily outside in front of the hotel, in the wintry loneliness around 140 kilometers from Oulu, and the chances of seeing the northern lights are poor, Kast explains how they form.

"During eruptions on the sun's surface, charged particles are thrown into space, which are repelled by the earth's protective shield and directed towards the poles," says Kast. As soon as the particles enter the earth's upper atmosphere, they excite air molecules to glow. "The most beautiful light show in the world is ready," enthuses Kast.

The closer you are to the magnetic north pole, the more impressive they are. However, they cannot be predicted in the long term. Northern Lights apps, some of which are offered free of charge, can help, which calculate probabilities from solar activity, cloud cover and other factors.

According to Kast, the northern lights have not been fully researched. However, the Finns have a much simpler explanation for the appearance of the aurora borealis, as the northern lights are called: it is the arctic fox, which sweeps across the snow with its tail and throws sparks that fly up to the sky. This fox fire is called "Revontulet" in the country. But even that cannot be programmed.

No problem, because there are plenty of other things to do in the Finnish winter. Alpine skiing and snowboarding are rarely part of it, but in many places you can let huskies pull you through the snow on sleds. Common activities include snowshoeing, ice climbing, ice swimming or ice skating.

Snowmobiles are also typical, which many Finns take for granted as a means of transport off the roads in winter: from the hotel in Iso-Syöte we are on our way to the camp of a reindeer herder family. To ensure that the tour participants did not fall off their mobile home when they were frozen, they were provided with insulating overalls and warm winter shoes at the hotel - common for all tourist activities in the far north.

In Lapland and Northern Ostrobothnia, the northernmost regions of Finland, it can get bitterly cold. At minus 15 degrees, the locals just give up tiredly. "That's nothing yet. It gets interesting at minus 35,” says the guide. But not all tour participants are that tough, so after arriving at the camp, you go straight to a huge fireplace in a log cabin. Crispy on the front, cold on the back - that's how it feels.

Over a cup of warm tea, reindeer herder Esa Ukonmaanaho gives a brief introduction to the topic. Reindeer are everywhere in Lapland. In the woods, in the pastures. “There are more reindeer than people in Lapland,” says Esa. There are around 185,000 humans for every 200,000 hoofed animals. Without a fence and without a gate, they roam through the lonely landscape. They still have an owner. You can tell who they belong to by the marking in the ear.

“Twice a year they are rounded up. In the summer to mark the calves as long as they are still with their mother and you can clearly see who they belong to, and in the autumn to sort out the animals for slaughter,” explains Esa. A reindeer herder may own up to 500 animals. It is, however, improper to ask how many there are exactly. Almost as if you were inquiring about the account balance of a friend in Germany.

The hoofed animals are served as wafer-thin fillets, as slices, in the form of a burger - always without a strong taste of game. Do you have to have a bad conscience as a reindeer meat eater? After all, there is hardly a slaughter animal that grows up in a more species-appropriate manner.

The hunt for the Northern Lights continues further north in the Arctic Circle, near Rovaniemi, Lapland's capital, which has a special bond with reindeer. After its destruction in World War II, the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto redesigned the layout of the city center - in the form of a reindeer head with the sports stadium Keskuskenttä as an eye. Roads leading north, west, and south make up the antlers.

It is light for just four hours a day between December and January, there at the Arctic Circle. So there would be enough darkness to experience aurora borealis. But the sky remains cloudy - will it remain so for the rest of the trip?

Dog sled rides are possible largely independent of the weather. Out of sheer urge to move, the animals jump around each other barking loudly before it starts. But you don't need to be afraid of them. One person sits on the sled, the other stands on the runners at the back. As a beginner, there are hardly any opportunities to direct the animals. Only the standing passenger, known as the musher, can stop them with a bold step on the brakes.

A little pirouette and a wrong turn later, things start to get fun. Only the dogs fart incessantly, the wind carries the flatulence present to the rear. Fortunately, there is otherwise enough fresh air.

The last night is starry, it's minus 30 degrees. Now the lights have to work. The app signals: "100 percent probability". During the walk at the edge of the forest there is absolute silence - the sound of the bitterly cold Lapland at night.

No animal wastes its energy on unnecessary movements, pointless flapping or even noises at the temperatures. Only the snow crunches with every step, when blinking, the frozen white eyelashes report a slight resistance. The cold is slowly creeping into the core. Time to return to the hotel room?

But then it happens: the happy ending flickers across the night sky. It is green-grey, the northern lights, which appear on the horizon and slowly spread from there. Somehow indescribable. The big question waiting at home has been answered: yes, I saw it.

Northern Lights in Lapland.

Source: WELT/ Sebastian Struwe

Arrival and entry: Since the beginning of December 2021, Eurowings has been offering a non-stop connection to Rovaniemi from Düsseldorf, alternatively you can fly with Finnair from several German airports via Helsinki to Oulu or Rovaniemi.

Accommodation: There are several hotels in Iso-Syöt, although there is a greater choice in Rovaniemi. There are also various nature hotels near Rovaniemi, which allow overnight stays in free-standing glass igloos, in ice huts or nest-like huts between trees in the forest.

Information: visitfinland.com; visitrovaniemi.fi/en/

This article was first published in January 2022.