Ruka First Snow Ski Trail is available on stored snow in Ruka Ski Stadium FIS 5km ski trail along Talvijärvi shoreline from the smaller ski jump towards the crossroads of Rukatunturintie and Talvijärventie roads.
The length of the trail is about 500m in one direction and 1km when skiing back and forth.
Skiing methods free and traditional. The track is lit daily from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m.
Use of First Snow Trail, weeks 46 & 47:
The First Snow Trail is also in use for the Finnish Ski Cup competition, and therefore the First Snow Trail is closed from Sat 18.11. at 07:00 a.m. – Sun 19.11. at 4:00 p.m. Please note that preparations for the World Cup event, FIS Ruka Nordic also begin on Mon 20.11. Between Mon 20.11. – Wed 23.11., there will be others on the First Snow Trail besides skiers. During Ruka Nordic, the First Snow Trail is closed for recreational skiers from Thu 23.11. at 07:00 a.m. – Sun 26.11. at 8:00 p.m.
Ruka Ski Stadium
Ruka's large ski jump is the largest in Finland and it is also one of the largest in the world. It is also the largest plastic-coated ski jump in the world. It was built in 1964 and renovated in 1996.
The World Cup competition was held for the first time on the large hill during the 1996–1997 season and then annually from the 2002–2003 season at the end of November.
Halvor Egner Granerud holds the official hill record for Ruka's large ski jump with a distance of 150.5 meters, achieved during the World Cup in 2022. Adam Małysz, Sigurd Pettersen, and Johann André Forfang have jumped 152.0 meters in practice.
Speed on the ski trails
The Ruka Ski Stadium features three ski trails: a lit 5 km, 7.5 km, and 10 km. The longer trails include sections from the shorter trail routes. The 5 km trail used for the FIS Ruka Nordic races is one of the most challenging on the entire World Cup tour, but it is also available for everyone to ski outside of competitions. The flattest section of the track hosts Ruka's First Snow Ski Trail (500 m in each direction, totaling 1 km).
The Impilinna descent curve on the 5 km race track is a challenging performance even for World Cup competitors, and there are occasionally spectacular falls on the descent.
