What to wear under the thermal suit in Levi
Every snowmobile tour in Levi lends you the outer shell, so you will not need to buy an Arctic wardrobe. What keeps you warm is what you wear underneath. This guide covers the layers first, then how to look after hands and face, plus the small things that go wrong in the cold.
What the operators hand you
Every tour on this site lends you the outer layer. Expect a thermal overall and winter boots. Gloves or mittens come too, with a balaclava that goes under the helmet, and you change into it all at the office before the briefing.
The lists differ a little. Wild Nordic adds wool socks to its kit, and Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park names socks on its 1-hour ride. Tokka's listing only says gear and clothing, so pack your own socks for that one.
None of that kit keeps you warm on its own. The overall blocks wind and snow, but the heat comes from the layers you wear underneath, and that is where most first-timers get it wrong.
How cold it gets on a sled
Mid-winter temperatures in Levi are often −10 to −20 °C (14 to −4 °F), and on clear nights they can fall below −30 °C (−22 °F). The resort lies about 170 km (105 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, in Finnish Lapland.
The ride makes it feel colder still. Moving air strips heat from any patch of skin it reaches, and the passenger, who does nothing but hold on, often feels it more than the driver.
Evening tours are the coldest of all. If you are booked on an aurora ride, our northern lights guide covers the stops in the dark, when standing still under a clear sky chills you fast.
The layers underneath, in order
- A base layer (top and long johns) of merino wool or synthetic fabric, close to the skin
- A fleece or thin wool sweater over the top
- Warm trousers such as fleece or ski pants under the overall
- One pair of thick wool socks
- A thin liner glove inside the gloves you are given
- A neck tube over the balaclava
Cotton is the fabric to leave at home. It soaks up sweat and then turns cold against the skin. That makes jeans and cotton T-shirts a poor choice even under a good overall.
Too many socks backfire too. A foot squeezed into a boot loses circulation and gets colder, not warmer, so one thick wool pair beats a stack of thin ones.
Aim for layers you can move in. You will climb on and off the sled at every stop, and a stiff jumper under a stiff overall makes that harder than it needs to be.
Hands, face, eyes
Hands get cold first on a snowmobile, because the driver's thumb sits on the throttle in the wind. A thin liner glove lets you pull off the outer glove for a photo without bare skin touching frozen metal.
The balaclava and helmet cover most of your face. Watch your cheeks and nose. Pale or waxy patches on them can be early signs of frostbite, so tell the guide at the next stop and cover up.
Glasses fit under the helmet, though they may fog at stops. Contact lenses avoid that if you already wear them, but a safari is not the place to try them for the first time.
Try the kit on a short ride first
Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park's 1-hour safari lends the whole set from overall and boots to socks and balaclava. It scores 4.8 from 240+ reviews on GetYourGuide and suits a first test of how you cope with the cold.
Phones and other small things in your pockets
Keep your pockets nearly empty. Bulky items press into you when you sit on the sled, and anything loose can drop into deep snow at a stop and vanish without a trace.
Phone batteries die fast in the cold. Carry the phone in an inner pocket close to your body, keep it switched to flight mode between stops and bring a small power bank if you plan to film.
A lip balm and a tissue are the two small things to fit in somewhere. Cold air makes noses run, and you will not want to dig through layers for either one with gloves on.
Dressing for longer and shorter tours
A one-hour taster such as Arctic Circle's 1-hour forest ride from ~$110 forgives a slightly thin layer. A five-hour day is different, and the ice fishing safari includes long spells of sitting on a frozen lake, where every layer counts.
Wild Nordic's 2–3 hour safari from ~$140 breaks the ride with hot berry juice at a stop, which helps. Tokka's tour round Levi Fell from ~$150 breaks halfway for a hot drink and a bun at a Lappish café.
Late-winter rides are usually milder and sunnier, so March may call for one layer less than January. Our month-by-month guide sets out the light and the cold, and the first-ride guide walks through the kit fitting at the office.
Children and the cold
Children riding in a sleigh behind the guide do not move at all, so they need more layers than the adults driving. Ask the operator before the day whether its kit comes in your child's size.
Our guide for families covers the age limits per listing. For a small child, a short ride is kinder than a long one, however well you dress them.
Pack a spare pair of mittens and socks in the bag you leave at the office. Small hands and feet get damp quickly, and a dry pair for the trip back to the hotel helps more than any extra jumper.