Korouoma Canyon

Korouoma is a fracture in the bedrock running some thirty kilometres through southern Lapland, a steep-sided canyon up to around a hundred and thirty metres deep with old spruce forest on the slopes, streams, and springs emerging from the walls. In winter those springs freeze into columns and curtains of ice up to fifty metres high, and the canyon becomes one of the main ice climbing venues in the Nordic countries, with climbers on the falls from February into March and walkers coming just to look at them. In summer the same canyon is walked on marked trails, with wilderness huts, boardwalks over wet ground and a route along the floor between the cliffs.

History

People have used the Korouoma valley for a long time: its forests were logged for centuries, and the Korojoki and its tributaries served as log-floating routes, as the remains of a loggers' lean-to below Saukkovaara Hill and of an old floating flume halfway down the Korojoki still show. Signs of settlement date from the late 19th century, and local farmers grazed cattle and sheep in the natural meadows on the valley floor, mowing some of them for hay stored in barns whose foundations remain by the river, while bears and eagles took the sheep; some of the meadows and barns are to be restored (Wikipedia, Korouoma).

What you'll find

• Frozen waterfalls in winter - ice columns up to around fifty metres.
• Ice climbers on the falls - the season from February into March.
• A hundred-metre fault canyon - the cleft through the bedrock.
• Old spruce forest on the slopes - the woodland along the walls.

When to go

February and March for the ice, and June to September for walking. A day. Winter visits need proper footwear with spikes; the approach path is steep and icy.

Practical notes

The winter approach is genuinely slippery and people fall on it; spikes matter. Ice climbing here needs equipment and experience or a guide. In summer the trails are muddy and mosquito-heavy. The canyon is remote and needs a car.

Nearby

Posio is north-east; Rovaniemi lies west.

Key facts