UKC

Looking to rent two sleds and get some fuel etc when I fly into Ivalo and head down to Saariselka. Tried to get in touch with several main equipment rental companies but they don't seem to respond/charge extortionate amounts (I could buy a Paris Expedition sled for £45 but 10 days rental would cost me well over £100+). Flying out with them would be too costly as they would be subject to large baggage charges on each flight. Currently it would be cheapest to just order them to Finland and leave them there!

Is anyone a guide, or knows someone local that could help me out? Thanks

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Have you tried www.Topsafaris.fi and www.laplandsafari.com ?

There is a hire shop attached to the hostal at Kiilopaa too but I haven't been into it. There is a bus from Saariselka to Kiilopaa. It may be the one from Ivalo - can't remember for certain.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

I don't know of anyone renting pulks in Finland but probably someone does. Not quite where you are going but bliss adventures does Arctic survival, dog tours, fat biking, ice climbing out of Pyhä Tunturi in the winter, and Artturi - their main man is likely to know if anyone does. http://www.blissadventure.fi/en/contact/ and email him, say I suggested you try him. He's a very nice chap and might be able to help or at least point you in the right direction.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:
hey i lived there for three years chap, What trip are you planning? any rental will be very expensive. Are you skiing walking or on snowmobiles also where are you planning on heading? Would say Puha is a long way to go.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

As others said, renting an expensive pull sledge for 10 days will cost you. You have probably seen this http://www.kiilopaa.fi/en/other-services/equipment-rental.html which would be well placed for Urho Kekkonen park if thats where you are going. Otherwise use a kids sledge and get frustrated when it turns over, or pull a shiny heavy duty waterproof kit bag e.g from Ortlieb

In reply to roadtoruin:

Heading down to Urho Kekkonen to ski around the park. Just baffled by this pricing that makes it twice as expensive to rent than it does to buy. Imagine hiring a car for 10 days and it costing twice the cost of the car. Not directly comparable but still.

I think the cheapest way would be to find someone in Saariselka that want's two sleds and just order them to them, leaving them with the person after the trip?

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

The sleds they are renting are not glorified kids sledges. More likely Fjellpulken or similar which cost in the order of 500-1000Eur

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

i agree with Dave the sleds they rent are quite high quality and easy to use. If you dont want to spend the money (niether would i) just as Dave said buy or borrow a kids sled from the hotels, head to the supermarket and buy two plastic road marker poles and some cord hey presto 15 euro touring sled. The area is pretty gentle as it goes rekon youll be right.

In reply to roadtoruin:

Yeah it's going to have to be something like this I reckon. Surprised they're renting out expensive gear when they don't have to. The cheap Paris sleds are probably the most common I've seen in the field, used by so many guides/expeditions and I've never had anything bad to say about them. I don't really need ultralight kevlar eggshell pulks, just a bit of plastic and some rope works perfectly.