Edit: A mention of the Ruka Park 30 documentary film has been added
Published on 1.10.2024
Ruka opens its skiing season with the help of innovative preserved snow on Friday, October 4th, 2024. The upcoming winter season is special, as Ruka Ski Resort turns 70 years old and Ruka Park celebrates its 30th anniversary. In honor of the anniversary, Ruka offers free season passes to all Finnish children born in 2014 and renovates Ruka Park to meet international World Cup and major competition standards. Other anticipated novelties include the Base Eat & Heat sauna restaurant at the top of Saarua and Ruka's very own After Ski Lager beer, already available locally.
Ruka Ski Resort kicks off the anniversary year and skiing season on October 4th, 2024, as part of the Arctic Weekend event. The early season opening is made possible by innovative snow preservation technology. Ruka conducted its first trials in the late 1990s, reportedly the first in the world, around the same time the University of Innsbruck began studying glacier coverage to slow melting. Ruka widely adopted preserved snow as the first ski resort to use the new method in the summer of 2016.
To celebrate the start of the anniversary year, Ruka is launching a special campaign: all Finnish 10-year-olds born in 2014 will receive free RukaPyhä season passes for the 2024–2025 season. Ruka and Pyhä regularly develop their sustainability programs, and since 2019, all 10-year-olds from nearby areas have skied for free at the resorts.
The highlights of the anniversary events include, in addition to the season opening in October, the music- and skiing-filled Up North Festival in November, as well as the month-long Polar Night Light Festival in January, which will bring light installations to the fell.
During December, a new BASE Eat & Heat restaurant will open at the top of Saarua near the gondola's upper station. It will serve as a slope restaurant during the day and as a dinner spot in the evening. Within the restaurant, there's also a sauna warming up, and from which benches and terrace, there are views of the Valtavaara nature reserve among other sights.
At the start of the anniversary season, Ruka Park Slopestyle will undergo a 2 million euro renovation, during which the slopestyle slope will be raised and extended, reshaped, and equipped with an energy-efficient automatic snowmaking system and powerful LED lighting. With the renovation, the Slopestyle slope will meet international major competition and World Cup standards. In honor of Ruka Park's 30th anniversary, a documentary film set to be released during the anniversary year is currently in production.
In honor of the anniversary, a special Ruka After Ski Lager has also been launched – a refreshing, pale, and fruity craft beer. The beer is brewed at the Mattson microbrewery, Hartwall's specialty beer brewery located in Lahti. Ruka After Ski Lager is available locally in restaurants and stores throughout the anniversary year.
Summer 2025 will bring even more exciting novelties to Ruka, such as Finland's first mountain coaster and gravity-powered go-karts, which will bring new thrills to the summer season as well.
Explore Ruka's anniversary year
